My Diary

In a crowded housing estate of Jurong East stood a temporary tentage from a local sintua, Qi Shan Tua. On the opposite there was a music record company which played a few religious songs. It was commonly seen as a religious event but to have some background music from other sources can make the event became more grand and lively. The sintua was having its annual celebration and our daoist priest was there to conduct a ritual of thanksgiving. Though it was a week day, many pilgrims turned out for the celebration. The sintua has also engaged a troupe of lion and dragon dance for performances before sending off the Jade Emperor. Out of curiosity, there was a child who observed a high statue of Da Ye Bo aka Qi Ye and told his parents that the tongue of that statue has been fallen. The parents were very anxious and eventually prayed to the Da Ye Bo on behalf of the child for its forgiveness due to the child’s ignorant of everything.

Several months ago, I was entrusted to conduct a Thanksgiving Ritual for a local sintua known as Keng Sheng Tong during the Manifestation Celebration of Monkey Gods. Sun Wukong aka Monkey God is the mythical characters who everywhere in the world many people are familiar with. According to a report from a Chinese archaeology worker in Sunchang County of Fujian Province, he has reported that in the beginning of Ming dynasty, a Mongolian national minority dramatist Yang Jingxian composes "Monkey" in the theatre art has a section of Sun Wukong's confessing: “my eldest sister Lisan Laomu, second elder sister Wu Zhizhi, third brother Tongtian Dasheng, and my younger brother Suais Sanlang”. He thought that the famous fiction writer Wu Chengen from Ming Dynasty in his composition novel "Monkey" or commonly known as “Xi You Ji” needed to use a representative name and the excellent ability which had the joint forces of the fives. Thus, it has portrayed the myth hero of S

Traditionally a new statue should not be used if it hasn't gone through the Eye Dotting aka Kai Guang ceremony. Kai Guang is a traditional ceremony to bless and awaken a new statue and it signifies the existence or birth of a new statue into the world. According to the tradition if the statue is used without being awakened, it will bring no result or purely an antique. Traditionally a taoist priest present begins the ceremony chanting of prayers to heavenly gods and summon the spirit and soul of the deity from the heaven down into the statue. Offerings are made and spells are chanted. The taoist priest dots various parts of the statue with a red mixture according to the ritual texts. The actual eye dotting ceremony itself may differ from school to school. According to Chinese tradition red is regarded as a life giving colour as well as being associated with good fortune and prosperity. After the taoist priest conducts the dedication and dotting ceremony in which the god or