Kira Brown, Gill Oxley, Paul Macgregor, Ely Finch and I are devastated at the loss of our dear friend and colleague and Our Chinese Past committee member Malcolm Oakes.Read More
These stelae are inscribed with thousands of Chinese characters, and list the names of the organisers, community representatives, and individual donors who brought about the building's 1866 reconstruction.Read More
by Juanita Kwok McCrossins Mill Museum is located in Uralla, the closest town to the historic Rocky River goldfield. The Museum is housed in a three storey flour mill, built in 1870 for John McCrossin, son of Sam McCrossin, one of the earliest settlers on Anaiwan land. The flour mill was purchased by members of the Uralla Historical Society in 1979, painstakingly restored as a museum, gallery and function centre and opened to the public in 1982. McCrossin’s Mill Museum has a collection of Chinese artefacts recognised as being of national significance. Michael van Leeuwen first curated an exhibition titled “New Gold Mountain – Chinese at Rocky River” in 1982. Chinese artefacts from the Tingha joss house were purchased by the Society in 1983. The display was revamped in 2000 by Kent Mayo and Anne Hacker, and there has been ongoing commitment to collection, preservation, display and interpretation. In 2018, the Society published a booklet written by Dr Michael Williams which contextualises the New Gold...Read More
A cymbal, which would have been one of a pair, sold by the 長珍 “Cheung Chan” firm. LOCATION Wing Hing Long Museum, Tingha TRANSCRIPTIONS Cymbal 2 – at Wing Hing Long Museum (IMG_6278, 13.4.21) Convex surface of cymbal 東長珍 Cymbal 2 – at Wing Hing Long Museum (IMG_6340, 13.4.21) Concave surface of dome of cymbal Brush-written text 花☐士 足〢 Blue text ☐大士 WHERE WAS THIS OBJECT USED? The answer to this question is not yet known. SUMMARY The large-character inscription on the cymbal’s convex surface suggest that the seller was a firm named 長珍 “Cheung Chan”. At least one of a pair of cymbals in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 89.4.12; The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889), which bear a close resemblance to this cymbal, has a similar firm name—長友 “Cheung Yau”—emblazoned, also in large vertical left-aligned characters, on its convex surface: see https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/180012327 The brush-written ligature at left within the concave surface of the dome of cymbal...Read More
This set of six placards was originally displayed in the 1883 Howell Road temple in Tingha, and may have been used for processions. LOCATION McCrossin’s Mill Museum, Uralla Processional placard 1 – at McCrossin’s Mill (IMG_4533, 15.7.19) Processional placard 3 – at McCrossin’s Mill (IMG_4565, 15.7.19) Processional placard 4 – at McCrossin’s Mill (IMG_4563, 15.7.19) Processional placard 2 – at McCrossin’s Mill (IMG_4538, 15.7.19) Processional placard 5 – at McCrossin’s Mill (IMG_4529, 15.7.19) Processional placard 6 – at McCrossin’s Mill (IMG_4531, 15.7.19) The evidence (see Dating the Placards below) indicates that this set of six placards was originally used in the 1883 Howell Road temple in Tingha. Traditionally such placards are carried on procession through the streets during religious festivals, although it’s not known if they were ever used for this purpose in Tingha. They would have been displayed in the temple, though, ranged along the interior side walls of the deity’s hall. The top of each placard is styled in the shape...Read More
1857 temple Entrance of the 1887 temple at Emmaville. Photograph by Robert Newby Kirk in 1899, reproduced from Golden Threads, p. 84. Interior of the 1887 temple at Emmaville. Photograph by Robert Newby Kirk in 1899, reproduced from Golden Threads, p. 88. Main altar of the 1887 temple at Emmaville. Photograph dated early 1900s, reproduced from Golden Threads, p. 88.Read More
The main temple at Tingha, photographed possibly in 1890. Photograph reproduced from Elizabeth Weidemann’s 1981 book World of Its Own: Inverell’s Early Years 1827-1920, p. 180.Read More
