Processional staff 2

This would have been one of a set of probably eight staffs, which would have been displayed at the 1883 Howell Rd temple in Tingha. This staff, along with Processional staff 1, are the only ones from this set still known to exist.

LOCATION

Wing Hing Long Museum, Tingha

TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION

光緒九年仲春吉旦

  沐

恩弟子梁國仝敬送

Respectfully and conjointly given by Thy/Your favoured follower Leung Kwok on an auspicious day in the second Spring month of the ninth year of the Kuang Hsü Era.

WHERE WAS THIS OBJECT USED?

This object, and the matching entitled “Processional staff 1”, are inscribed with a date that corresponds to 1883. Accordingly, the hypothesis is that they come from Tingha’s lavish 1883 temple.

NOTES

仝 “conjointly”: This object forms a pair with “Processional staff 1”, which was donated by a certain 梁苟 “Leung Kau”. The word 仝 “conjointly” in the inscription presumably references the fact that the staffs formed a joint gift.

Date: The second Spring month of the ninth year of the Kuang Hsü Era equates to the period on the Gregorian calendar that began on the 9^th of March and ended on 6^th of April 1883.

Near identical text to “Processional staff 1“: The text of this inscription is identical to that of the matching “Processional staff 1”, except for the name of the donor.

The donor: The identity of this donor is not known, but he shares the same surname as the donor of “Processional staff 1”, and like him has a single-character given name, which suggests that they were relatives. See notes on “Processional staff 1” for speculation on the identity of its donor.

This is a continually evolving website, and more information about this object will be published as further research is conducted.