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
觀音 “Kwun Yam”, the Chinese goddess of mercy, is a Buddhist deity. But, on account of its syncretic nature, s/he (he originally, she later, in China) is also venerated in Chinese folk religion. LOCATION Wing Hing Long Museum, Tingha “Kwun Yam Den” altar censer – at Wing Hing Long Museum (IMG_4126, 14.7.19) TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION 觀音殿 Hall of Avalokitasvara. WHERE WAS THIS OBJECT USED? A 1928 newspaper article, which contains a description of Tingha’s two joss houses, indicates that the larger temple (presumably Amethyst Street’s mystery Tiengha Joss House or its masonic lodge, which might have been one and the same) comprised two rooms, while the smaller (presumably the Let Sun Den temple) comprised only one room. However, over its history there may have been four buildings in Tingha referred to either consistently or from time to time as “joss houses”: (1) a building at the northern end of Amethyst Street, adjacent to a wooden bridge over Cope’s Creek; (2) a building on the high...Read More
Originally believed to be from the 1866 Rocky River temple, this table was likely moved to the 1883 Howell Road Temple at Tingha. In recent years, prior to being donated to the Wing Hing Long Museum, the original table was cut down and rearranged to make a cabinet, which is the current form of the table. LOCATION Wing Hing Long Museum, Tingha Current cabinet Altar table dated 1866 – at Wing Hing Long Museum (IMG_6386, 13.4.21) Photograph from 1901 Main altar in the “Joss House, Tingha”, printed in The Sydney Mail, 3 August 1901 Photomontage reconstruction of the original altar table from which the current cabinet is formed Diagram showing how the altar table facade, which is in the 1901 photograph of the Howell Rd temple in Tingha, was cut down and rearranged to make the doors of the cabinet now in the Wing Hing Long collection. Photographs of panels that bear inscriptions IMG_4153 IMG_4154 TRANSCRIPTIONS AND TRANSLATIONS 1. Decorative...Read More
This entrance adornment—or 彩門 “choy-moon”—is likely the one referenced by the Donation plaque dated 1866, and so would have hung either just inside, or just outside, the entrance of the 1866 Rocky River temple. LOCATION Wing Hing Long Museum, Tingha “Yeung Fook Tong” entrance adornment – at Wing Hing Long Museum (IMG_6342, 13.4.21) Detail from the top of the entrance adornment, showing the words “Yeung Fook Tong” (IMG_4145, 14.7.19) TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION 仰福堂 Yeung Fook Tong NOTES This would appear to be the very early entrance adornment—or 彩門 “choy-moon”—referenced by the Donation plaque dated 1866 and associated with the list of what are presumably donor names on the Names plaque dated 1866. For commentary on the significance of the characters “Yeung Fook Tong”, and on this and other “choy-moon” or “entrance adornments”, see the relevant notes in the post for the Donation Plaque dated 1866. This is a continually evolving website, and more information about this object will be published as further research is...Read More
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 2, are the only ones from this set still known to exist. LOCATION Wing Hing Long Museum, Tingha Processional staff 1 – at Wing Hing Long Museum (IMG_6247, 13.4.21) IMG_4160 IMG_4161 TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION 光緒九年仲春吉旦 沐 恩弟子梁苟仝敬送 Respectfully and conjointly given by Thy/Your favoured follower Leung Kau 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 2”, 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 2”, which was donated by a certain 梁國 “Leung Kwok”. The word 仝 “conjointly” in the inscription presumably references the fact that the...Read More
Shipping crate for “superior benzoin incense” from the Macao firm of 陳天祥 “Chan Tin Cheung”. This firm was one of eighteen members of an incense manufacturers’ guild that formed in 1898–9. LOCATION Wing Hing Long Museum, Tingha Incense crate – at Wing Hing Long Museum (IMG_4136, 14.7.19) TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION 粵東澳門 陳天祥上息香 Chan Tin Cheung’s superior benzoin incense. Macao, Eastern Yuet. NOTES 粵東 “Eastern Yuet”: 粵 “Yuet” was the name of a vast area of southern China that was home to the ancient Yuet peoples, and does not correspond to the provincial or other administrative boundaries of any Chinese state. Such expressions as “粵東/東粵” “Eastern Yuet”, “粵西/西粵” “Western Yuet”, and “兩粵” “The Two Yuet” were, however, often used as literary and history-referencing substitutes for the province names “Kwang Tung”, “Kwang Hsi” and the “The Two Kwang” (both Kwang Tung and Kwang Hsi) respectively, in much the same way as the words “Hibernia” and “Caledonia” are used in English as literary and...Read More
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 Processional staff 2 – at Wing Hing Long Museum (IMG_6219, 13.4.21) Date inscription (IMG_4169) Donor inscription (IMG_4171 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...Read More
This pair of candlesticks would have likely stood upon an altar table in the 1883 Howell Rd temple in Tingha. LOCATION Wing Hing Long Museum, Tingha. Pair of candlesticks, with their texts delineated and numbered (IMG_6282, 16.4.21) Text 2 (IMG_6303, 16.4.21) Text 1 (IMG_6307, 16.4.21) Showing text 3 as it progresses around the candlestick (IMG_6298, 16.4.21) Showing text 3 as it progresses around the candlestick (IMG_6295, 16.4.21) Showing text 4 as it progresses around the candlestick (IMG_6287, 16.4.21) Showing text 4 as it progresses around the candlestick (IMG_6288, 16.4.21) Each of this pair of candlesticks would have been held mounted upright in a pair of pewter candlestick holders, which would have stood upon an altar table in a temple. A 1901 photo of the interior of the 1883 Howell Rd temple in Tingha, shown below, depicts a pair of candlesticks displayed like this on the altar. This even maybe the same candlesticks in the photograph that are now preserved at...Read More
This carved scene would have been inset into the structure of a shrine cabinet. It is not known which shrine cabinet, or which temple, this carving was a part of. LOCATION Wing Hing Long Museum, Tingha Carved scene with figure in boat – at Wing Hing Long Museum (IMG_4116, 14.7.19) This is a continually evolving website, and more information about this object will be published as further research is conducted. Objects gallery view Objects list viewRead More
