I think City God sounds kinda
not so honourable
literally, a city god is basically
a guardian, a caretaker of a town
like a “mayor” od the city
it’s usually not really that big
quite down-to-earth but
yeah your mayor’s office
will always be there
we were arguing if this is the “City God”
because this setting looks like a court
or maybe a governmental meeting
with the legal assistants by the side
and the force of armed personnel
by the way, this is the first time
I witnessed a proper Taoism chanting session
haha.. the so-called half Taoist
well.. there’s always an
info board to refer to (not really that always)
but there is, in this case
he was a respected General,
Mr. Huo Guang 霍光
so upon his demise, the folks built
temple and all in honour of General Huo
his image is like a judge
yeah I was right, this is a court setting after all
who determine who’s bad
and the good one will be rewarded accordinly
the mural depicts all the gods
in Chinese mythologies
the familiar one are
basically all those you would have seen
at the earlier chapter of Journey to the West
I wish I have snapped more proper photos
these are the 12 animals in Chinese Horoscope
there comes the Tai Sui Hall 太歲殿
the concept of Tai Sui is a little complicated
please bear with me
I doubt if you get the concept
so there are 60 officers who take turn
in taking care of the human-affairs
so you know the 12 Chinese Horoscopes, right?
The cycle goes like 12 X 5 = 60
which means that they are teamed up
according to the year they are in charge of
meaning, 5 will come under the Rat years
another 5 are the “Cow” officers
five each under one Horoscope
coming into duty every 60 years
as the Tai Sui officer
as you can see
all of them are personalized
with distinctive characters
similar to General Huo Guang
they originate from
well-respected figure in the society
since they take care of the
affairs of the people
the folks will usually come to pay respect to
the Tai Sui officer of the year
during the Lunar New Year
especially those who are born
on the same Horoscope year
those red scarves are there
is for people who would like to
pay respect to their individual Tai Sui
pay a little money
or you may choose to write your well-wishes
on that little red papers
those being tied around the railings
I wish I have more information to
track down when are these built
the painting looks a little new
is it due to refurbishment or
they are indeed pretty new
because these area really masterpiece
in terms of the costume design and
the facial expressions of the individuals
and I wish I can find the book
a collection of stories on the 60 officer
who they are and how’s their stories go
the previous time we were in
a Tai Sui Temple was back in GuangZhou
and my dad was like
no.. don’t snap any photo of the Tai Sui
it is forbidden
why??
and this time round he was like
please snap more photos
these are really good
he can’t even remember what he did
the previous time at GuangZhou
he even asked:
so fast? you are done snapping all 60?
dad… I go by the 12 X 5 cycle okay
so I will only have to snap 12 to capture all
watermelon on the altar
yeah.. that’s right
I don’t know where on earth
my relative heard it from
watermelon is not allowed on altar as
an offering.. meeh
finally
the City God Hall
the unique part is
they have two side-halls
honouring the parents of the City God
and his wife
have you seen such a huge pair of
candle holders?
look up look up
and you will find something nice
How to get here:
Metro Line 10 (Purple)
Yu Garden Station 豫園
you could probably spend a day here
the station being named after Yu Garden
the main attraction which is
a classic Chinese Garden
built during the Qing Dynasty
and the Old ShangHai market
now that it is really Commercialized to
cater to the tourist’s market
the temple is well-hidden
you have to walk through the market
somewhere near this particular square
with a small entry at the corner
opposite a Starbucks which
doesn’t really look like one
there’s no harm
cursing in the busy market
do not put high expectations to get
good bargain or so on
brunch was split into two sessions
the most over-rated and overpriced Xiao Long Bao
and the quick, cheap and filling
Sushi Express
guess what?
too occupied with the marketing survey and
we actually forgot the
main attraction in the vicinity of
Yu Garden is of course the Garden
and not the Yu Garden Commercial Street
oh man!! missed
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