Ports of the world - Canton/Celestial Temples

by the United States Bureau of Naval Personnel

CELESTIAL TEMPLES

ROBABLY the most notable temple of the 400 or more in the city is the Temple of the Five Hundred Gods, or Wa Tam Tsz, in the western suburbs, where natives have worshiped beyond the memory of the most wrinkled coolie in the streets of Canton. The temple is fashioned after the approved style of architecture in China, with roofs and cornices which appear to be strangely warped by the weather, but which, of course, are formed that way by the builders.

There are numbers of idols in the Temple of the Five Hundred Gods, many of them arranged in prim rows along the walls, most of them with hands complacently folded; some with oriental faces, others with countenances which would be countenanced by few nations; some with beards, others with smooth jowls; some grave and dignified, others smiling enigmatically with their stone lips; all clad in flowing robes of stone.

 

A Small Temple Near Whampoa Pagoda, Canton

 

Devotees, while visiting the temple, purchase lighted punk sticks from the priests and place the sticks in front of the idols, laughing and talking all the while, apparently never aware of their sacrilegious conduct—sacrilegious from the

 

The Chun-Ka-Che Ancestral Hall, Canton

 

Western point of view. In fact, the Chinese idea of propriety is often the American and European idea of impropriety, and vice versa. Witness the custom of laughing and talking while at worship: the burying of the dead with an accompaniment of wild outbursts of deafening music, and the practice of eating cockroaches in honey and snakes in broth. Canton is indeed a most unbelievable city, where the yawning, sleepy-eyed traveler finds himself yawning and sleepy-eyed no longer, but as wide-eyed as the small boy at a circus.

The Chinese in Canton as a rule seldom take the question of worship in the temples as seriously as they might, and many of the buildings have fallen into disrepair, the courtyards and ponds being filled with rubbish and the interiors of the temples being furnished with shabby, soiled fixtures—all in striking contrast with the dignity and neatness of American churches.

Few natives visit the temples. Most of those who do place food and burn prayer papers and punk on the altars. The prayer paper, it seems, is supposed to take the place of spoken prayers, and the natives have considerable faith in the efficacy of this particular device, thereby showing another of the countless differences between the customs of orientals and occidentals. Imagine an American clergyman burning a piece of paper in place of reading his Bible!

One of the most pretentious temples in and near Canton is the Buddhist structure, known as Hoi-tung-tsz, on the island of Honan. The grounds cover an area of five acres, are divided into numerous courts, and peopled by scores of Buddhist priests.

The Temple of the Five Genii, or Ng-sen-kwan, on Great Market Street; the Temple of Longevity, or Chung-shan-tsz, in the western suburbs; and the ancestral temples of the Chen and the Chun-ka-che families, are prominent among the places of worship in Canton. The Chen temple is better kept than most of the temples in Canton, while the Chun-ka-cho temple just outside the city proper, is one of the, most imposing buildings of its kind in all China.

Besides the temples there are numerous pagodas in Canton, including the Five

 

The Flower Pagoda, Canton

 

Storied Pagoda, or Chen-hoi-tan, and the Wa-tap, or octagonal flower pagoda, which stands in one of the most pleasing and restful places, from the occidental viewpoint, in the city.