Cheng Hoon Teng Temple is not only a Taoist temple, it is also the oldest functioning temple in Malaysia. “Cheng Hoon Teng” literally means “Temple of Clear Clouds” in Chinese. Cheng Hoon Teng Temple is located in Jalan Tokong, also known as the Harmony Street. Jalan Tukang Emas, Jalan Tukang Besi, Jalan Tokong are the streets that makes up the entire Harmony Street. These streets are called Harmony Street because it portrays a sense of harmony between the major races in Malaysia and each of the temples of different religions are able to locate in close proximity with each other. The temples here are the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, the Kampung Kling’s Mosque and the Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple.
Cheng Hoon Teng Temple was founded by Chinese Kapitan Tay Kie Ki @ Tay Hong Yong in 1645. The Kapitan position was created by the Portuguese as a head administrator to the local community. This historical Cheng Hoon Teng Temple has a built up area of close to 60,000 square feet. In its early years, besides serving the Chinese community’s religious needs (mainly Hokkien), Cheng Hoon Teng Temple also functioned as the official administrative centre and a court of justice for the Kapitans.
Besides Kapitan Tay Kie Ki, other prominent Kapitans that played an important role in the building of Cheng Hoon Teng Temple includes Kapitan Lee Wei King, Kapitan Chan Lak Kua and Kapitan Chua Su Cheong. In 1704s, Kapitan Chan Ki Lock started the construction of the main hall. in 1801, Kapitan Chua Su Cheong was responsible for rebuilding of the main hall while the Kapitans and Teng Choos after him contributed towards the aesthetic and structural additions of the building. “Teng Choo” is the title given to the leader of the temple after the British abolished the Kapitan system in 1824. Teng Choo assumed some of the Kapitan’s responsibilities .
The date 28 September 1949 marks a historical milestone for Cheng Hoon Teng Temple. The Parliament passed the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple Incorporation Ordinance 1949. It meant that Cheng Hoon Teng Temple was now officially sanctioned by an Act of Parliament, guaranteeing the temple’s future and its role as guardian of the community’s spiritual and cultural heritage. A Board of Trustees was formed after the ordinance to look after the temple. The prime mover, Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock, became one of the first trustees under the Act. The other trustees then were Poh Kim Tiong, Chan Teck Chye, Loh Kim Swi, and Chee Guan Chiang.
Another historical milestone was in 1962, where Seck Kim Seng ordained Houn Jiyu-Kennett, a Zen nun from England and the founder of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives in this temple. And in 2003, Cheng Hoon Teng Temple was awarded a UNESCO award for outstanding architectural restoration.
Structure of Cheng Hoon Teng Temple
The building of Cheng Hoon Teng Temple conforms strictly to the feng shui principles, incorporating the fundamental belief that every aspect of life is closely related to attaining perfect harmony with nature. The temple was carefully laid out to ensure a view of the river and high ground on either side. Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, with its curved roof ridge, chien nien decoration, and gable design, reflects the architectural style and craftmanship of Southern Chinese, mainly from Fujian and Guangdong.
One of the most notable features of Cheng Hoon Teng Temple is the seven-metre red flag-pole facing the left wing of the main prayer hall, which houses the remains of two of the three Kapitans who contributed to the construction of the temple. Across the road is a traditional opera theatre, which also forms a part of the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple. Beside the opera theatre is the newly constructed Xianglin Temple (literally means Fragrant Forest Temple) that follows the traditional layout of Chinese Buddhist temples.
Cheng Hoon Teng Temple consists of several prayer halls, with a large main prayer hall dedicated to the goddess of mercy, “Kuan Yin”. Towards the left (in the worshippers’ direction) is “Ma Choo” @ “Ma Choe Poh”, patron diety of fishermen, sailors and sea travellers, and right next to “Ma Choo” is the goddess of birth. Finally on the far end is “Kuan Gong”. The diety with the gold face is Pau Sen Ta Tek, the god of welding. Additional smaller prayer quarters were added later. One of these quarters is dedicated to the Taoist gods of wealth, longevity and propagation, while another houses ancestral tablets.
Unlike other Chinese temples, the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple does not employ door gods. Instead, the doors of the temple are guarded by the famous Taoist monks, The Eight Immortals. At the outer gate are the Eight Immortals on the animals that they ride on. At the entrance to the main hall, the dragons with four claws symbolise the Eight Immortals. Within the claws of the dragons are the Eight Immortals’ instruments, namely the flute, knife, lotus and fan. These dragon representations are called Ar Enn Pak Sien, also known as the Hidden Eight Immortals.
Due to the depictions of the Eighteen Lorhans on the wall that have almost disappeared under centuries of smoke, they are now encased behind glass. Outside of the main hall are columns with gold calligraphy in “cao-shu” (a grass style script) written by Robert van Gulik (1910-1967), a Dutch diplomat and authority in Chinese culture and history.
Within the grounds of the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple are stelaes, stone tables commemorating special events. Due to the similarity in pronunciation of the Cheng in “Cheng Hoon Teng” and “Cheng Ho”, many had misunderstood that there is a stone inscription in the temple that was brought by Admiral Cheng Ho. But in actual fact, the stelaes in Cheng Hoon Teng Temple are definitely not the stone inscription brought by Cheng Ho. The oldest relic in Cheng Hoon Teng Temple is the stelae dating back to 1685. It is a thank you note issued to Kapitan Lee Wei King commemorating his donation of a piece of land to the Chinese community for the purpose of a Chinese burial ground. This of course, is the famous burial ground in Bukit Cina.
The stone inscription is written after the Ming Dynasty. The way of depicting year, as appearing on the stone tablet is now no longer in use. The Chinese during the olden days used to calculate the year in accordance to the reign of Chinese Emperors, of which each emperor’s reign carries a specific name, instead of following a numerical numbering of years. In 1685, when the tablet was carved, it was during Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when the Manchurian ruled over China. The Han Chinese refused to acknowledge the Manchurian emperors, considering Manchurian and everybody else barbarians. Hence, instead of representing the year according to the Qing Emperor’s reign, the stone inscription stated that “the dragon has flown”, referring to after Ming Dynasty.
The walls of the temples are all painted with limewash. In the olden days, lime was used instead of cement. The lime derived from the oyster shells and soot from charcoal.
Location
Address: No. 25, Jalan Tokong, 75200 Melaka GPS Coordinate: N 2.197558, E 102.246881 View Larger Map
Operation Hour
Open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Contact Details
Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Incorporated No. 25, Jalan Tokong 75200 Melaka Tel: (606) 282 9343 Fax: (606) 286 1889 E-mail: info@chenghoonteng.org.my You can visit the official site of Cheng Hoon Teng Temple here.
No related posts.
