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Refer to
ground plan above for location of features
Click on linked features to view
photographs
Note: This is actually a Two-Hall
temple, with an anterior courtyard in front of the Main Gate or Entrance
Hall; thus the "Central Courtyard" might be considered just
"The Courtyard."
Enter the
Front Gate (1) and you are in the FRONT COURTYARD.
To the left and right are Moon Gates
(2); the one on the left
leads to Xinan
Old City and Zhong
Shan Park; the one on the right was blocked at the time of my last
visit in September 2004. A Censer stands in the center of the
Courtyard (though it may be moved).
Straight ahead is the MAIN GATE. On its front are
illustrated panels
(3) depicting birds and scenes in nature. In the central bay stands a
huge statue of Guan Gong (A),
with a Censer and Offering Table in front of it. (Note that
the side bays of the gate are usually closed from the Front Courtyard
side). Entering the CENTRAL
COURTYARD, you can see ten illustrated panels (4) whose
contents I have not determined. In the East bay of the Gate (5)
you can see some historic photos of the Temple; there are sometimes
volunteers staffing tables here. In the West bay of the Gate (6)
is an old carriage.
In the CENTRAL COURTYARD
the
first thing you notice is two large Incinerators, used for burning
"ghost money" and other offerings to the ancestors; between
these stands another Censer. At the left end of the Courtyard is a
large Statue of Three Brothers (B), with a Censer in front of
it. They are (l to r): Liu Bei, Guan Yu (Guan Gong), and Zhang Fei.
These other two were companions to Guan Yu, and the scene is the moment
when they drink an Oath of Brotherhood together in a Peach Orchard (a scene
from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms). At the right end of the courtyard is another
Statue of Guan Gong; here
he is mounted. Again, a Censer stands in front of the statue.
Straight ahead as you enter the Central
Courtyard is the MAIN HALL.
Coils of incense hang on the front beam on the
right, as this temple lacks a separate incense pavilion; you will often
see people praying in front of the Hall. The Statue here is again
Guan Gong (D), with two Offering
Tables in front of it. On the front table are chim
and moon-shaped wooden blocks. Both these and the chim
(numbered bamboo sticks in a cup) are used for divination.
To the left of the Offering Tables
stands a Statue of Zhang Fei (E), and to the right is Liu
Bei (F). In front of the left rear pillar a Drum (7)
stands on the floor; in front of the right rear pillar hangs a Bell (8).
On either side of the Hall are Counters (9) for the sale of
incense, oil, and other Temple goods; there may be a fortune teller
seated at one of them, to read your chim. Finally, on the
rear wall on both sides of the main figure are tables of donated Guan Gongs
(10), which were brought to the Temple instead of being
discarded.
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