Version 1.0 18 Dec 2011. Jerry Tse. London. All rights reserved. Rights belong to their respective owners.

Available free for non-commercial and personal use.

Cheng Hoon Teng

The oldest and grandest Chinese temple in Malaysia

青雲亭

Like most Chinese temple the building is very colourful.

The first temple was built by Kapitan Tay Kie Ki (Li Wei King) in 1645.

Detail of the entrance door, depicting some of Eight immortals.

One of a pair of ventilation window in the courtyard.

The colourful ceramic decoration is one of the feature of the Southern Chinese temple style.

The decorations are made up of cut pieces of ceramic sticked together.

The tiles arrangement is unusual. Usually tiles for the alternative rows have different shapes.

On the centre of the roof are animals and flowers symbols of good fortunes.

A group of ceramic fighter figures on the roof decorations.

Many human figures are from the legends and myths from the Chinese culture.

A group of figurines on the roof, warding off evil spirits.

The name plate of the temple and the panel partition between the Outer and Inner Shrine Hall. Note the depiction of tigers and deer.

The Outer Shrine Hall

Note. It is unusual to find temple supported by square pillars instead of the circular pillars normally used.

The main temple is divided into the Outer and the Inner Shrine Hall.

On entering the Inner Shrine Hall, is a verse, written by the Dutch Chinese scholar and diplomat Robert van Gulik (1910-1967), together with his seal of the Netherlands.

The lantern for goddess Guanyin Carved wooden lions guard the entrance.

The Inner Shrine Hall

The Chinese ‘religion’ is derived from four main sources – Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Folk religion. In this case Tai Swat Yeh (Taoist), Guanyin (bodhisattva Avalokitesvara of Buddhism) and Guandi (Folk general).

Mazu or Tin Hou 媽祖 , 天后 , Goddess of the Sea. Guanyin 觀音 , Goddess of the Mercy

Guandi 關帝 , God of War

Tai Sway Yeh 太歲爺 , God of Human Affair

Mazu (also known as Tin Hau), Goddess of the Sea, is very popular. She is worshipped by sailors, in particularly in southern China. Many of her temples are situated by the sea. so the sailors can give thanks to the goddess who protected them in their voyages.

The Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin occupied the central altar.

The white jade figure of Guanyin, Goddess of Mercy.

This is the alter of Guandi (God of War) & Tai Sway Yeh altar. (Taoist God of Human Affair).

Note the general colour scheme of gold characters on black. This is unusual for southern style Chinese temple. The normal colour scheme is gold characters on red background.

Two old paintings - Guandi, god of war (left) and another military general not identified (right).

“Calmness in the Kingdom of the Sea” written on a calligraphic panel, above the altar for the Goddess of the Sea (Mazu).

The cabinet in front of the altar.

The Ceiling - Beautifully carvings on the ceiling. The joints are simple and not as complicated as the palatial bracketing.

Unusually, all around the main temple are rows of shrines dedicated to different type of worships.

Very colourful ceramic decorations on the external wall under the apex of the roof.

Very unusually the temple has a shrine dedicated to the Tiger gods. Tiger gods are always placed under the table or a niche in the wall. The god at the altar is the God of Child Birth. The food offerings are very particular for the Tiger gods. Note the piece of chicken, a beer and noodles.

A rockery pool

It is common to have a rockery pool in a temple with a few gold fish and decorated with miniature figures, trees and huts .

This chapel is dedicated to ancestral worship. On the shelves are row of name plates of dead relatives, so their family can worship them here. Chinese like to put a name plates for their relatives in communal places like this to enable their relatives to enjoy the company of others and not to be isolated in their death.

A canopy courtyard to shied providing shad from the sun.

Doorways between courtyards

Worship on the Outer Shrine Hall.

Worship on the Outer Shrine Hall.

The Outer Shrine Hall.

The Cheng Hoon Teng Temple and its nearby the Kampung Kling Mosque down the road, with its Chinese style minaret.

Music – Chi Mai on the Album Guitar Moods.All rights reserved. Rights belong to their respective owners. Available

free for non-commercial and personal use.

History of Malacca

History of Malacca to follow

There were trade linked between China and the ports of the Indian ocean long before the arrival of the European to this area. Malacca occupies an unique position being at the boundary between the Monsoon weather system of the Indian Ocean and the Typhoon weather system of the South China Sea. So it is a natural port for Chinese marine traders to do businesses and settled down here.

Zhenghe was a well-known Chinese explorer, who sailed from China to the Indian Ocean seven times between 1405 and 1433, with a huge fleet of 317 ships and almost 28,000 crewmen. He reached Africa and the Persian Gulf in some of his voyage.

Trade voyages Between Europe and China

鄭和Zheng He’ Seven Dragon Wells

This is one of the seven Dragon Wells were dug by Zhenghe’s men, in the early 15C, at the foot of Bukit Cina (Chinese Hill) in Malacca, by the Sam Poh Teng Temple (which was built in 1795). Sometimes it is known as ‘Hang Li Po Well’. According to the local tale, Hang Li Po was the princess in Ming Dynasty, who married the Sultan of Malacca. Only three of the wells are left. The other were bulldozed by the local government in the 50s-60s.

The Bukit Cina (Chinese Hill) cemetery

Bukit China Cemetery is the largest Chinese cemetery outside of mainland China. The earliest grave found so far dates to 1622, late Ming Dynasty. Many of the graves were destroyed during the colonial rules. Today there are still 12,500 graves here and public burials have ceased.

Th

e P

ortu

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e R

ule

The Portuguese ruled Malacca for a 130 years from 1511 to 1641. The Portuguese reached China in 1513 with a hired junk from Malacca. The Sultan of Malacca asked the Chinese to drive the Portuguese out. The Chinese imprisoned and executed several Portuguese envoys. It was only 46 years later, after improvement of relationship between the two countries that China allowed the Portuguese to stay in Macau in 1557. The above shows the ruin of the Portuguese fort in Malacca, Porta De Santiago.

The Dutch Rule

The Dutch ruled Malacca for a 183 years from 1641 to 1825. The era saw relative peace with little serious interruption. Their attention turned mainly to their colonies in Indonesia. The Dutch wanted to kick Portuguese out of the region. They attacked the Portuguese settlements in Macau four times. A full scale invasion was launched in 1622 with 800 soldiers. This was repelled by 150 Chinese and Portuguese defenders.

Above – The Dutch bastion guarding the Malacca River was built on an older Portuguese structure.

Right – The Dutch Christ Church built in 1753.

During the Dutch rule, they implemented the Kapitan Cina system. This is a form of indirect rule, in which the Dutch appointed a single individual from each ethic group to deal with their affairs.

The British Rule

The Dutch ceded control of Malacca to the British in 1826. The Kapitan system was abolished. Together with Singapore and Penang, Malacca formed the Straits Settlements, in 1826 (see emblem above). The British rule lasted 131 years, until Independence in 1957. Malacca declined as the British was more interested to develop Singapore in the south and Penang in the north. Photo – the British fountain in the Dutch Square, Malacca.

The History of Cheng Hoon Teng

Engraving of Malacca published in 1685 by Wagner. You can see the smaller Chinese junks ferrying goods and passengers from the larger Dutch ships. There are other type sailing boats probably Indian and Malay.

The temple was built shortly after the Dutch rule in Malacca. Apart from serving the needs of the local Chinese community, it was also used as the official administrative headquarter of the Kapitans Cina, as well as a Chinese court.

1645 Cheng Hoon Teng was built by Kapitan Lee Wei King.

1704 The main hall was built by Kapitan Chan Ki Lock.

1801 Temple was rebuilt by Kapitan Chua Su Cheong.

2003 UNESCO gave a Heritage Award for the restoration of the Main Temple.

1868 Temple underwent another restoration.

1868 Restoration.

All rights reserved. Rights belong to their respective owners. Available

free for non-commercial and personal use.

The End

Music – Chi Mai on the Album Guitar Moods.