Gongpo Mu (公婆母) Altar in the Niao Shi Temple (鳥石寺) (ศาลเจ้า ...

Description

The Niao Shi Temple (鳥石寺) (ศาลเจ้า โอวเจียะ หยี่อาเนี้ยเก็ง) (Sanchao O Jia Yi Ania Keng) is a Guanyin (觀音) temple in a quiet neighborhood in Bangkok, Thailand. According to the temple caretaker, the temple was established 200 years ago by Teochew Chinese (唐人) (ชาวเถิง) people. The temple is run by a committee whose membership is passed hereditarily, but at the time fieldwork participants visited in May 2023, there was only one surviving committee member, whom the temple caretaker deemed "too old to walk." The temple is known in the neighborhood for effecting miracles. The caretaker told participants stories of how people who wish to sell their land bring signs reading "SOLD" and leave it in the temple, and then their property is sold, after which the templegoers come back and burn the sales certificate. Some other templegoers claimed that they put the names of ill family members under Guanyin altar, and their family members miraculously recovered. It was said that the CEO of a large grocery store chain called Makro came to pray at this temple when he was a taxi driver, and as he regularly prayed, he became more and more wealthy. He now returns to the temple once a month to donate and help the caretaker renovate certain spaces. There are two regular chanting groups of roughly 60-70 people who frequent the temple. The groups are made up of both older men and women who wear white and speak Chinese. Each of these groups comes around only once a month. The temple is open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. everyday. The following images show the Gongpo Mu 公婆母 altar in the Niao Shi Temple (鳥石寺). This deity is especially popular in the Chaoshan region (潮汕地區), which is a Teochew (唐人) Chinese region. Offerings to this deity are on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar (農曆). This deity is called Chuang Jiaopo (牀腳婆) in Chaoyang (潮陽區), Gongpo Mu (公婆母) in Jieyang (揭陽市), Zhusheng Gongma 注生公媽 in Shantou (汕頭市), and Huagong Huama (花公花媽) in Chenghai (澄海區). Image 01 shows an overview. Below the altar stone table is a prayer mat. Above this is an instructional plaque in Thai which reads, พ่อซื้อ-แม่ซื้อ on the top and instructs those praying to give three incense sticks to Gongpo Mu, ธูป 3 ดอก. Image 02 shows the inscription above the altar, reading from right to left, 母婆公. Image 03 shows a closer perspective of the items in the altar space. At the forefront is a golden censer with a red bow. Placed inside the censer are Chinese "Golden Flower" (金花) offerings and peacock feathers. On either side of the censer are trays of either water or tea offerings. Image 04 shows the deity on the right of the altar space. He is holding two children in his arms. Image 05 shows the written name sheet in front of him, which identifies the name of a potential donor. Image 06 shows the Gongpo Mu figure in the middle, holding a lotus flower and a staff. The small writing on the bottom of this figure reads, ลมเด็จ พระแม่เจ้าแดนลระทิพย์. On either side of this figure are jeweled flowers in clear cases. At the bottom of this are two figures, the one on the left being the Thai water goddess, Phra Mae Thorani, and the one on the right being Chang'e (嫦娥), the Chinese Moon Goddess. Phra Mae Thorani (ព្រះម៉ែធរណី), or Neang Konghing (នាងគង្ហីង), is a Southeast Asian "Mother Earth Goddess" who is known for wringing the waters of detachment out of her hair to drown Mara, who was a demon sent to foil Gautama Buddha's meditation under the Bodhi tree. Chang'e is the goddess of the moon and the wife of Hou Yi, a great archer. She is often renowned for her looks, and here she holds a token with the character 月, meaning moon. Image 07 shows the left deity, who is adorned with multicolored strings of beads or pearls. At the base of the figure are two sleeping children, and an inscription on a pink sheet of paper. To the right is another sleeping child whose skin is orange. Image 08 shows a close up of the pink paper in front of the altar. Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen The Niao Shi Temple (鳥石寺) (ศาลเจ้า โอวเจียะ หยี่อาเนี้ยเก็ง) (Sanchao O Jia Yi Ania Keng) is a Guanyin (觀音) temple in a quiet neighborhood in Bangkok, Thailand. According to the temple caretaker, the temple was established 200 years ago by Teochew Chinese (唐人) (ชาวเถิง) people. The temple is run by a committee whose membership is passed hereditarily, but at the time fieldwork participants visited in May 2023, there was only one surviving committee member, whom the temple caretaker deemed "too old to walk." The temple is known in the neighborhood for effecting miracles. The caretaker told participants stories of how people who wish to sell their land bring signs reading "SOLD" and leave it in the temple, and then their property is sold, after which the templegoers come back and burn the sales certificate. Some other templegoers claimed that they put the names of ill family members under Guanyin altar, and their family members miraculously recovered. It was said that the CEO of a large grocery store chain called Makro came to pray at this temple when he was a taxi driver, and as he regularly prayed, he became more and more wealthy. He now returns to the temple once a month to donate and help the caretaker renovate certain spaces. There are two regular chanting groups of roughly 60-70 people who frequent the temple. The groups are made up of both older men and women who wear white and speak Chinese. Each of these groups comes around only once a month. The temple is open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. everyday. The following images show the Gongpo Mu 公婆母 altar in the Niao Shi Temple (鳥石寺). This deity is especially popular in the Chaoshan region (潮汕地區), which is a Teochew (唐人) Chinese region. Offerings to this deity are on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar (農曆). This deity is called Chuang Jiaopo (牀腳婆) in Chaoyang (潮陽區), Gongpo Mu (公婆母) in Jieyang (揭陽市), Zhusheng Gongma 注生公媽 in Shantou (汕頭市), and Huagong Huama (花公花媽) in Chenghai (澄海區). Image 01 shows an overview. Below the altar stone table is a prayer mat. Above this is an instructional plaque in Thai which reads, พ่อซื้อ-แม่ซื้อ on the top and instructs those praying to give three incense sticks to Gongpo Mu, ธูป 3 ดอก. Image 02 shows the inscription above the altar, reading from right to left, 母婆公. Image 03 shows a closer perspective of the items in the altar space. At the forefront is a golden censer with a red bow. Placed inside the censer are Chinese "Golden Flower" (金花) offerings and peacock feathers. On either side of the censer are trays of either water or tea offerings. Image 04 shows the deity on the right of the altar space. He is holding two children in his arms. Image 05 shows the written name sheet in front of him, which identifies the name of a potential donor. Image 06 shows the Gongpo Mu figure in the middle, holding a lotus flower and a staff. The small writing on the bottom of this figure reads, ลมเด็จ พระแม่เจ้าแดนลระทิพย์. On either side of this figure are jeweled flowers in clear cases. At the bottom of this are two figures, the one on the left being the Thai water goddess, Phra Mae Thorani, and the one on the right being Chang'e (嫦娥), the Chinese Moon Goddess. Phra Mae Thorani (ព្រះម៉ែធរណី), or Neang Konghing (នាងគង្ហីង), is a Southeast Asian "Mother Earth Goddess" who is known for wringing the waters of detachment out of her hair to drown Mara, who was a demon sent to foil Gautama Buddha's meditation under the Bodhi tree. Chang'e is the goddess of the moon and the wife of Hou Yi, a great archer. She is often renowned for her looks, and here she holds a token with the character 月, meaning moon. Image 07 shows the left deity, who is adorned with multicolored strings of beads or pearls. At the base of the figure are two sleeping children, and an inscription on a pink sheet of paper. To the right is another sleeping child whose skin is orange. Image 08 shows a close up of the pink paper in front of the altar. Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen Subject Niao Shi Temple ; Temples ; Buddhism ; Guanyin ; Gongpo Mu ; Teochew ; Chaoshan ; Chinese golden flowers ; Donor ; Donation ; Lotus ; Phra Mae Thorani ; Chang'e ; Pearl Geographic Location Bangkok (Thailand) ; 13.719533 ; 100.482269 Still Image Language chi; tha Notes Author affiliations: Ghent University, Florida State University, Edinburgh University, Harvard University Series Cluster 3.4: Typologies of Text-Image Relations Date Available 2024-04-23 Provider Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library Rights Attribution 4.0 International 10.14288/1.0441498 http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87960 Affiliation Non UBC Peer Review Status Unreviewed Scholarly Level Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate Rights URI http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Aggregated Source Repository DSpace We acknowledge that UBC Library branches and locations are situated within the traditional, unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations, and that UBC Okanagan Library is situated within the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation. 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