Man Mo Temple (文武廟)

Temples are always fascinating places. Maybe there's something in the human psyche which yearns for the kind of unconditional care and protection one receives from one's mother and one's father whilst one is still too feeble to fend for oneself. One remembers with fondness the intimate sweet smell and warmth of the female body as one snuggles in complete trust as close as possible to the smooth and soft bosom of one's nurturer and looks back nostalgically to getting the kind of feeling of complete ease and restfulness one receives as a vulnerable child and hopes that somehow, one may magically be blessed by such experience again from the gods, especially when one is facing a new personal crisis in which one doesn't really know what will or will not happen the following day, the following week, the following month or the following year.  Perhaps one has just met a potential new mate. Perhaps one is thinking about the impending school or professional examination. Perhaps one is thinking about a new job interview. Perhaps a member of one's family is about to undergo a major surgery or maybe the one about to go undergo the life threatening surgery is oneself. Perhaps one has just signed a contract the outcome of which may make or break one's fortune. There are so many uncertainties in life. Of course, one can always make or has already made all the necessary preparations. But as the common saying goes, "man proposes, God disposes." There is always an element of chance, of randomness, of luck, of fortune, of destiny which one is not and cannot be in control of. During such periods of confusion, of anxiety, of fear, of hope, one longs to recover a little the kind of peace of mind one feels during more "normal" times. During such times, what does one do? One prays to whatever gods one's culture provides for such purposes. Perhaps that's the reason why we still got all kinds of chapels, all kinds of churches, all kinds of temples, all kinds of mosques, all kinds of shrines etc although theoretically we have entered into the age of electronic information, of routine jet travel and of universal education which encourages us to think that our future should really be in our own hands.

So many coils of incense, each burning with the hope embodied by the prayer sheet or wish list in red, the color of life. 

a literal forest of coiled incense, a custom imported from ancient India

This is Mo Tai (武帝)  or Kwan Tai (關帝), a legendary Chinese deity popularly called Kwan Kung (關公) based upon a famous real life army general called Kwan Yu (關羽), an expert in the use of the curved chopper stuck to the end of a long wooden pole named after him, called Kwan To (關刀) and now worshipped as a god governing all things having to do with the use of bodily force or personal violence, legitimate or illegitimate and is thus worshipped by both the policemen and triad gangsters

The god Emperor Man Cheong (文昌帝君)  with the full title "Emperor Man Cheong Tung Tai "文昌梓潼帝君"., a god which legends say governs man's fate in examinations and more generally occupations, jobs, careers associated with book learning. Emperor Man is served by two book boys (書僮). One of them is called The "Heavenly Deaf" (天聾) and the other is called the "Earthly Mute" (地啞), supposed to impress or remind people that the secrets of fortune can never be disclosed whether from heaven or on earth and that people who are engaged in the use of words should say little.That sounds remarkably like the advice given by the modern philosopher Wittgenstein, who is claimed by his students to have said, "Whereof we know not, we must be silent. "

Chinese people are very accepting. They worship all kinds of gods. To them, it really doesn't matter how the deities started their lives as gods. So long as they are considered efficacious, they will be worshipped. Hence the huge number of coils at this temple, the so-called Man-Mo Temple (Wen-Wu Temple) (文武廟) or the Temple of the "god of Word/Language/literature" (文帝) and the "god of martial arts" (武帝) , a temple in Hollywood Road entrusted to the Tung Wah Group by law in 1908. The Tung Wah Group used to be the bridge between Chinese community and the British Colonial Government. Their officials were given authority to settle disputes between Chinese citizens as a kind of local magistrate. The temple was built in stages with donations by wealthy Chinese merchants in the period 1847-1862 and originally comprised three separate buildings, one dedicated to Emperor Man Cheong, a second to Emperor Mo, and a third to miscellaneous minor deities called Lit Shing Kung" (列聖宮) or "palace of various deities and holy men" (諸神列聖). That's why you find so many coils of smouldering incense there.

In this temple the tens of coiled incense are held up by a simple metal frame, formed by metal pipes tied together by cords like in  Chinese bamboo scaffolding, the incense coils being hung up upon S-hooks tied to the poles with a piece of red string.

There is an open courtyard separating the entrance of the temple from the altars further inside upon a raised platform, occupied by two huge incense bowls for the more traditional joss sticks which may be inserted upon a bed of ashes by the worshippers

If they like, worshippers may also light candles.

Above the candles are the prayer sheets upon which are written the prayers of the faithfuls asking for various favors from the gods.

To save the trouble of having to sweep up the ashes dropping to the floor, underneath each coil of incense is a huge round metal ash tray suspended from the ceiling bars.

The ash trays.

The hopes of the faithful

How their wishes criss-cross each other! I can't help wondering if it's possible for two enemies to go up there to offer their respective prayers to the two gods in the temple with equal and opposite wishes and if so, how the deities might resolve the inevitable contradiction. It's not that unimaginable: that happened in Northern Ireland, where the Catholic IRAs and the English Anglicans soliders both go to their respective churches to worship the same God and pray to him for success for their side, during the Hundred Years War between England and France and during both First World War and the Second World War when Christian nations were fighting each other with army chaplains on each side praying for their soldiers to the same God and during the war in Iraq when Christian soldiers were fighting against Islamic soldiers each worshipping the same deity viz. the God of Abraham but called by different names! .