Hong Kong Snapshot (39) – Man Mo Temple Compound, not only a temple but also a Court for Chinese 香港随拍(39) – 上环文武庙

In 1842, Britain occupied Hong Kong Island. To better manage the Island, in 1984 the HK government built the Central Police Station Compound in Hollywood Road of Sheung Wan. The compound included Police Station, the Magistracy and the Prison and is the longest-standing cluster of historic buildings in HK. At the same time, in 1847, also in Hollywood Road, The Chinese rich men had built the Man Mo Temple Compound which became the official business center of Chinese.

1842年，英國佔領香港島。為了有效管治民眾，港英政府於1864年在上環荷李活道建造中區警署建築群，包括中區警署、前中央裁判司署及域多利監獄，是港島區現存最早最大型的歷史建築群。不過早於17年前的1847年，同在荷李活道，已有華人富商興建一座文武廟，成為華人議事及解決糾紛的場所。

(It’s under renovation…) 裝修進行中…

Full picture of Man Mo Temple Compund not under renovation
不是裝修中的文武廟全貌
(photo from Wikipedia)

Man Mo Temple worships the god Man (Man Cheong, governs studies and knowledges) and Mo (Guan Yu, God of War, governs loyalty and integrity). Actually there are many Man Mo Temples in China. Why is Sheung Wan Man Mo Temple Compound so special? Because it is the only place that is allowed by the colonial government to have the power of arbitration to Chinese. In 1908, the colonial Government even set up the “Man Mo Temple Ordinance” to manage the temple. We may see the importance of Man Mo Temple in HK.

上環文武廟是一座廟宇，主要供奉文昌帝 (掌管知識學業) 及武帝 (即關公，掌常忠義誠信)。文武廟是華人區內很著名的廟宇，中國各地都有文武廟，就是香港現存都有五六座文武廟。而上環文武廟不同的地方就在於，它是當年英國政府唯一批准以中國方法進行宣誓及裁決華人糾紛的地方，1908年港英政府更特意制定《文武廟條例》，把文武廟交由東華醫院管理，可見政府對文武廟的重視。除此之外，上環文武廟還有很多值得我們觀賞的地方。

The left is Mo (God of War). The right is Man (Man Cheong)
左邊是關公，右邊是文昌

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Decorated Ridges of Man Mo Temple花脊

picture of the ridges, English and Chinese description
(image from www.heritage.gov.hk)

Man Mo Temple Compound is an example of traditional Chinese vernacular architecture. It is decorated with ceramic figurines, granite and wood carvings, all of which exhibit superb traditional craftsman.

The Ridges of the Compound is already an art. We may guess it has 120 history from the inscription "19th year in the reign of Emperor Guangxu" (1893) at the right of the ridges. The characters on the ridge come from traditional Chinese folklore. On special occasions, people stayed at the Kung Sor of the Compound to watch the drama of the stories of the ridges. But now, as a Chinese, I also have no idea about the stories.

文武廟組群屬典型的傳統中式民間建築，飾有精緻的陶塑、花崗石雕刻、木雕、灰塑和壁畫，盡顯精湛的傳統工藝技術。

文武廟單是花脊已是一件工藝品，從花脊右邊保留著的「光緒十九年」字樣(1893)，我們可估計這花脊已有一百二十年歷史，花脊上的人物大多來自中國民間故事，當年每逢大時大節，文武廟中都會上演大戲，演譯花脊上的故事。不過到了現在，就連身為中國人的我，都不太看得懂花脊上的分別是什麼故事了。

Unfortunely, the decorated ridges have been damaged a lot by age
可惜隨年月過去，這花脊已失去原本的模樣

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Man Mo Temple and Lit Shing Kung 文武廟與列聖宮

There are three buildings in the Man Mo Temple Compound: Man Mo Temple, Lit Shing Kung and Kung Sor. The God of Man and Mo are placed in the Man Mo Temple for people to worship. In Lit Shing Kung, we have many other gods in Chinese like the Kwun Yam, Justice Pao, Shing Wong, Tin Hau…etc.

上環文武廟共分三個建築物：文武廟與列聖宮，文武廟顧名思義是供奉文武二聖的地方，而列聖宮就是供奉其他神明的地方了，如觀音、包公、城隍、天后等等，完全顯示出華人的多神信仰，而經我這次一遊，我發現文武廟內除了文武二聖，還有很多其他神明都在廟裡……

Man Mo Temple 文武廟
(photo from Wikipedia)

Lit Shing Kung 列聖宮
(photo from Wikipedia)

Still many people come to worship gods now
仍然香火鼎盛

This is Kwan Yam
這是觀音

The Ten Yama (King of Hell)
十王殿，我也是這天才第一次知道有十個閻羅王

Sorry I really don’t know who they are
我真的不知道這些是什麼神….

Gods related to love?
是與愛情有關的神嗎？

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Free School義學

The Man Mo Temple Free School in 1950
1950年的文武廟義學
(Image from inmediahk)

In early days of Hong Kong, only rich people can have the money to school. So, by the help of many individuals and institutions, the Man Mo Temple Free School was built besides the Compound and provide education to poor kids.

在早期的香港，讀書是有錢人的玩意，有見及此，各界社會熱心人士在文武廟旁成立文武廟義學，為失學兒童提供教育。

The Free School is now a primary school, but empty for 10 years already
現在義學的地址是一間小學，但已空置10年….
(photo from NOW News)

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Kung Sor 公所

Kung Sor, it’s now a souvenir shop
公所的入口，不過現是紀念品店

In ancient Chinese Community, Man Mo Temple also act as the venue of official business. And Sheung Wan Man Mo Temple Compounds is even the only venue in HK which is allowed bu the colonial government to settle oaths and arbitration in Chinese way.

In early days of HK, Chinese didn’t get used to Western judicial system. They still like to have their way to settle matters like signing contracts, conduct trials and resolve commercial disputes. Kung Sor is the venue to settle all these things. Taking signing contract as example: Two sides gather at Kung Sor and negotiate the terms with official as witness. After everything deal, they go to Man Mo Temple and conduct the oath-taking ceremony – cut off the chicken head and burn the yellow paper. After that, the contract takes effect.

以前的文武廟在中國社區充當著議事的角色，而上環文武廟更是英國政府唯一默許華人可以自己的方法解決紛爭的場所，華人首領們就是在文武廟公所進行議事及宣誓仲裁等事務。

香港開埠初期，法制尚未完善，加上華人並不習慣西方的司法制度，故仍會以華人自己的一套進行宣誓、簽約、審判、糾紛等事，場地正是公所。以簽約為例，雙方會先到公所，在官員見證下議定交易條件，跟住就到旁邊的文武廟「斬雞頭、燒黃紙」，這樣合約便生效，並無文件存在。

Today, some politicians still like to “cut off chicken head” in press conference about dispute incident. The man in the photo is a Mayor in Taiwan
現在仍有政界人物會在爭議事件中的記招中斬雞頭以示清白。圖為台灣草屯鎮里長
(image from Apple Daily)

It is heard that in 1918, there were two merchants going to court for a litigate. But both of them did have evidence to prove them. Finally the court asked them to Man Mo Temple to “cut off chicken head”. The prosecutor refused to take the ceremony. Then the court announced that the prosecutor was criminal as he felt guilty to take the oath ceremony. It proved that the importance of the “cut off chicken head” in Chinese community.

相傳1918年，有兩個大商人打官司，但雙方都拿不出證據，法庭便叫他們到文武廟「斬雞頭」，但原告卻不肯先跪下發誓，最後法官以原告不肯發誓為由，說明他心虛，反判原告有罪，被告無罪。此事當年轟動香港，也證明文武廟神明對華人影響力之大。

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Of course today the Man Mo temple has lost the role of oath taking and arbitrartion. But still a lot of people go to the temple to worship gods. In 2010, the Man Mo Temple Compound was listed as declared monuments of HK. Many tourists visit the Compound now. At the same time, the Central Police Station Compound 500 meters away from the Man Mo Temple Compound stopped functioning in 2005.

Although many young people in China do not worship Chinese gods anymore, the culture still get a lot for us to preserve and to understand. Fortunely, we may still preserve the Man Mo Temple Compound in Sheung Wan – a busy business region. We still have the chance to know more about the ancient Chinese culture from the Temple Compund.

今日文武廟已失去了議事之用，但仍有不少善信前往拜祭。文武廟於2010年被列為法定古蹟，自此更多外國旅客前往參觀，而於500米外的中區警署建築群，則早於2005年停止運作。

雖然在今天社會，大多年輕人已不再信奉神明，但這個中國數千年的歷史文化，仍有很多值得我們欣賞和了解的地方，幸而，在今天的上環鬧市商業區，我們仍保留了這個文武廟和它的故事，讓後人得以了解及學習更多古代中國文化。

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