Open Collections

Donor Plaque on the Left Wall of the Patio of the Holy Guanyin Temple (觀音聖廟) (A Nia Keng Shrine ศาลเจ้า อาเบี้ย)

From the Ground Up: Buddhism & East Asian Religions (FROGBEAR Project)

The Holy Guanyin Temple (觀音聖廟) (A Nia Keng Shrine ศาลเจ้า อาเบี้ย) is a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand. It is unknown when this temple was constructed, but the last renovations took place in 1992. The temple was constructed with the wood from boats coming from China, and Chinese craftsmen were brought over to construct it without nails and screws - everything was carved to fit into place. It was originally a place for sailors to come and stay temporarily, and they slept on the floor of the temple. Before the 1992 renovations, there were originally two levels of the temple, but since the temple has experienced various bouts of water damage incurred from flooding, it now is just sequestered to the top level. According to the temple caretaker, the neighborhood has experienced quite a lot of fires, and the temple itself has suffered from fires, but since they have instructed templegoers to pray outward "for the community," rather than pray "facing towards the deity," the temple has not experienced a single fire. The temple caretaker noted this temple is particularly special, because it is one of two temples in the Bangkok area which features the main deity as Guanyin (觀音) sitting on a lotus. The temple is managed by a committee of five different families who are owners of different shops in the area; the membership of the committee is hereditary, and this hereditary membership was supposedly established during the reign of King Rama III (1788-1851). While many different types of Chinese people frequent the temple, the temple caretaker noted that Teochew Chinese (Deung Nang 唐人) (ชาวเถิง) and Hakka Chinese (客家) (ฮักกา) people are the most prevalent. The following images show the donor plaque on the left wall of the temple patio (Image 01 and Image 02). The temple caretaker noted that the average donor amount is usually 1000 baht, the smallest donation noted on the plaque. Some donors gave up to 20,000 baht. The donation amount (and corresponding donor names) decrease as it is read from left to right. The temple caretaker believes that this particular plaque commemorates the donations made for the 1992 renovation. The temple caretaker was unsure about whether the currency was the stronger baht currency, before the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, or in the lesser baht currency, because the Thai government changed to the value of the baht in 1997. Therefore, it is unclear what the true and measurable value of these donations are. The top inscription reads, 千秋仰善譽 (right) 慈 (middle), 萬世留芳名 (left) meaning, "Throughout the ten-thousand generations leaving their fragrant names, during a thousand autumns, raising their good reputations," referring to the donors listed on the plaque. The donations are arranged from highest donations to lowest donations in descending order (Image 03 and Image 04). Image 05 shows a close-up of the yellow inscription on the left side. It reads from top to bottom,三聘娘宮社理事會敬立. This is connected to the stage across the street which is connected to the temple and the society of the temple; it is nearly the same inscription. For more information on the opera stage, see "Opera Stage across from the Holy Guanyin Temple (觀音聖廟) (ศาลเจ้าอาเนี้ย)." The smaller yellow inscription reads from top to bottom, 本社眾暨諸位善信綜合損助觀音聖廟修建費 共合 弍佰伍拾萬銖, "the assembly of this temple and the all those of good faith [lay supporters/people] came together to support the renovation of the Holy Guanyin Temple, the amount being altogether 2,500,000 baht." (In all of the inscriptions of 株, the second radical is missing a downward stroke. This may be a mistake or an unknown variant). The temple caretaker specified that the yellow inscriptions feature total donations for the renovation, which amount to 2,500,000 Thai baht or 70,200 US dollars. Image 06 shows a close-up of the yellow inscription on the right side. Image 07 shows the middle of the donor plaque. Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen

Bangkok (Thailand); 13.74042; 100.5064

chi; tha

Cluster 3.4: Typologies of Text-Image Relations

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0441349

Non UBC

Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate

DSpace