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Xuandi (玄帝) Altar in the Nanpu Temple (南埔宮) (ศาลเจ้าแม่อาเหนียว)

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

The Nanpu Temple (南埔宮) (ศาลเจ้าแม่อาเหนียว) is a one-room Guanyin 觀音 temple in Bangkok, Thailand. According to the temple caretaker, the temple is over two hundred years old and is one of the five oldest shrines in Bangkok. It was originally constructed from the wood of the boats used to by China immigrants who moved into this neighborhood in Thailand. The temple is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The temple has regular chanting groups of mostly women that come every Thursday and chant in Chinese. The temple is run by a committee, but the name and nature of the organization is largely unknown; the temple caretaker said that the committee members are picked from the neighborhood using divination tactics and visit the temple only once a month. The temple caretaker specified that the majority of the people who live in the immediate proximity of the temple are family, and that they are "descendants of Guanyin." It is unclear whether he meant descendants from those who established the Guanyin shrine or literally descendants of Guanyin herself. He continually referred to the community around the shrine by this name. The temple is also said to have a decent amount of tourist activity. Fieldwork participants visited two times over the course of 2023. During the first visit in May of 2023, the temple caretaker made specific note to bring attention to the valuable incense pots given by King Rama V or King Chulalongkorn (จุฬาลงกรณ์) (1853-1910)(1868-1910), as well as antique ceramic plates from China that they held in their cupboard. Many people offer to buy these items, but the caretaker never dared to sell them, believing that his fate would be similar of the two past temple caretakers, who Guanyin supposedly took in their sleep as they were cheating the temple out of donation money. When fieldwork participants visited again in December 2023, however, these items had vanished. The following images show the Xuandi (玄帝) altar in the back left corner of the Nanpu Gong (南埔宮) (Image 01). Image 02 shows the plaque on the ceiling above this altar, reading from right to left 慧法無邊. There are paintings along the ceiling beams, but they have faded. Image 03 shows a close-up of the table in front of the altar, with the inscription from right to left, 四季興隆. Image 04 shows the items atop the table, including either coffee or tea offerings, and a censer bowl with two Chinese "Golden Flower" (金花) offerings placed inside. Image 05 shows a closer image of the altar itself. The inscription on the right side reads, 玄理禅【禪】機揚上德, and the inscription on the left side reads, 天涯海角沐帝恩. Image 06 shows the top of the altar cavity, featuring the name, 玄天上帝, which identifies the name of the deity, Xuantian, or Xuanwu. Among the Thai people, Xuanwu is known as Chao Pho Suea, or the Tiger God, or amongst the Teochew people (唐人) (ชาวเถิง), he is known as Tua Lao Yah (大老爷 "Big Deity"). Image 07 shows a close-up of the Zhao Gongming (趙公明) figure, the Chinese martial god of wealth, to the left of the larger Xuanwu figure. Here, he can be seen holding a Three-pointed double-edged sword (三尖兩刃刀) On this side of the box there is also a bottle of water as an offering, some flowers, a tray filled with pearls, and a large Chinese "Golden Flower" (金花) offering. The temple caretaker specified that one week before the Chinese New Year (春節), they change out these golden flowers, and burn the old ones. Image 08 shows the Xuantian figure, standing atop of two turtles. The sign in front of him reads, เจ้าพ่อเสือ, meaning the "Tiger God." There is a small golden tiger statue in between Xuantian and the red sign plaque. Image 09 shows the right side of the altar box, featuring Erlang Shen (二郎神), holding a three-pointed double-edged spear (三尖兩刃刀槍) and a golden fish. Behind the deity is another Chinese "Golden Flower" (金花) offering. Image 10 shows the items hung on the wall to the left of the altar, featuring a sticker of a vase with flowers in it and a portrait of King Rama V, Chulalongkorn (จุฬาลงกรณ์). Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen.

Bangkok (Thailand); 13.721964; 100.492967

chi; tha; eng

Cluster 3.4: Typologies of Text-Image Relations

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0443943

Non UBC

Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate

DSpace