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Outside Gate of the Niao Shi Temple (鳥石寺) (ศาลเจ้า โอวเจียะ หยี่อาเนี้ยเก็ง) (Sanchao O Jia Yi Ania Keng) Anderl, Christoph; Johansen, Kira; Thomson, Oliver; Sirothphiphat, Saly
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 set of images show the outside gate of the Niao Shi Temple (鳥石寺). Image 01 and Image 02 show right and left perspectives of the gate and entranceways. There are two entrances, one with a Chinese inscription, and one with an inscription in Thai. Image 03 and Image 04 show a close-up of the right entranceway and the inscription, reading 鳥石寺. Image 05 and Image 06 show the pillars of this entranceway, featuring golden dragon and cloud motifs. There are lanterns hung on the outside of these pillars that read, 恭喜發財 "Wishing you prosperity." The electric box next to the right pillar has displays referencing COVID-19. Image 07 shows the top of this entranceway, featuring large porcelain figures: On the far right, Lan Caihe (藍采和), one of the eight immortals in the Daoist pantheon. Interestingly, this is the only one out of the eight immortals whose gender is ambiguous. Lan Caihe is often depicted carrying a basket of flowers, as in this image. On the middle right, Han Xiangzi 韓湘子 (Qingfu 清夫or Beizhu 北渚), another one of the eight immortals in the Daoist pantheon. He is often depicted carrying a Chinese flute, or a dizi 笛子, as he is here. On the middle left, Ji Gong 濟公 (1130-1209), a Chan Buddhist monk, who was known for upsetting Buddhist monastic rules by eating meat and drinking alcohol. He was also known to help the poor and advocate for justice. On top of his head there is a 佛, for "Buddha." On the far left, Iron-Crutch Li 鐵拐李 from the "Eight Immortals Cross the Sea" (八仙過海), a popular story in Chinese mythology. Below these large figures are smaller figures, likely all from the Journey to the West (西遊記), a novel written in the Ming Dynasty (明, 1368-1644) by Wu Cheng'en (吳承恩): On the far right is likely Sun Wukong (孫悟空), or the Monkey King. On the middle right is Tang Sanzang (唐僧), a Buddhist monk. On the middle left is Zhu Bajie "Pigsy" (豬八戒), who is an aid to the aforementioned Tang Sanzang. On the far right is Sha Wujing (沙悟淨), a disciple of the aforementioned Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang. In between the smaller figures is a small pagoda. Image 08 shows the left entranceway, with the inscription in Thai detailing the name of the shrine, ศาลเจ้าโอวเจี่ยะหยี่อาเนี้ยเก็ง, and the names of the district and province, the Thonburi district อําเภอธนบุรี and the Thonburi province จังหวัดธนบุรี. There are no decorated pillars on this side, but there are lanterns identical to those hung on the right entranceway. Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen
Item Metadata
| Title |
Outside Gate of the Niao Shi Temple (鳥石寺) (ศาลเจ้า โอวเจียะ หยี่อาเนี้ยเก็ง) (Sanchao O Jia Yi Ania Keng)
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| Creator | |
| Contributor | |
| Date Issued |
2023-05-30
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| 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 set of images show the outside gate of the Niao Shi Temple (鳥石寺). Image 01 and Image 02 show right and left perspectives of the gate and entranceways. There are two entrances, one with a Chinese inscription, and one with an inscription in Thai. Image 03 and Image 04 show a close-up of the right entranceway and the inscription, reading 鳥石寺. Image 05 and Image 06 show the pillars of this entranceway, featuring golden dragon and cloud motifs. There are lanterns hung on the outside of these pillars that read, 恭喜發財 "Wishing you prosperity." The electric box next to the right pillar has displays referencing COVID-19. Image 07 shows the top of this entranceway, featuring large porcelain figures: On the far right, Lan Caihe (藍采和), one of the eight immortals in the Daoist pantheon. Interestingly, this is the only one out of the eight immortals whose gender is ambiguous. Lan Caihe is often depicted carrying a basket of flowers, as in this image. On the middle right, Han Xiangzi 韓湘子 (Qingfu 清夫or Beizhu 北渚), another one of the eight immortals in the Daoist pantheon. He is often depicted carrying a Chinese flute, or a dizi 笛子, as he is here. On the middle left, Ji Gong 濟公 (1130-1209), a Chan Buddhist monk, who was known for upsetting Buddhist monastic rules by eating meat and drinking alcohol. He was also known to help the poor and advocate for justice. On top of his head there is a 佛, for "Buddha." On the far left, Iron-Crutch Li 鐵拐李 from the "Eight Immortals Cross the Sea" (八仙過海), a popular story in Chinese mythology. Below these large figures are smaller figures, likely all from the Journey to the West (西遊記), a novel written in the Ming Dynasty (明, 1368-1644) by Wu Cheng'en (吳承恩): On the far right is likely Sun Wukong (孫悟空), or the Monkey King. On the middle right is Tang Sanzang (唐僧), a Buddhist monk. On the middle left is Zhu Bajie "Pigsy" (豬八戒), who is an aid to the aforementioned Tang Sanzang. On the far right is Sha Wujing (沙悟淨), a disciple of the aforementioned Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang. In between the smaller figures is a small pagoda. Image 08 shows the left entranceway, with the inscription in Thai detailing the name of the shrine, ศาลเจ้าโอวเจี่ยะหยี่อาเนี้ยเก็ง, and the names of the district and province, the Thonburi district อําเภอธนบุรี and the Thonburi province จังหวัดธนบุรี. There are no decorated pillars on this side, but there are lanterns identical to those hung on the right entranceway. Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen
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| Subject | |
| Geographic Location | |
| Type | |
| Language |
chi; tha; eng
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| Notes |
Author affiliations: Ghent University, Florida State University, Edinburgh University, Harvard University
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| Series | |
| Date Available |
2024-04-23
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| Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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| Rights |
Attribution 4.0 International
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| DOI |
10.14288/1.0441490
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| URI | |
| Affiliation | |
| Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
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| Scholarly Level |
Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate
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| Rights URI | |
| Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International