Hung Shing wong (), also known as Hung Shing Ye () and Tai Wong () is a

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...

deity. The most popular tale states that in his lifetime he was a government official in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(AD 618–907)Chinese Temples Committee website
/ref>Brief Information on Proposed Grade I Items, pp.207-208
named Hung Hei () serving

Pun Yue Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 2 ...

in present-day

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

.Hung Shing Festival at discoverhongkong.com
/ref> His festival () is held on the 13th day of the 2nd month in the

Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ��曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ��曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar ��曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...

Life and memory

The popular tale is that Hung Hei was a righteous government official who won approbation from the people. During his tenure in office, he promoted the study and application of astronomy, geography and mathematics, and established an observatory to observe the meteorological changes, thus contributing to the well-being of people under his governance, especially fishermen and sea traders. Unfortunately, he died young. After his death, an Emperor of the Tang dynasty disseminated his virtues to the whole country and bestowed upon him the

posthumous title A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments o ...

of Nam Hoi Kwong Li Hung Shing Tai Wong (), lit. the Saint King Hung the Widely Beneficial of South Sea. It is usually shortened to Hung Shing or Tai Wong. Legend has it that Hung Shing continued to guard the people against natural disasters on numerous occasions after his death, and showed his presence to save many people during tempests.Welcome to 18 districts - Wan Chai District
/ref> The government as well as fishermen in the surrounding area built many temples to worship him as the God of Southern Sea. Hung Shing temples have been widely built in southern China, especially Guangdong province and in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. In Hong Kong, they are named Hung Shing Miu () or Tai Wong Miu (). Modern scholars however believe that Hung Shing is derived from the worship of

Zhurong Zhurong (), also known as Chongli (), is an important personage in Chinese mythology and Chinese folk religion. According to the '' Huainanzi'' and the philosophical texts of Mozi and his followers, Zhurong is a god of fire and of the south. Th ...

, the fire deity and god of the southern seas. Worship of Zhurong as the god of the southern seas predates the Tang dynasty: one temple dedicated to the "South Sea God" in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

dates from the preceding

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and la ...

. The title "South Sea God" was conferred by

Emperor Wen of Sui The Emperor Wen of Sui (; 21 July 541 – 13 August 604), personal name Yang Jian (), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (), alias Narayana () deriving from Buddhist terms, was the founder and the first emperor of the Chinese Sui dynasty. The ''Book of ...

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756 CE. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. In the early ...

conferred on the South Sea God the title "Guangli DaWang" (), and additional titles were conferred during the Song and Yuan dynasties, resulting eventually in the full title "South Sea Guangli Hongsheng Zhaoshun Weixian Lingfu Wang" ().

References

{{Guangdong topics Chinese gods Tang dynasty people Taoism in Guangdong Deified Chinese people

Life and memory

See also

References