Tua Pek Kong (; Tâi-lô: ''Tuā-peh-kong'') is a

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

deity in the pantheon of Peranakan folk religion practiced by ethnic Chinese in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and parts of Indonesia. Throughout

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, Tua Pek Kong is referred as the "God of Prosperity", where he is thought to be an incarnation of the god "Fu" from the trio of "

Fu Lu Shou The Sanxing ()) are the gods of the three celestial bodies considered essential in Chinese astrology and mythology: Jupiter, Ursa Major, and Canopus. Fu, Lu, and Shou (), or Cai, Zi and Shou () are also the embodiments of Fortune (Fu (character ...

" representing "Prosperity, Fortune and Longevity" or a sailor from

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

who sacrificed himself for a fellow human.

Background

One of the prominent Tua Pek Kong was named Zhang Li () from the

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

clan. His Indonesian

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

-bound boat was struck by wind and accidentally landed on

Penang Island Penang Island is the main constituent island of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located off the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Malacca Strait, with the Penang Strait separating the island from Seberang Perai on the mainla ...

in present-day

, which at that time had only 50 inhabitants. He is believed to have arrived in the island 40 years earlier than

Francis Light Francis Light ( – 21 October 1794) was a British sailor and explorer best known for founding the colony of Penang and its capital city of George Town in 1786. Light was the father of William Light, who founded the city of Adelaide in South A ...

in 1746. After his death, the local people began worshipping him and built the Tua Pek Kong Temple there where he was buried behind the Sea Pearl Island Tua Pek Kong Temple in

Tanjung Tokong Tanjong Tokong is a suburb of George Town, Penang, George Town in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Penang. It is located at the northeastern coast of Penang Island, northwest of the Central George Town, Penang, ci ...

. The story of the first Tua Pek Kong in Penang demonstrates the tradition of sworn brotherhood between the

Chinese diaspora Overseas Chinese people are people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 million people livin ...

: Since then, he has been worshipped by

Malaysian Chinese Malaysian Chinese, Chinese Malaysians, or Sino-Malaysians are Malaysians, Malaysian citizens of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Malaysian Malays, Malay majority, and , const ...

throughout the country. Tua Pek Kong is often mistaken for

Tu Di Gong A Tudigong ( zh, s=土地公, l=Lord of the Land) is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location. There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in ...

, partially because of their physical similarities. Between 1865 until 1868, Chung Keng Quee was a principal donor to the Haichu-yu (Sea Pearl) Tua Pek Kong Temple in Tanjung Tokong, Penang.

Temples

The oldest and the first Tua Pek Kong Temple in Malaysia is located in Tanjung Tokong, Penang which was established in a fishing village no later than 1792 that eventually sprouts the worship of Tua Pek Kong throughout

West Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the nearby isla ...

East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory ...

and parts of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. In the foot of Bukit Cina (Chinese Hill) in

Malacca City Malacca City ( or ') is the List of capitals in Malaysia, capital city of the Malaysian state of Malacca, in Melaka Tengah District. It is List of cities by time of continuous habitation, the oldest Malaysian city on the Straits of Malacca, hav ...

, the Poh San Teng Temple is dedicated to Tua Pek Kong. In

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

of East Malaysia, there are around 76 known Tua Pek Kong temples scattered throughout every Chinese settlement in the state; some of the famous temples are the Tua Pek Kong Temple, Kuching, the Tua Pek Kong Temple in coastal

Miri Miri () is a coastal city in north-eastern Sarawak, Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei, on the island of Borneo. The city covers an area of , located northeast of Kuching and southwest of Kota Kinabalu. Miri is the second largest ...

which is built after an epidemic in the town, and the Tua Pek Kong Temple, Sibu with its 7-storey pagoda that has become one of the landmark for

Sibu Sibu is a landlocked city located in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. It serves as the capital of Sibu District within Sibu Division and is situated on the island of Borneo. Covering an area of , the city is positioned at the conf ...

. In

Batam Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a kecamatan, district within this city), is the largest List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administra ...

of Indonesia, one of its notable Tua Pek Kong Temple is located in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, while in Singapore its most notable Tua Pek Kong temples is located in

Balestier Balestier () is a sub zone located in the planning area of Novena, Singapore, Novena in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. The main road, Balestier Road, links Thomson Road, Singapore, Thomson Road to Serangoon Road and ...

Loyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengz ...

, Kusu Island and Ubin. File:马六甲三宝庙.JPG, Poh San Teng Temple, Bukit Cina,

, Malaysia File:Tua Pek Kong, Kuching.jpg, Tua Pek Kong Temple, Kuching, Malaysia File:Marudi Tua Pek Kong - panoramio (2).jpg, Tua Pek Kong Temple, Marudi, Malaysia File:Tua Pek Kong Temple - February 2019.jpg,

Pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but some ...

of Tua Pek Kong Temple, Sibu, Malaysia File:Sejahtera Sakti Selatpanjang.jpg,

Hoo Ann Kiong Temple Hoo Ann Kiong Temple (, known as Vihara Sejahtera Sakti in Indonesian language, Indonesian) is the oldest Chinese Taoism temple in Selat Panjang. This temple is the oldest in Riau province and on Jalan Ahmad Yani, Selat Panjang, Riau. It is on ...

Riau Riau (Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Barisan Mountains to the Malacca Strait, including s ...

, Indonesia File:印尼巴淡岛大伯公庙 - panoramio.jpg, Tua Pek Kong Temple,

, Indonesia File:Tua Pek Kong chinese temple (18802628562).jpg, Fo Shan Ting Da Bo Gong Temple, Ubin, Singapore File:Tua Pek Kong Shrine in Singapore.jpg, Tua Pek Kong shrine at a hawker centre in Singapore.

References

{{Mythology of Malaysia Asian gods Religion in Malaysia Malaysian legends Hakka culture in Singapore

Background

Temples

See also

References