Coming home - Part 6

This seemingly ordinary dragon table is actually 136 years old. The horizontal inscription 開山聖王 is a more formal title than 開山王 that again refers to Koxinga. The vertical inscription on the right side reads 光緒丁丑年 (i.e., 1876) - when it was dedicated, and the left side the donor's name, a Wang ? Shan (王?山, the middle name is not readable). The table was installed during a period when the Koxinga statue was the only deity in the temple.

After 192 years of being on its own, unguided yet never strayed from its origin, it is now time for the Koxinga Temple in Jelutong to link up with the original Koxinga Temple 鄭成功祖廟Cheng Family Temple in Tainan. Unlike 延平郡王祠, which was a Qing installation, the Cheng Family Temple was built by Koxinga's son and heir, 鄭經Cheng Jing.

Principal overseer Mr J Lim will travel from Penang, Malaysia, to Taiwan, and on Nov 6 to pay a courtesy visit to the Cheng Family Temple in Tainan. A delegation from Penenag is also being organized and its members will participate in the celebration of 鄭成功開台紀念日 on April 29, 2013.

His Highness will no doubt continue to look after those who tough it out and honor him throughout the ages, be they residents of Taiwan or the distant Malaysia, they are all members of the extended 東寧Tung-Ning Cheng Family.

To our bretherens in Penang: Welcome home!