Friday, May 3, 2013

After 193 years

The Koxinga Temple in Penang, Malaysia, finally finds its roots in Taiwan.

To formalize the link-up, a statue of Koxinga, known as 金身, is prepared at the Cheng Family Temple in Tainan in an elaborate ritual, complete with food offering accompanied by traditional music. The process, 分靈 or "spiritual cloning" for lack of a better terminology, is required to authenticate the origin of this statue.


The statue is then officially handed over to Chairman Lim of the Koxiga Temple in Peneng for the journey to Malaysia:

Before boarding
Arriving in Penang
Reception at Koxinga Temple in Penang
Finally, the new statue takes up the rightful place (above), replacing the one lost in 1910-20.

After 193 years of isolation, the followers of Koxinga have finally come back to the seat of Tung-Ning Kingdom and celebrated, together with delegates from China and Japan, Koxiga's opening of Taiwan in 1661.