Ching Ming Ji is a period to remember, honour and pay respect to one’s deceased ancestors and family members. It reinforces filial piety in Chinese society by getting them to make special effort to visit the cemetery to pay their respects to the spirits of their dead ancestors.
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Located behind the Chinatown Market, there is a chinese temple dedicated to the goddess Tien Hou (Queen of Heaven), Kun Se Sin(Lady in white of Buddhism), Tu Teh Chun (God and goddess of well being and happiness) and many others. According to the writing on the board, this temple was built by Leong Chin and seven others in the year 1858.
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There is nothing accidental about the story of Rev. and Mrs. T. David Lamb because it documents the claim of a sovereign God upon the Tlives of two obedient servants. God’s call uprooted them from their native Shanghai, China and flung them into uncertain surroundings in a strange culture. Theirs is a story of faith that the sovereign God who called them to Calcutta would be with them at all time assuring them of His presence. Rev. and Mrs. Lamb understood their God’s ordained mission to the approximately 25,000 Chinese in the city of Calcutta. They arrived in Calcutta on April 25,1949 with the vision of preaching the gospel and providing English education to the Chinese community.
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The Chinese language makes a clear distinction between “ancestor’s spirits” & “ghosts”. Ancestors are known as “jo sin” or the “former holy founders”. They, jo sin are the guardian spirits who protects and blesses the earthly family. But ghosts are “kwi” – the spirits or ghosts, they are the evil spirits who if not satisfied can cause a lot of damage to people. There are a great numbers of ghosts: some were unlucky enough to have all descendants die out, some died without children, some have been unable to reach the world of the dead since they had no proper funeral, yet others are unable to get food, paper clothing & even spirit money even though they have descendants. These are the deprived dead. Unsatisfied, they are “dangerous” and therefore needs to be appeased.
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Si Fu Tan
(or birthday of the master) is a feast exclusively celebrated by carpenters and blacksmiths. In Calcutta, the Cantonese carpenters and ship builders celebrate this feast with celebration dinners after paying respect to Lu Pan. Probably because of this divine intervention in their trade, the Cantonese Carpenters have a good reputation for quality work and is much sought after by a select clientele. They are known to have had a hand in building the tramways, the docks, railway interiors and interiors of many famous buildings.
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The name “Church” is a misnomer for the Temple for Quan Ti. In Chinese it can only be translated as a club or association. The original founders must have been a remarkable lot to establish the club, arrange for the ebony images of the gods and other temple implements to be brought from the motherland. However these are usually donated by the founder members themselves, whose name are still perfectly visible and preserved on each item. Additional monetary donations are engraved on some five pieces of large slate slabs, for all to see.
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The Sacred Heart Chinese School was founded by the late Father C. De Moor, a Jesuit, in the year 1934 35, after he had spent one year in Kwantung (Southern China) to acquaint himself with the language and customs of the Chinese people. The two first teachers were Mr. Paul Lee and his wife, a Catholic couple from Hong Kong. After having assisted Fr. De Moor as Teachers and Catechist for about five years, both of them returned to Hong Kong. They were succeeded by another Catholic couple. Mr. Joseph Yu and his wife.
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Ng Nyat Chiet falls on the fifth day of the fifth moon in the Chinese lunar calendar. The festival is held to commemorate the death of Wat Yuen, a Chinese poet and patriot. This festival is called Ng Yuet Chi or the Ng Yat Chaet
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