Law Uk Tseun's Main Community Temple - Before its renovation in 1993

As Chinese people in the past, particularly people who lived in villages and the older generation, were very superstitious and religious and so it was normal for every village to have its very own temple (Pinyin translation: chu-tong). In Nam Chung, there is one temple which is accessible for everyone however it is these temples that are only exclusive to the people who live in the same village or bare the same surname as the neighbors of the village.

Main Temple of Law Uk Tseun in the early 1900's

This is what the main temple of the Law Uk Tseun looked like for a very long time before its complete renovation in 1993. This is the place where the entire community would often meet to pray and practice their beliefs especially the older generation who would go there daily to pray. The temple is physically easily accessible to others as it was part of the structure of the typical houses there (it was only 2 doors down from my father's house!). No one from outside the Law Uk Tseun neighborhood and especially people who did not have the "Law" surname would be allowed access to the temple.

As mentioned earlier, the temple was often a meeting places for all neighbors of the community, it specifically hosted many important Chinese events especially Chinese New Year. In these events, everyone from the neighborhood would gather together to celebrate; firstly by praying and practicing together in the temple and then eating together as shown in the picture. In these cases, many of the neighbors each all made and brought an offering of food to share with others and added all together, everyone would have a big feast in celebration of the festivity.

*Further explanations of the temple will be discussed in an upcoming post of the temple after its major renovation in 1993*

Sources:
- All pictures used here were personally taken by some of my relatives
- Information was given by my Father and my Uncle