Law Uk Tseun's Main Community Temple - After it's Renovations in 1993

As mentioned in the previous post, the same principals apply for the Law Uk Tseun's main community temple in 1993 however it was this year that they completed renovated the entire temple. Thanks to the close knit community, the temple was able to be completely broken down and then rebuilt again especially with the help of the donations made by members of the neighborhood.

Before and After its Renovation in 1993

As you can see here, major changes were made to it, some key ones being sectioning it off from the other building in the little village contributing to its significance as well as preventing hazard to it. None of previous things used in the previous temple were kept as a key feature of this renovation was a 'new start' and so everything is new to represent something anew. 

This was plaque on the wall here is a script showing the names of all the people who have donated money towards this new temple and how much they have donated. 

As it was with the previous temple, all celebrations were still held in this temple and it was still exclusive to the people who lived in the village and those who held the "Law" surname. Offerings of roast pork (also known as Golden Pig), chicken and duck were made to the spiritual Gods in the temple as this was given in exchange for the happiness and safety of Law Uk Tseun. The 'Golden Pig' was the most traditional offering to the Gods due to its association with family prosperity. Additionally, pigs were one of the most important animals in the Chinese economy and those who owned them were known to be wealthy relating to its symbolic meaning of general prosperity, wealth and overall good fortune making it the most traditional offering to give. 

Both of banners here are/were placed at the top of the entry of both the temple before and after its renovations declaring that only people who have the Law surname can enter. 

 One of the temple's most prized and valuable possessions are these candles holders made of stone. This is known as an heirloom of Law Uk Tseun that has been passed down by many generations. The original people who made these were the ancestors of villagers living in Law Uk Tseun and so can't be found anywhere else. In the past, these "treasures" of the neighborhood were originally stolen by someone who used to live in the village who sold it to someone else. They were then brought back to the temple after everyone in the neighborhood collectively donated to buy them back yet again showing the close knit community. 

Whilst this cannot be seen in the pictures of the new temple, both temples also have scriptures of Chinese symbols and characters on the door and the sides of the entry. These are mainly put up around Chinese New Year and its main purpose is to prevent any bad spirits from entering the temple whilst the villagers practice inside it. This is slightly shown in the picture of the front of the new temple above with the lanterns and the Chinese characters, however this picture of the old temple shows more by showing the picture of a God on the door who will help prevent the temple by not allowing any bad spirits in. This would also be placed on the door of the new temple however I cannot find a picture of it. 

Sources used:

- All pictures were personally taken by family relatives 

- Majority of information was given by my Father 

- https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dAPQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA317&lpg=PA317&dq=offering+golden+pig+to+chinese+gods&source=bl&ots=Dtp5JOfVxx&sig=WyJFlFgskaLzsp4x43LsbxWRJYg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwix0b_cw_HPAhXmCcAKHa4wDO0Q6AEIJDAB#v=onepage&q=offering%20golden%20pig%20to%20chinese%20gods&f=false