The Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Ipoh

怡保斗母宫九皇爷
(Image source: Perpetual Memorial Park)

【Writer: Lee Eng Kew】

Compared to Penang, fewer people follow the Nine Emperors Vegan Diet. The Tow Boh Keong Temple in Ipoh is a centuries-old religious site with a significant congregation from various regions of Perak. There are also street vendors who prepare and sell a variety of baked goods, including miku buns, longevity peach buns, moho kuey and other items, while some devotees use nyonya kuey as part of their worship practices. It is uncommon for worshippers to place incense on offerings made to the Nine Emperor Gods. Although the majority of the local population is of Hakka and Cantonese origin, the temple masters are from Taiping. They are responsible for inviting the deities, worshipping the Five Armies and performing the Fire Crossing Ceremony, and they chant incantations in Hokkien. The altar in the main hall of Dou Mu Gong is of considerable height, with a passageway underneath. It is customary for worshippers to walk under the altar and through the passageway in an anti-clockwise direction to seek good fortune and peace.

The Tow Boh Keong Temple has a particularly unusual "incense pouch", a common item in Chaozhou, Fujian Province. In ancient times, the incense ash from the temple was collected and placed in a small triangular red bag, which was then worn on the body. This practice was believed to protect the wearer from harm and misfortune and to bring good luck. This small red pouch is known as an incense pouch. 

Typically, a small circle is sewn onto the top of the triangle so that it can be hung around the neck with a rope. When returning home or going to sleep at night, the pouch would be hung in a clean place, such as the altar or hall. Some people also attached it to their clothes, as in earlier times people rarely changed their clothes for the rest of their lives. However, the incense pouch should not be placed in unclean places, such as bamboo drying racks or toilets. Sewing it onto clothing is therefore a rare practice. Otherwise, you would have to undress every time you go to the toilet or take it off when you do your laundry and sew it back on after it has dried, which is very inconvenient. 

The ashes contained in an incense sachet represent the deity in question, so the sachet can also be used for worship. The sachets observed in Ipoh do not contain ashes, but rather a paper talisman representing the Nine Emperor Gods. The triangular sachets are yellow and inscribed with the Nine Emperor Gods talisman and the name of the temple. There is also a small circle with a pin attached to it so that the worshippers can attach it to their clothes.

怡保斗母宫九皇爷诞
(Image source: Perpetual Memorial Park)

The history of the Tong Tien Koon Temple is relatively recent, and the rituals observed there are distinctly different from those of other regions. The deities are welcomed on several occasions, including the evening of the 8th day of the 9th month, which marks the final day of the festival, as well as the evenings of the 2nd, 5th and 7th days of the 9th month. The Nine Emperor Gods are sent off on the morning of the 10th day of the 9th month. The dates for welcoming and sending the deities are identical to those observed at the Nine Emperor Gods Temple in Taiping, although the deities in question are different. Furthermore, the Tong Tien Koon Temple also invites Zhusheng Niangniang (on the 5th night of the 1st lunar month) and Doumu Niangniang (on the 7th night of the 1st lunar month). The dates for worshipping the Five Armies are the 1st, 3rd, 6th (double army) and 9th (great army) days.

The Nine Emperor Gods Temples are equipped with pole lanterns, which are long bamboo poles erected and then hung up the horizontal stretcher to hang the nine-star lanterns of the items. The items themselves are made of a variety of materials, including bamboo, betel trees, and iron pipes. One particularly notable example is the Tai Pee Sim Monastery in Ipoh which has constructed a "Pole Lantern Pagoda," a truly unique structure.

#万富 #继承传统

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