Chinese temple and Chinese community in colonial Hong Kong : a case study of Man Mo Temple in Sheung Wan = Hua ren miao yu yu zhi min di de Xianggang Hua ren she hui : yi Shanghuan Wen wu miao wei yan jiu ge an

Abstract

The Man Mo Temple（文武廟）Compound on Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, which comprises three blocks, namely Man Mo Temple, Lit Shing Kung （列聖宮） and Kung Sor（公所）, were built in 1847 . The Temple was built mainly for the worship of Man Cheong (God of Literature, 文昌) and Mo Tai (God of Martial Arts, 武帝). It was important assembly hall where Chinese people discussed issues and resolved disputes in early colonial period. The Temple represented the traditional social organization and religious practices of the Chinese community in the past.

The aim of this study examines the development of Man Mon Temple from 1840s to 1908. This thesis contains six main chapters. The first chapter is literature review of previous researches for Man Mo Temple, as well as presents the objectives and methodology of the thesis. The second chapter explores the reasons for its establishment. The third chapter describes the development of architecture of temple. The forth chapter describes and analyses the Guandi worship （關帝信仰）and Wenchang belief （文昌信仰）in Hong Kong. The fifth chapter evaluates the significance of Man Mo Temple on different periods. The temple provided religious service, also as sponsor the charitable work of the Chinese community. It analyses the change of the temple’s function in colonial period. The final chapter is a conclusion how the Man Mo Temple shift to accommodate changing needs of the colonial development.