Cultural Centre for Wong Tai Sin Belief and Customs
Origin
The Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple is the place of origin of the Wong Tai Sin Faith in Hong Kong. Through the century of preaching Taoism by the sages, the belief of Wong Tai Sin has not only been deeply rooted in Hong Kong, but the Wong Tai Sin Temple has also become an important religious attraction as well. With the active cooperation between the SAR Government and our Yuen, the "Wong Tai Sin Belief and Customs" in Hong Kong was inscribed onto the fourth national list of intangible cultural heritage by the State Council in 2014, and also was listed in the first "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong" by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in 2017. To celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Sik Sik Yuen and promote the culture of Wong Tai Sin Belief and Customs to the worshippers and tourists from all of the world persistently, our Board of Directors are in great honour to establish the "Cultural Centre for Wong Tai Sin Belief and Customs" in 2021.
The Construction Progress of the Cultural Centre
The "Wong Tai Sin Belief and Customs" in Hong Kong was inscribed onto the fourth national list of intangible cultural heritage by the State Council in 2014. Since then, the board of directors of Sik Sik Yuen started to find a way to establish a systematic platform to promote the faith and values of Wong Tai Sin Belief.
In 2018, a proposal about setting up a Cultural Centre of Master Wong Tai Sin belief and culture in Wong Tai Sin Temple was adopted in board meeting. However, with a history of over 100 years, the space of the temple had been fully occupied. Hence, our board of directors decided to learn from the successful module -- “Taisui Yuanchen Hall”, to create a underground area for the Cultural Centre in the central of Wong Tai Sin Temple.
The construction affected the situation as a whole, the Statues of Yuelao and Couples was needed to be relocated to Fung Ming Hall Plaza, the height level of the (original) platform of the Statues of Yuelao and Couples had to be raised. A Caishen Palace (also known as God of Wealth Palace) was built on the raised platform afterwards. At the same time, an escalator was built beside the main gate of the temple, in order to serve the elder worshippers. The area of the construction site of Cultural Centre was covered the main road of the temple so, a new worshipping routing must be planned. Also, since the Cultural Centre is located at the central of the temple, the only way for constructive materials and machine to move in, was to overhang by mobile crane. Last but not least, in order to provide a larger space for exhibition, all columns had to be built against the wall , and so, the structure wall had to be strengthened.
The construction work had been lasted for 3 years and finished in 2021. Our Board of directors had chosen “11 Nov, 2021” to open the Cultural Centre officially. Hence, “11 Nov” was the day of the "Wong Tai Sin Belief and Customs" in Hong Kong inscribed onto the fourth national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2014, and, “2021” is the year of 100th anniversary of Sik Sik Yuen. The establishment of the Cultural Centre symbolized one of the milestones in a century of history of Sik Sik Yuen.
The Design Concept of the Cultural Centre
The “Cultural Centre for Wong Tai Sin Belief and Customs“ is the first exhibition hall of intangible cultural heritage which established by the successors. The design concept of the Cultural Centre is “To use the Modern Technology, To promote the Traditional Culture”, content and exhibits must be demonstrated in a friendly and interesting way to both scholars and laymen, and, to teens and elders. Hence, the Cultural Centre would be able to become a platform of inheritance of Wong Tai Sin Belief and Customs.
The Cultural Centre could be divided into 9 zones:
- Wishing Wall
- Pilgrimage to the Temple
- Chronicle of a Hundred Years
- Glimpses of History
- Taoist Culture Exploration
- Display of Taoist Robes
- Couplets Appreciation
- A Stroll through Time
- Enlightenment from Master Wong Tai Sin
Book a Visit
The Cultural Centre for Wong Tai Sin Belief and Customs warmly welcomes both individual and group visits by appointment. To enrich your visit, we also offer public guided tours every month. If you are interested, we invite you to click the following link and fill out the application form.