Chinese Spirit-Medium Cults in Singapore

Second Edition

Alan Elliott

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781000324297
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: African American Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

The concentration of this monograph on Chinese spirit mediumship in Singapore is chiefly a device for focussing attention upon the most typical, although rather extreme, manifestation of the major religious orientation of the overseas Chinese. The accounts given here may chiefly be of value as a detailed record of religious rites, but it is hoped that the rites, shown in their institutional context, can also throw some light upon the wider ramifications of culture and society among the Chinese

IV
THE CULT OF THE ‘GREAT SAINT’

The cult which has been selected for description in the greatest detail is one which is composed largely of Straits-born Hokkiens, many of whom, including the chief dang-ki and the chief promoter, are English-speaking. It can hardly be claimed that this cult is typical of all spirit-medium cults, but then no single cult in Singapore could really be said to be so. The most that can be claimed is that it manifests many of the more important characteristics of spirit mediumship in Singapore. Where there are deficiencies in this respect an attempt at compensation will be made in the next chapter by the presentation of further examples of spirit-medium cults.

As a subject for intensive study this cult has several outstanding advantages. The ability of several of the promoters and assistants to speak English and Malay helped to smooth out language difficulties, particularly by way of providing a ready supply of willing interpreters. Since many of them were workers in government offices and commercial firms, there was a sufficient degree of sophistication among them to admit the presence of a foreigner without too serious misgivings. This extended to a willingness to allow observation and flashlight photography on all possible occasions, in contrast to many other cults, which, while not openly objecting to incursions upon their privacy, preferred it on the more elaborate occasions. Above all, there was an orderliness in the cult’s affairs, and a relative punctuality in its performances which permitted frequent and sustained observation in a manner not always possible elsewhere.

It will be obvious, however, that this orderliness has been applied in a highly ingenious manner, and renders the cult rather exceptional. It is, in fact, a cult promoted largely for the benefit of the Straits-born Chinese who do not want to become involved in more questionable spirit-medium practices which are found elsewhere.

The growth of the cult can be traced from the later days of the Japanese occupation, which ended in September, 1945. Several of its promoters had been connected with spirit-medium temples for many years before that. The dang-ki himself had begun to develop his powers at about this time, when, as he describes it, he was filled with a desire to do something to alleviate the suffering which prevailed in Singapore. He and others gathered together to call upon the shen to help them, and it was on such an occasion that he began to come under the influence of the ‘Great Saint’. Even so, the cult did not begin to operate properly until the early days of the British Military Administration which undertook the task of rehabilitating Singapore after the war. At first, the cult had its headquarters in a small house near the site of its present temple. There were then eighteen promoters and two dang-hi. Nowadays, there is only one dang-hi, but since its earliest days the cult has had associated with it a second dang-hi who becomes possessed by ‘General Chao’ (Chao yuan shuai), a black-faced commander of the Heavenly Hosts of particular fame among the Hokkiens. This dang-hi is an elderly, Malay-speaking Hokkien, who had been practising for many years. At first he was fairly active, but after two or three years he became too ill to perform regularly, and was eventually admitted to hospital in a semi-paralysed condition. He was discharged about a year later, and continues to lead a rather pathetic, invalid existence, partly on the charity of the cult. He frequents the temple when ceremonies are taking place, and makes an occasional appearance as a dang-hi at festivals, particularly that of ‘General Chao’.

The chief dang-hi, upon whom the existence of the cult really depends, is a wizened little man of about fifty who works as a clerk for a well-known Singapore firm. At one time he was a steward on ships sailing to Australia and elsewhere. He is married and has a son, but almost the whole of his life outside office hours is devoted to the practise of his powers of mediumship.

Under the British Military Administration, the cult leased a plot of land on a hillside not far from the railway station from the Hokkien Association, and built a wood and thatch temple at a cost of about $2,000. This building follows the usual pattern of a spirit-medium temple. In front is a substantial covered porch which leads into a main hall about twenty feet square. Another door leads out of the main hall into an ante-room on the left. To the right is a store-room in which the three ceremonial sedan chairs are kept, and beyond that there are living quarters and bathrooms.

By the time the temple was built, many of the essential furnishings had already been provided by the promoters and grateful worshippers, but in order to raise sufficient funds the number of promoters was increased from eighteen to thirty-six, and today the names of these ‘temple members’ can be found on two framed plaques hanging inside the door of the main hall. Each of these promoters contributed according to his means, but apart from that the list has little bearing upon the present temple organisation. Some of these early promoters have died, and some have paid no further attention to the cult’s affairs. On the other hand, some of the more important positions are now filled by persons who do not appear on the original list. In general, however, the men who are chiefly responsible for the promotion of festivals are drawn from the thirty-six founders, even though they may not often make appearances at other times.

The real driving force behind the cult is a man who was not associated with it in its earliest days. His normal occupation is in a position of some trust in a government department. He and his wife, together with about six other regular assistants, are largely responsible for the smooth running of the day-to-day business. One of these assistants is a hospital attendant, another is an old man retired from service in a shipping company, and three more are clerks or labourers in a well-known company of British merchants. In addition, four or five youths who live in the neighbourhood can be called upon to beat drums and gongs, and to perform other such minor duties. The resident temple-keeper is an old woman, but her duties do not amount to much more than cleaning and caretaking, since there are very few casual worshippers at the temple, and the chief promoter or one or other of his assistants is always in attendance when a ceremony is taking place. With the exception of the chief promoter, all the persons most intimately concerned with the cult’s affairs live within a few hundred yards of the temple. Although the area is situated within a stone’s throw of a main road running through a suburban district, most of it is built over with scattered thatched huts on a sparsely wooded hillside.

The cult usually meets eight times a week. One of these performances is held on Sunday mornings, when there is always the largest crowd and richest spectacle. The other performances are held at about 6 p.m. on each evening of the week, including Sundays, and consist of less spectacular versions of the Sunday morning performance. At least one festival is held each year to celebrate the ‘Great Saint’s’ birthday on the sixteenth of the Eighth Moon. If circumstances permit, two further festivals are held on the sixteenth of the First Moon and the seventeenth of the Second Moon, to celebrate the ‘Great Saint’s’ subsidiary birthday and ‘General Chao’s’ birthday respectively.

Since the failure of ‘General Chao’s’ dang-ki, the worship of the cult has been directed almost exclusively towards the ‘Great Saint’. According to the current version of the legend, for which no supporting authority can be found elsewhere, there are five Monkey Brothers who may appear when the shen is invoked. Each is likely to appear for a number of years before handing over to another brother, unless for any special reason the others have to be consulted. The first Monkey Brother is the wisest and most quiescent of them all. When possessing the dang-ki he can be identified by the manner in which he shades his eyes with his right hand while gazing into the distance. The second Monkey Brother is of fiercer temperament, and can be identified by the manner in which he scratches at his ears as a monkey would. He has a predeliction also for eating fire and fruit. The third, fourth and fifth Monkey Brothers are more and more irascible, but there is no detailed knowledge concerning their characteristics since they have never yet appeared. So far it is only the second Monkey Brother who possesses the dang-ki, although the eldest brother is sometimes deferred to in difficult cases and may make a temporary appearance.

Among the worshippers at this temple women greatly outnumber men. Most of them could probably be classed as the relatives of labourers and junior clerks. ‘There is always a sprinkling of women who come from the servant classes. Few men seem to come of their own accord. Most of those who have consultations with the dang-ki have been persuaded to take this course by their wives, and others who wait around the temple premises have come in the company of a wife or sister. They are more prepared than the women to profess a certain scepticism, but this does not mean that they are not equally open to conviction if the results are satisfactory. Part of the dang-ki’s skill lies in persuading his consultants that satisfaction has in fact been given. On one occasion, a young man came to the dang-ki to obtain protection for his brother who was shortly to be tried for a smuggling offence. When the case was over, he returned to report somewhat irately that his brother had been fined $500. With a few well chosen phrases, the dang-ki was able to persuade him that he ought to be very grateful that his brother had escaped with a fine instead of suffering a heavy gaol sentence. By constant repetition that he alone can be efficacious whatever the trouble, the dang-ki is able to convince a number of people.

It is by methods such as these that the fame of the cult is spread. A satisfied worshipper tells her friends, and when these friends are in trouble they, too, will come to the temple. It is not surprising to find that many of the worshippers have relatives in the business houses to which some of the leading promoters belong. Beyond that it is difficult to ascertain what part of Singapore the worshippers come from. No records are kept of the day-to-day consultations and it is not an advisable procedure to question worshippers too closely in such matters. The only likely evidence can be found in the register of the temple’s ‘dedicated children’ (Khoè-Kiân H.). These names, which number over five hundred, are kept in a bulky exercise book by the chief promoter. The names, with addresses, are written in romanised characters as well as Chinese in order to facilitate alphabetical reference. They may be those of children who have been brought to the temple and cured of some illness or they may be the children of ardent devotees who wish them to be under the protection of the shen in their early years. When a child is dedicated in this manner, he is given a red cake to eat and a medallion to wear. Once a year, on the shen’s anniversary, the dedicated children are ‘prayed for’. There is no stipulated limit of age up to which a child can be considered dedicated to the shen. This practice of compiling a register of ‘dedicated children’ is one which many spirit-medium cults have borrowed from the general practices of Chinese temple worship in order to spread their influence and give themselves an air of authenticity.

An examination of this register reveals that about seventy-five per cent of the ‘dedicated children’ live within a radius of half a mile from the temple. The others come from various parts of Singapore, but rarely from the far side of the city. There are a few cases which substantiate the promoters’ claims that worshippers come from considerable distances, but it is apparent that the real influence of the cult is local. The only exception can be found in a following of about twenty persons who come from a Hakka village eight miles away which has no temple of its own. Within that area, it is capable of drawing most of the persons who wish to consult a dang-ki, but beyond that any reputation it may have depends largely upon the connections of its promoters. By one means or another, however, the cult has acquired the support of over a thousand devotees who are prepared to make subscriptions and attend personally at the time of the annual festival.

The Sunday Morning Ceremony. On Sunday mornings from ten o’clock onwards the promoters and worshippers begin to gather at the temple. The chief promoter is usually seated at a table under the porch where the business with worshippers is transacted. Those who wish to buy incense sticks and other paraphernalia from him may do so. These supplies are stored on shelves beside the altar at the back of the main hall. If worshippers wish for consultations with the dang-ki, they are given cardboard tickets, numbered in both Chinese and English, showing their order of precedence. Inside the main hall, a bundle of red papers is hung on the left wall. The consultation is paid for, according to the means of the worshipper, by wrapping the contribution in one of these sheets of red paper and dropping it into a brass bowl on the offering table.

Meanwhile other temple assistants are lighting oil lamps and candles and pumping at the pressure lamps which provide the chief illumination inside the dark interior. The worshippers mingle with them, placing food and fruit offerings on the table, lighting incense sticks and carrying out their private obeisances to the shen. Soon the altar, which is shut off from the public by a low wooden barricade, can only be seen dimly through a cloud of incense smoke. As in the case of most spirit-medium temples, it is crowded with an array of small images. Several of them are representations of the ‘Great Saint’ in a variety of poses. At the back is a larger image of the many-armed Kuan Yin, who is treated as his superior in the Buddhist hierarchy.

By eleven o’clock, about forty or fifty people are waiting round the temple. Nothing can happen until the dang-ki arrives. At last he comes up the hill, a bespectacled little man in shirt and shorts. After a few words of greeting, he disappears behind the scenes and re-emerges dressed in a costume of saffron-coloured silk. Across his chest is a stomacher with an Eight Trigram design embroidered on it. A sash fastens this round his waist. His pyjama-like trousers, embellished with a floral design, are tied around his ankles. On the more important occasions he wears a tiger-skin belt, apron and gaiters. His spectacles have been removed and his feet are bare, but he still wears his wristwatch. Standing beside the offering table he makes up the whole of his face with red and white grease paint until it becomes unrecognisable. He then dons a collar from which hang many-coloured strips of silk. With the help...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• Foreward
• Table of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• I. Introduction
• II. The Position of Spirit Mediumship in Chinese Religion
• III. The Theory and Practice of Spirit Mediumship
• IV. The Cult of the ‘Great Saint’
• V. Comparison of Spirit-Medium Cults
• VI. Specialised Branches of Shenism
• VII. Spirit-Medium Festivals
• VIII. Conclusions
• Appendices
• Glossary
• Bibliography