蜈蚣山天师宫 （Wu Gong Shan Tian Shi Gong)
Centipede Temple | Then Sze Temple
Negeri Sembilan
Jalan Temiang, 70200, Seremban
8am - 6.30pm | 0169081179
P.S.A: This blog post will tap into Buddhism and Taoism. I would suggest you to briefly Google the related deities but it's okay, I'll tap on it a little too. Suggested materials: 西游记 Journey to the West and 三国演义 Romance of the Three Kingdoms (nothing about romance; it's mostly war and brilliant strategy like 孙武 Confucius' 孙子兵法 Art of War)
To get to the temple, you must first drive past the bridge. It's not hard to miss especially with Waze's help. The bridge stands out over anything else.
There is a steep drive from the bottom of the hill to the temple. This is the view from above. If you have a car with weaker power, I don't suggest pushing your car's capability.
Once you get to the top, you will be greeted by the sight of parking lots. You can park under the shade or outside.
Pretty limited parking spaces tho.
We parked inside because it was terribly hot outside.
This part of the temple is the Guan Yu temple which will be shown later.
The start of the journey begins with a fleet of stairs.
There is a donation box located in the middle of the staircase as well.
Once you've reached the end of the stairs, you will be greeted by the sight of a huge Guan Yin Statue with Tang Zhen and his white horse on her right-hand side.
观世音菩萨 (Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa) dubbed as the Goddess of Mercy is translated as The One Who Perceives the Sounds of the World. She is the most widely loved Buddhist Divinity with miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her.
She can also be called as 观音 (Guan Yin) for short. She is often portrayed as a young woman in a white robe and holding a jar of pure water on her left hand while her right-hand holds a willow branch. She mainly appears on a lotus flower.
Guan Yin is related to many religions. Some Buddhist and Christian observe had noticed some similarities between her and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was attributed by the representation of Guan Yin holding a child in Chinese art and sculpture. These particular representations gave the name of 送子观音 (Child-Sending Guan Yin) where people pray to receive children through her blessings.
There are also many stories, legends and descriptions of Guan Yin that can be found here:
There is a wishing pond right underneath her statue.
My partner did a few attempts to flip the coins into the little pottery pouch but to no avail. If you are visiting the temple, do give it a try!
Around the pond, we found a stairway that led to the back of the temple. Stairway with many steps can be seen.
A money toad was also located at the centre of the stairway. You can pray to it and touch it (judging from the stairway next to it) to receive good money fortune.
The Shrines
There is also a shrine nearby the pond.
The first shrine that I noticed was actually the main shrine of this temple. 天师爷 (Tian Shi Ye / Then Sze Ye) is the main focus of this 140 years old temple. Legend said that Tian Shi Ye was a powerful 道士 (Taoist Priest) who specializes in catching ghosts and creatures. He was invited to take care of the piece of land which was empty but full of creatures. However, when believers asked him through a medium about the status of the mountain, he demanded to be moved to the top of the mountain. The people felt ironic as the mountain was nothing but full of wild grasses, old trees and weird stones. When the people got up there, they were baffled because, in the middle of an unexpected meadow, there was a joystick on the ground, indicating that the Tian Shi Ye already had a plan. It was said that those who had witnessed the appearance of centipedes will be blessed with great luck and fortune.
Another myth depicted a wanderer who left his home to find better luck in a foreign land. After he had found his fortune, he deliberately neglected his mother who had a hard time taking care of him since young till he was grown. The Gods were furious and they punished him into a stone boat, located on a mountain where he cannot move forward or backwards. On the mountain, there was a centipede accompanying the stone boat where it was said to be the mother of the wanderer who couldn't let go of her son.
This is another shrine dedicated to Guan Yin. There are two children by her side called 金童玉女 (Golden Youth and Jade Maiden), named 善财童子 Shancai Tongzi (红孩儿 Red Boy; Son of the 铁扇公主 Princess Iron Fan / 罗杀女 Demonic Lady and 牛魔王 Bull Demon King) and 龙女 Longnv (Dragon Girl; daughter of the Dragon King of East Sea).
This one here has no statue, implying that the shrine was dedicated to the Sky Deity / Heavens. (If not mistaken because that's what usually people usually do; pray to the air.)
This shrine is dedicated to 5 different deities.
1. 太阴娘娘/太阴星君 Lunar Goddess dubbed as 嫦娥 Chang'e
2. 黄老仙师 Huang Lao Xian Shi (Mandarin) / Wong Lou Sin Si (Cantonese)
3. 太上老君 / 道德天尊 The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord / The Universally Honoured Virtuous One
4. 齐天大圣 / 孙悟空 Sun Wu Kong dubbed as Monkey King
5. 太阳星君 Sun Deity / Lord of Solar
Lunar Goddess dubbed as Chang'e was said to be living in the moon with a little bunny. The legend said that her husband had a pill that grants him immortality but he didn't want to stay immortal without his husband so he hid it under the bed. One day, someone invaded the home when the husband was not in and demanded Chang'e to give him the pills. Reluctant, she ate the pill and fled to the moon. I'm not sure how did the bunny join her but her husband was definitely super sad about this.
The legend of Wong Lou Sin Si is actually a little funny. It was said that a Malaysian man was laughing at a bunch of Chinese priests for wearing "funny" robes and performing "funny dances." One day he imitated them and accidentally became a medium for the deity Wong Lou Sin Si. It was unclear at first of who the deity was until someone had opened the man's third eyes and the deity revealed his identity. The deity said that this man was born and fated to be his medium in order to help the world. He had helped many people, even during the Japan Invasion era.
The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord is the third member of the Three Pure/Pristine Ones. He is the treasurer of the spirit who is also the most eminent, aged ruler. He was believed to have manifested in many forms of incarnations to teach living beings, and one of the forms is Laozi. He was said to be a very wise elderly in the Heavens too.
Sun Wu Kong is also known as Son Goku in Japanese Romanji. He is the main character of the Chinese classical novel: Journey to the West. Sun Wu Kong was said to be born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers and after rebelling against the heaven and deities, he was imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha himself. He was released only when Tang San Zang, the monk, had come by to retrieve him to proceed their journey to the West. He was known to be possessing countless powers, such as abilities to see true forms, long distance hearing, command wind/cloud and such. He can fly around on clouds too! Throughout his journey, he had made friends with many demons and alike but he has a very bad reputation in the Heaven and Sea for turning them upside down, even injured some of the individuals there. Eventually, he finished his journey and had become a likeable deity under the Buddhahood name of Victorious Fighting Buddha for his service and strength by the Buddha himself.
The Solar Deity is also called as 日光普照菩薩 RiGuang PuZhao Pusa. He mainly specializes in medical aspects. Legend said that there were originally 10 suns in the sky, who were all brothers and they were supposed to emerge one at a time as commanded by the Jade Emperor. However, they decided to all go into the sky and play due to their playfulness. As it was too hot for the world, a hero named Hou Yi shot down nine of them with his bow and arrows to save the world. Another folklore talks about the mythical heaven dog who occasionally bites the sun. This is the common phenomenon called Solar Eclipse. By tradition, Chinese people would make lots of loud noises to scare the dog away.
This is one of the statues in the temple. He is the Monkey King.
Nearby the statue, there is another shrine over here.
This shrine is dedicated to the 弥勒佛 Maitreya / Laughing Buddha.
He is one of the 菩萨 Pu Sa (Bodhisattva) but since he was destined to become the next Buddha, he was given the Buddha title and hence he was called as the Laughing Buddha (in common). He is always seen to be smiling and chuckling. His round head and huge earlobes give a very approachable, kind and prosperous impression. Almost like he doesn't have any stress of troubled thoughts. Hence, he's one of the most favourable deity. His smiling has two meanings: to tell the world that they should encounter problems optimistically & to put down negativity while one must always share happiness.
This is a type of Chinese Buddhism Gargoyle called 石獅 Stone Lion who is also dubbed as Chinese Imperial Guardian Lions. They were believed to have powerful mythical protective benefits. The Okinawa Shisa, which comes in a pair, was derived from these guardian lions but they have different usage aside from providing protection. According to my tour guide during my Okinawa Trip, the left one (male) keeps its mouth open to 'scare away the bad' whilst the right one (female) keeps its mouth closed to 'keep in/share the good/money.' (He also added that that's the reason why Japanese housewives are so good at taking the household financial into their hands.)
The Centipede Hill Top
When you climb up to the hilltop, you will be greeted by the huge statue of centipede. Do give it a few pets in order to keep some of the good luck with you. It's one of the believes that Chinese Buddhists have, which is to touch good (deity) statues to obtain good luck.
At the side of the stairs, there is a small pool filled with prosperity tortoise.
Don't ask me why they're here, I'm confused too. But hey, tortoises are good fortune feng shui. That's why many Chinese households will at least take care of a tortoise once. My family had more than 9.
When you reach the middle, you will see the 月下老人 (月老) Yue Xia Lao Ren (Yue Lao). He was known as the old man who sat underneath the moonlight to read a book without words. A man asked what the book was about, in which Yue Lao replied that the book was a marriage record book that records all the marriages in the world. He is well-known by global Buddhist as the man who pulls the red strings between two lovers. Many would go to him to find their soul mate or match their red string with their crush. He is fairly popular in Taiwan and I almost went there just to ask him for a soul mate.
These are some of the symbolism where prayers would request Yue Lao for certain relationship luck. It can be finding soul mate or maintaining a relationship until they grow old together. Depending on what you need, Yue Lao is usually the guy Buddhist go for Love Luck.
Some are on the other side too.
Right next to Yue Lao, there are eight statues. These deities are known as the 八仙 (Ba Xian) Eight Immortals. Each has their own power tools to bestow life or destroy evils. These tools are called the "Covert Eight Immortals".
Starting from the left
- 韩湘子(Han Xiang Zi) Patron Deity of Flutists
- 李鐵拐 (Li Tie Guai) Iron Crutch Li
- 张果老 (Zhang Guo Lao) Occultist Alchemist
- 钟离权 (Zhong Li Quan) Master of the Cloud-Chamber
- 何仙姑 (He Xian Gu) The Lotus Deity
This one has a really amazing plant-planning behind them.
This one sits at another corner pondering.
The last stop was a dedicated shrine to the 关羽 Guan Yu, who was a general serving under the warlord, Liu Bei. He is one of the main characters during the Three Kingdoms period. Liu Bei had sworn an oath with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei was sworn, brothers. Together, they aim to defeat Cao Cao, the cruel and merciless tyrant/warlord. Dubbed as 关公 Duke Guan, his shrines are dedicated to strengthening loyalty, giving strength, providing protection/defence, promoting morality and righteousness.
That's all from this post! I hope you've learned some of Taoism and/or Buddhism deities and characters from this post. I'm not a professional on this topic but ever since young, I've been watching TV shows depicting these characters and deities. They are all interesting to watch so give it a try if you'd like!
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