Guanyin and the Kwun Yum Festival
The temple is also notable for attracting many worshippers to seek blessings during the Kwun Yum Treasury Festival. Interestingly enough, this is not a festival celebrating Tin Hau, but one that is connected to the Bodhisattva, Guanyin.
This may be due to the fact that Tin Hau is seen by many as a reincarnation of Guanyin. This is due to the syncretism of Buddhism and Taoism (in turn, this “reincarnation” idea also perpetuates that syncretism). Historically, in order to attract devotees, Taoist and Buddhist
temples incorporated each other’s deities into their sacred sites.
More importantly, this indicates that Taoist temples are not only incorporating images of Guanyin or Buddhist figures (and vice versa), but that Tin Hau herself has become a hybrid religious figure in her own right. So much so, that people come to this temple for a celebration in the name of Guanyin despite the fact that it is clearly designated as a “Tin Hau Temple”. The religions have become so intertwined, that Tin Hau can be considered an equal representation of Guanyin, justifying activity here during the Kwun Yum Treasury Festival. The question then arises, is this Tin Hau temple just as Buddhist as it is Taoist? What religion does it really belong to? Can it be part of both?
In my opinion, I see the Yau Ma Tei temple as an example of a syncretic site. It may have been originally for Tin Hau devotees, but it has evolved and adapted. It expanded to house other Taoist gods. It then expanded further to become a space for Buddhists as well. In the face of modernity, of places where religious contempt and detachment has grown, these previously "religious" spaces have become more traditional rather than staying sites of unadulterated religious devotion. By becoming a syncretic site, the temple underlines the existence of a hybrid religious presence--one that is rooted in culture and tradition more than faith in and of itself.
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