The author of "Old Penang, Old lives" Or "Penang--History, Social Life and Customs" <<老槟城, 老生活>>, Toh Zhong Quan杜忠全, mentioned that “The moment I leave my home is the moment I am home”. I think this may be one of the reasons that drives me writing this series.
The following will describe the process I get to know the existence of the "Bukit Mertajam's Free School" Stone Inscription.
The Stone Inscription
A book by Wolfgang Franke and Chen Tieh Fan published in 1985, namely "Chinese Epigraphic Materials in Malaysia Vol 2", collected and recorded the data about Chinese epigraphic materials found Malaysia.
Xuan Tian Temple
My focus today is on the history and establishment of one of the oldest temple in Bukit Mertajam, Xuan Tian Miao 玄天庙(temple name shown by wooden tablet above the main entrance), 伯公庙 Po-Kung Miao (Po-Kung Miao was used Franke and Chen as well as local people) or Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple 福德正神庙 (formal name by the committee). It is located at Market Street, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
Market Street Franke and Chen recorded almost all materials found in Xuan Tian Miao which included wooden tablets, wooden altar, stone pillar, stone inscription (set up on the occasion of donations made for the building the temple). However, the most of important stone inscription-- the "Bukit Mertajam's Free School" Stone Tablet (<<大山脚义学堂>>石碑) was left out. The reason for that was because the stone inscription was previously placed at the left side of the temple and it was blocked by wooden desk which was used by the hawker. Note the surrounding of the temple is a busy market place and hawker centre. The stone was rediscovered by Mr Loo (卢荣成老师), a teacher in Jit Sin Independent School, who is enthusiastic in the history of Bukit Mertajam.
Xuan Tian Temple (dawn)
Everything started when I invited Han Hung, one of my friends, to go Bukit Mertajam town to have a few snapshots. As usual, I passed by Xuan Tian Miao. However, this time I am determined to snap everything in the temple since I have wanted to do so a long time ago. More than 100 hundred years old chairs, desks, altar, a patio that cleverly designed to increase air circulation and light availability (remember that fans and electrical light could be found in 100 years ago). When I was taking my snapshot on a few stone inscriptions in temple, a particular one caught my attention. It is because most of the stone inscriptions that I have seen before were set up on the occasion of donations made for the building the temple. However, this stone inscription was not in the form of Vernacular Chinese. Instead, it is in Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese. (Note that Classical Chinese/Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese. Classical Chinese was once used for almost all formal correspondence before and during the beginning of the 20th century. from Wikipedia). My previously exposure to Classical Chinese enable me to understand 75% the inscriptions. (I will provide the full translation of the stone inscription in my next writing). When I am having difficulty to understand the rest of the inscription, an 40-50s lady approached us and asked,
I was copying the inscription
"What are you doing there, young man?"
"We are copying down the inscription and trying hard to understand to the content" I answered and thought that she might be just another ordinary person who was curious about what we were doing.
My friend, Han Hung, actually knew the lady and he asked "Aunty, do you understand the inscription or not?"
"Of course I know" she answered with confidence.
The copy of inscription of my notebook 1
"What?? impossible, how can it be" I think.
"Aunty, are you sure?" I asked her with doubt tone. (I know I am bad)
"Indeed, why not" she reconfirmed.
I was really shocked by her answer and at the same time, I was very excited because I finally found someone who could read the inscriptions (because there were a few characters that we could not understand). We asked about the few words that we could read and she answered us without thinking about explained to us the meaning of a few sentences before she rushed to her "grocery shopping" (to buy groceries from nearby hawker and wet market). Before she went away, she suggested to get a copy of "Bukit Mertajam Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple Centennial Celebrations Special Magazine" 大山脚福德正神庙成立百周年纪念特刊 (published in 1986) from Hock Teik Cheng Sin Committee which was based in Jit Sin Independent School. She also recommended me to see the library in-charge teacher of Jit Sin Independent High School, Mr Loo, as he has deep interest in the history of Bukit Mertajam. She us that Mr Loo requested the temple committee to relocate the stone inscription into the temple and painted the inscription with golden paint. I could see why Mr Loo requested relocation based on my 75% understanding of the inscription content, ie. it is really an important stone inscription.
The copy of inscription of my notebook 2
Han Hung and I subsequently went to Hock Teik Cheng Sin administrative office to get a copy of the special magazine. Due to out of print, the officer allowed me to photocopy the whole magazine, which contained the history of Xuan Tian Miao, Bukit Mertajam, chinese school in Bukit Mertajam as well as articles about Bukit Mertajam which were written by a few locals. We could not meet Mr Loo because it was a Sunday and I had decided to meet him on week day.
The following article will describe how I came across Mr Loo and get the full translation of the "Bukit Mertajam's Free School" Stone Inscription.
Zen Yang ANG
205am, 23-4-2011
Bentley, Western Australia
No comments:
Post a Comment