The Historical City Of Malacca

Welcome to Malacca World Heritage City. On this site you
will find comprehensive listing with information on almost
every aspect of visiting and living in Malacca.

Malacca Tourism
· Chinese temples
  · Cheng Hoon Teng Temple
· Hindu temples
  · Comming soon
· Churches
  · Christ Church
  · St. Francis Xavier's Church
  · St. Paul's church
· Mosques
  · Comming soon
· Museums
  · Cheng Ho Cultural Museum
  · Governor's Museum
  · Malaysia Youth Museum
  · Maritime Museum
  · Melaka Islamic Museum
  · Melaka Umno Museum
  · Museum of Architecture
  · Museum of History and Ethnography
· Heritage Sites
  · 8 Heeren Street
  · Bastion House
  · Dutch Graveyard
  · Dutch Square
  · Fortaleza de Malaca
  · Hang Jebat Mausoleum
  · Malacca River
  · Porta de Santiago
  · Proclamation of Independence Memorial
  · Stadthuys
  · St. Paul's Church
  · Tan Kim Seng Bridge
· Malacca clan associations
  · Eng Choon Association
  · Melaka Hainan Association
· Street names
  · Blacksmith Street / Jalan Tukang Besi
  · Church Street / Jalan Gereja
  · Fort Road / Jalan Kota
  · Jonker Street / Jalan Hang Jebat
  · Jonker Walk (Night Market)
  · Riverside / Jalan Laksamana
  · Temple Street / Jalan Tokong

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple

Cheng Hoon Teng is the oldest and grandest temple in Malacca. It is located along Jalan Tokong (formerly Temple Street) in the core zone of the Malacca Unesco World Heritage Site.

The name Cheng Hoon Teng means Temple of Clear Clouds in Hokkien. It was founded in the early 17th century - around 1645 - by the leader of the Chinese community at that time, Kapitan China Tay Kie Ki alias Tay Hong Yong. Through its long history, Cheng Hoon Teng served not only as a religious institution, but also as the official administrative centre and court of justice of the Kapitans, including Li Wei King, Chan Lak Kua and Chua Su Cheong.

The architectural style of Cheng Hoon Teng temple is reflective of temple styles from southern China, particularly those of Fujian and Guangdong provinces. It has curved roof ridges on which are cut-and-paste chien nien decoration. The intricate gable design is also reflective of southern Chinese craftsmanship. Restoration of Cheng Hoon Teng, which was carried out from 1999 to early 2001, received an Award of Merit Unesco, for Asia-Pacific Heritage Conservation in 2002.

Cheng Hoon Teng is a huge and complex temple. As you enter it, you face the main temple building. Its porch is supported by columns. On one side of the column in the entrance, you can see Chinese calligraphy in the form called cao-shu, or "grass script". The calligraphy was done, surprisingly, by a Dutch diplomat and authority on Chinese history and culture, Robert van Gulik (1910-1967) in the early 20th century.

As with most Chinese temples, Cheng Hoon Teng began with modest proportions, and grew over the centuries. The main prayer hall was first constructed in 1704 by Chan Ki Lock. What we see today was rebuilt by Kapitan China Chua Su Cheong in 1801. The central altar is dedicated to Kuan Yin, the bodhisattva avalokitesvara, or known locally as the goddess of mercy. To her left (in the worshippers' direction) is Ma Choo @ Ma Choe Poh, which is the same deity you would find at the A Ma Temple in Macau, Thian Hock Keong in Singapore and Hainan Temple in Penang. This is the patron deity of fishermen, sailors and sea travellers, and is commonly worshipped in communitys across southern China and Nanyang. Next to her is the goddess of birth. On the far end is Kuan Kong. The deity with the gold face is Pau Sen Ta Tek, the god of welding.

Unlike other Chinese temples, the Cheng Hoon Teng does not employ door gods. Instead the doors are guarded by the famous Taoist monks, The Eight Immortals. At the outer gate are the Eight Immortals on the beasts that they ride on. At the entrance to the main hall, the Eight Immortals are not shown in human form, but rather symbolized as dragons with four claws. Within their claws are the Eight Immortals' instruments, namely the flute, knife, lotus and fan. These dragon representations are called Ar Enn Pak Sien, or Hidden Eight Immortals.

On the walls of the prayer hall are murals of the Eighteen Lorhans. To preserve them from the fumes and smoke, they are now encased behind glass. Their depictions have almost disappeared under centuries of smoke.

Within the grounds of the Cheng Hoon Teng are stelae, stone tables commemorating special events. There is a popular belief that a stalae from Admiral Cheng Ho is in Cheng Hoon Teng temple. However, the stelae in Cheng Hoon Teng has been studied to be not from Cheng Ho. The oldest stalae at Cheng Hoon Teng dates back to 1685, which is still younger than if it were from Admiral Cheng Ho. It is in fact a thank you note in stone messaged to Kapitan China Lee Wei King, to commemorate his donating of a piece of land to the Chinese community for the purpose of a Chinese burial ground. This burial ground most likely refers to the one at Bukit China, which has no connection with Cheng Ho whatsoever.

The stelae depict year according to the reign of Chinese Emperors, of which each emperor's reign carries a specific name. Around 1685, when the tablet was carved, it was Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when the Manchurians ruled over China. But the Han Chinese in Malacca refused to acknowledge the Manchurian emperors, considering Manchurians and everybody else barbarians. Hence, instead of representing the year according to the Qing Emperor's reign, the stone inscription stated that "the dragon has flown", meaning it is after the Ming Dynasty.

The walls of the temples are all painted with limewash. In the olden days, lime was used instead of cement. Everything was derived from natural sources. The lime comes from the oyster shells and soot from charcoal.

Contact

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Inc.
25 Jalan Tokong
75200 Malacca
Tel: +60 6 282 9343
FaxL +60 6 286 1889

Getting there

From Dutch Square, cross Tan Kim Seng Bridge, and then turn right into Lorong Hang Jebat. At the first junction to the left, turn in to Jalan Tukang Besi. Walk along Jalan Tukang Besi which connects to Jalan Tokong. The Cheng Hoon Teng temple is on the left side of Jalan Tokong.

Previous | Home

We recommend the following site(s):
· The Dutch in Malaysia: Dutchmalaysia.net
· Malacca on Wikipedia: Wikipedia.org