The Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery which was better known as the Siong Lim Temple in Hokkien is a popular Buddhist monastery among the Chinese community. Back in the days during the British colonial rule, Chinese immigrants from South China came to Singapore to seek a better living and together, they brought with them their religion from home. Most of them identified themselves as either Buddhist or Taoist and one of them was Low Kim Pong who initiated the building of this Buddhist monastery.
After years of hard work, Low was a successful business man in his 60s and was a devoted Buddhist. As mystically as it sounds, the thought to build the monastery was due to a particular dream that both he and his son had one day in 1898. A sacred man appeared in their dreams, bathed in golden light coming to them from the west to the water front. Believing that this indicated an omen to welcome the sacred man, he went to the coast the very next day. It was a dream come true literally when a boat fetched Venerable Xian Hui and 12 monks and nuns arrived in Singapore. Venerable Xian Hui and his accompany was on their way back home to Fujian and decided to pass by Singapore at the end of their 6 years of pilgrimage This may sound like a coincidence or superstition to some but in those days, Low and his family strongly believed that they were the chosen ones and hosted Venerable Xian Hui’s stay in Singapore. Low even donated 50 acres of land which is the present Toa Payoh New Town for the monastery and invited Venerable Xian Hui to be the founding Abbot.
During the construction of the monastery, craftsmen were hired from various counties of Fujian province such as Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou and Chaozhou County in the Guangdong to make sure t...
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...ment of Singapore as a country with early immigrant history. The distinct mix of architecture styles imported from the various counties in Fujian represented the various groups of Chinese immigrants that came to Singapore in the early 20th century. The housing of special deities such as the Naji Gong is a great example of how religion is not stagnant but can be localised according to local customs. Buddhism and Taoism are the major religion in Singapore and the sharing of similar beliefs among the various group of Chinese Singaporeans is part of the cultural identity of Singapore. Recognising the significance of the Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, the government gazetted it as the 19th National Monument in 17th October 1980. Being the only Buddhist monastery to be gazetted as a national monument, this further highlights its cultural value to the Chinese community.
Judith R. Walkowitz is a Professor Emeritus at John Hopkins University, specializing in modern British history and women’s history. In her book City of Dreadful Delight, she explores nineteenth century England’s development of sexual politics and danger by examining the hype of Jack the Ripper and other tales of sensational nature. By investigating social and cultural history she reveals the complexity of sexuality, and its influence on the public sphere and vice versa. Victorian London had upheld traditional notions of class and gender, that is until they were challenged by forces of different institutions.
We live in a fallen world filled with evil desires, temptations, and idols. Many believed that if one desires to be as holy and as close to God as possible then they must distance themselves from sin. This involves putting aside worldly desires and possessions since anything of this fallen world is sinful. This calling brought many people to live simplistic lives alone. However, around fourth century a man named Pachomius founded a place where people with this similar interest could live together, known as a monastery (Benedictine Abbey of Christ in the Desert). This way of living became very appealing not only for spiritual pursuits but also for the pursuit of knowledge. Outside of monasteries the literacy rate was extremely low. For the most part only monks knew how to read and write. For these reasons monasteries began to be established all over Europe. However, with so many of them styles and rules became very different. There were many different kinds of rule that separated monasteries fro...
closer to God. The monasteries were a place to get away from evil and anything
In Dr. Osman’s lecture and in Life and Miracles of St. Benedict, monasteries were portrayed as places for people to escape the harsh times and live together worshipping God. In The Dark Ages, the narrator discusses how many nuns and monks would try to escape because they were forced to go there, some even going as far as scaling the walls of their convent or monastery. These holy places offered many people the escape and religious freedom that they craved, but not everyone loved the strict life that monks and nuns lived. (The Dark Ages, “Marriage of Monks and
Home to a futuristic society, Metropolis (1927) by Fritz Lang, presents a city in which society has been physically divided to achieve perfection. According to Norden “With its motifs and its portrayal of workers as machinelike automatons (they even move about mechanically), 'Metropolis' unmistakably bears the mark of Futurism” (Norden 109). This society is divided into two classes: the thinkers who are the wealthy rulers of the city, and the workers, who work literally underground to provide for the city. Living in opulence, the audience is introduced to the ruler of the city Johann 'Joh' Fredersen (Alfred Abel) and his son Freder Frederson (Gustav Fröhlich). One day while indulging in his wealth at the Pleasure Garden, Freder catches sight of a beautiful women named Maria (Brigitte Helm). Freder becomes infatuated with Maria and decides to follow her into the underworld where the workers are. Freder quickly discovers that Maria is part of the working class and that she has been calling for unity between the workers and rulers of Metropolis. Enchanted by the cause, Freder attempts to help the workers, however, his father discovers the plan and attempts to sabotage it. To avoid the destruction of the tightly constructed social classes, Joh unites with an old colleague and nemesis, Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge). Together, Rotwang and Joh imprison the real Maria and they develop a robot version of Maria who encourages the workers to rebel against their ruler. The film ends with a climatic scene where Freder, in attempt to save the real Maria from Rotwang, pushes Rotwang from a cathedral roof where he falls to his death. Freder then returns to the city where he is finally able to unite the workers with the rulers, serving his purpos...
Monks are known to live in seclusion and to focus their mind on spirituality. Yet, there is more to their lives than just that. Early Christian monks strived to protect Christianity. Christians during this time were being persecuted for their religion. Many were in danger of pagans whose religion maintained a stronghold on theirs. In order to protect the faith, monks tried to get people to remain resilient in their faith. Monks wanted ideas like this to be passed down to other fellow Christians. That is why the intended audience from the Early Christians Lives is fellow Christians. Early Christian monks stressed the idea of having faith in God, so that fellow Christians who have faith would be protected from enemies, that certain situations
Regarding religion, Chinese culture saw the emergence of Confucianism and Buddhism as the major influence. Confucianism stressed filial piety which meant respecting elders and superiors, ruling righteously, and obeying commands and orders. Confucianism was introduced by the Chinese thinker Confucius. Buddhism was brought to China, but originated in India and was founded by Siddhartha Gautama. Followers of Buddhism worshipped Buddh...
known for starting and running a monastery, as well as taking on the many duties of
As we have looked into the causes of monasticism, the development of monasticism and the history behind some of its practices. We can start to understand whom these hooded little men really are and what they stood for. We can see that this movement was truly needed. Monasticism aided in the rapid development of a hierarchical, centralized organization in the church because the monks were bound to obedience to superiors who in turn owed their allegiance to the pope. We do admire the fine contributions the monks made to medieval life. This was not only a movement in the history of Christianity, but it is still practiced today. One author defined monasticism as such: "Monasticism did not begin by being passed one to another but arose like spontaneous eruptions, or like a spring gushing forth in different places from a source underground."
In this article, the author begins by stating the growth of Protestantism is now booming everywhere in China, from cities to the most rural of areas. Gardam gives us a brief look at China’s past with religious regulations. He mentions the regulations that churches in China had starting in the mid 1950’s, when the Communist came to power. A decade later, Christianity would have another set back. In the 1960’s and 70’s, Mao Zedong started the Cultural...
Since I grew in traditional chinese family, so I don’t know much about religions. In my family, we don’t go to church or temple. In my family, we do have some special customs that we follow during holidays,
Chinese people might find naming their religion challenging as it is a mixture of “traditional religion, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism” (Corduan, 2012, p.388). The Chinese Popular Religion continues to evolve and change as the world around it changes and outside influences enter the Chinese culture (Corduan, 2012). Investigation of the Chinese Popular Religion includes its key features, practices, and influences, along with tis role in contemporary China, and how Christians can enhance their interactions.
With the Shaolin monastery in China and the Enryakuji in Japan playing important roles amongst the Buddhist monasteries and becoming deeply involved in the secular world, we see a lot of similarities and differences about the relationship between the religious and secular worlds in China and Japan. We also see that Daoism and Shinto religions shaped the monasteries evolvement over the centuries.
The burdensome excellence of living in a city: A review of Georg Simmel’s “The Metropolis and the Mental Life”
There is no such thing as silence here. Everything jumps out at once, like the feathers on a peacock, immediately catching your attention. There are uncountable masses of colorful blobs moving, but within that great glob, there are many people, each person moving with the powerful confidence of a lion. The buildings all loom over the people, a grand oak tree above thousands of ants, tying together this concrete landscape. There is a tangible atmosphere of wonder, and you are left in awe of such an astonishing place. This magnificent place is none other than Times Square in New York City.