Chat Shing Temple, Chinese temple in Shap Sze Heung, Hong Kong.
Chat Shing Temple (七聖古廟), also called Chat Shing Kung, stands at Kwun Hang in the Shap Sze Heung area of Sai Kung North, Tai Po District. It is a three-bay, two-hall traditional temple with a feng shui wall in front and a plaza outside. Inside hang a bronze bell cast in 1762 and a Qing Guangxu 32 (1906) couplet reading "七姐善心存愷測;聖神仁術統陰陽", with a "污穢勿近" notice board.
The temple was built in the late Ming to early Qing period by four village societies of Shap Sze Heung — Tung Ping, Sai Ping, Nam Hing and Pak Hing — which took turns managing it, one society per year. A Qing-era bell cast in the 27th year of Qianlong (1762) hangs inside; the outer hall couplets and the "No Filth" notice board date from 1906. During the Japanese occupation, guerrillas of the East River Column's Sai Kung squadron attacked the Japanese garrison here and were repulsed.
The main hall holds eight statues: a single figure of Mazu (or, by some accounts, the Queen Mother) in front and the seven immortal maidens behind, the largest being the third sister, identified by villagers as the Weaver Girl. This makes it one of only three "Seven Sisters temples" in Hong Kong, alongside the Sin Tse Temple on Peng Chau and the Chat Shing Palace at Shek Lei. A side hall honours Guandi, and couples come to pray for love around Qixi.
The temple stands at Kwun Hang in Shap Sze Heung, Sai Kung North, within Tai Po District, near the Ma On Shan foothills. A feng shui wall and an open forecourt sit in front of the three-bay, two-hall building. The site is reached by road from Sai Kung or Tai Po; the forecourt once served as a film location.
The temple was graded a Grade II historic building, but after reconstruction erased its original appearance it was confirmed as ungraded on 4 February 2010. Its bell, cast in 1762, and the 1906 couplets and "No Filth" sign survive inside.
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