Photos

Scent in Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong.

The temple was built on Hollywood Road in 1847. Like all other Man-Mo Temples found in China and all over the world,
it was dedicated to two of the most worshiped gods in ancient China:-

the God of Literature, Man Cheung, and the God of War, Kwan Yu.

About 150 years ago, when disputes could not be settled by British laws,
the local people (plaintiffs and defendants) would come to the Man Mo Temple and solve their problems the Chinese way.

According to the legal system of the Qing Dynasty, the plaintiff and the defendant would make a promise (and curse) in the temple,
then wrote it on a piece of yellow paper. They then killed a chicken, chopped off its head, let the blood run on the yellow paper, and burned it.
The Chinese people believed that since the promises were made before the gods in the temple, if they broke these promises,
they would suffer dearly from the curses (or the form of punishment) they too have casted previously upon themselves.
Hence, the Man Mo Temple was once the Court of Law for the local people many many years ago.