Ke Shing Chee - Fung Ping Wai [繼承者馮平慧]

Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧], was born around 1865 in Ching Yuen City / Qingyuan City [清遠市] which is located in the northern area of Guangdong Province [廣東省]. In his youth he had travelled (the 80kms or approximately 50 miles) to Canton (Guangzhou) [广州] and had become ordained as a Samanera at the Honam Temple [河南寺] in the late 1870s.

A sāmaṇera (Pali), Sanskrit: श्रामणेर (śrāmaṇera), is a novice male monk in a Buddhist context.

The sāmaṇera is a Pali language diminutive equivalent to the Sanskrit term śrāmaṇera, which indicates an ascetic practitioner. Which means they have adopted a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Therefore, sāmaṇera might be said to mean "small or young renunciate ". In some South and Southeast Asian Buddhist traditions, the term refers to someone who has taken the initial pravrajya vows but not the upasampada or full ordination. The pratimoksa rules do not apply to them and they do not take part in the recital of the rules on uposatha days.

Honam Temple [河南寺] or The Haizhuang Temple [海幢寺] (can also be spelt and known as :- Haitong, Hoi Tong, Hoy Tung, Haichung or Sea Monastery [海幢寺]. This temple is located on the island district of Haizhu [海珠區] and in the nineteenth century it was one of Canton’s [廣州] largest monasteries and was more commonly known as the Honam Temple [河南寺] as it was located on Honam Island [河南島]. In Cantonese, Honam means south of the river.

At this time, it is understood that So the Black Tiger [蘇黑虎], was living at the Honam Temple [河南寺]. So Hak Fu [蘇黑虎], was the founder of Hak Fu Mun / Black Tiger style [黑虎門] and had been known as one of the Ten Tigers of Canton / Kwong Tung Sap Fu [廣東十虎]. During his life he had been challenged many times and was never defeated. So [蘇黑虎], now in his later years, had decided to leave the worldly life behind and had retired to a more peaceful existence at the Honam Temple [河南寺]. During So’s [蘇] early lifetime, he had been an unshaved lay disciple [俗家弟子] of the Siu Lum / Shaolin monk [少林僧] Sam Dak / San De [三德] and had spent years at the Siu Lum / Shaolin Temple [少林寺] and so had been familiar with Buddhist practices and temple life.

Shortly after the young Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] had settled at the Honam Temple [河南寺], he had started to study martial arts [武術] under “So the Black Tiger” [蘇黑虎]. After an initial period of training, Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] become a disciple of So Hak Fu [蘇黑虎] and his true education of Hak Fu Mun / Black Tiger style [黑虎門] began. Initially, Fung Ping Wai’s [馮平慧] training included a large part of conditioning [少林內息調理功] as well as studying various martial techniques and Hak Fu Mun / Black Tiger style [黑虎門] open hand and weapon routines. He was also told about his teachers’ / Sifu’s history and linage of the Shaolin temple and the master’s that had come before.

His martial arts training [武術] was in harmony with his education in Buddhism and some years later when he became of age, he was ordained as a monk.

It is understood that in the middle to late 1880s, “So the Black Tiger” [蘇黑虎] passed away from natural causes and his body was cremated with his ashes placed in the burial ground at the temple. Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] continued his practicing of Hak Fu Mun / Black Tiger style [黑虎門] while he resided at the Honam Temple [河南寺]. During the early 1900s, Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] had decided to leave the temple, and after discussing this matter with the abbot, he disrobed and left the Buddhist temple life behind him, returning to a worldly existence. A few years later, around 1910, he travelled to Hong Kong [香港], where he found employment with the British family at Bowen Road [寶雲道], which was located on the mid-levels of Victoria Peak [太平山].

He had been with the family for a number of years and became a trusted and highly valued member of the staff. During breaks from his work schedule, Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] would continue his training in Hak Fu Mun / Black Tiger style [黑虎門]. Then, in 1920, a young man called Wong Cheung [黃祥] started working for the British family as a gardener, and early in the morning and during breaks he would practice his martial arts [武術]. This was performing Three wraps of iron thread boxing / Saam Jin Tit Sin Kuen [三輾鐵線拳], staff work (Chai Mei Kun), and Dragon Ba Gua Palm / Lung Yin Ba Gua Cheong [龍八卦掌]. Not long after the young Wong Cheung [黃祥] had started this new job, Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] saw him practicing and was impressed by his relentless practice and commitment to his Kung Fu [功夫].

Wong Cheung [黃祥] was training with his staff when one day when this co-worker who had been watching him asked if he could borrow it to demonstrate his technique. Wong Cheung [黃祥] obliged and the co-worker started imitating Wong's technique, but he wielded the staff with grace and such power that it broke into two pieces. His co-worker apologised for breaking the staff and then started to go back to work. Wong [黃祥] realised that his co-worker must be a master of Kung Fu and so therefore asked him his name and where he had learned such powerful Kung Fu.

The co-worker introduced himself as Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] and briefly told him his story. The young Wong Cheung [黃祥] was understandably impressed at the level of skill of such a master and asked if he could be accepted as Fung’s [馮平慧] student. Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧]had been observing Wong Cheung [黃祥] for some time, and after witnessing his commitment, dedication and his general attitude and conduct had planned that this would happen. He therefore accepted Wong [黃祥] as his student (apprentice) and shortly after arranged the Bai Si [拜師] ceremony in keeping with traditional formalities.

Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] would educate Wong Cheung [黃祥] every day in the martial arts [武術] of Hak Fu Mun [黑虎門]. During these periods, Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] would talk about the history and his Sifu (teacher), So the Black Tiger [蘇黑虎], his Si Gung, Siu Lum / Shaolin monk [少林僧] Sam Dak / San De [三德] as well as explaining the various techniques and principles of the style. During the next few years, Fung [馮平慧] and Wong [黃祥] became very good friends. Due to the young Wong Cheung’s

[黃祥] previous experience and devoted attitude, he was able to learn and progress at a rapid rate. This until 1923 when they found out that their employers were moving back to Britain. Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] had been invited to travel with the family back to Britain and continue his employment there. In the final few months before Fung [馮平慧] left, he imparted the remained of the style as was still left for Wong [黃祥] to learn. As Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] was ready to leave, he requested that Wong Cheung [黃祥] continued to practice Hak Fu Mun [黑虎門], and pass on the style as his disciple’s obligation to him. Wong Cheung [黃祥] readily accepted his responsibility to pass on Hak Fu Mun [黑虎門] and continue the lineage.

Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] left Hong Kong and made the voyage to Britain on an ocean liner travelling with the British family. Unfortunately, all further information on Fung Ping Wai [馮平慧] is unknown after he left Hong Kong.

Honam Temple [河南寺] or The Haizhuang Temple [海幢寺]

This map is from 1960 and shows a detailed layout of the Honam Temple.

The Temple buildings are located on the Tong Fu Xi Lu [同福中路], which translates to Tongfu Middle Road (337 Tongfu Road), and covers an area of ​​seven acres. This temple was very prominent during the 1800s and is mentioned in the histories of several of the Tigers of Canton. During this period, the temple grounds covered three times the size of the present day’s site. To give an idea of what the Honam Temple [河南寺] was like in the mid-1800s, I have included the following description of the temple by John Thomson, a pioneering Scottish photographer, geographer and traveller. He was one of the first photographers to travel to the Far East, documenting the people, landscapes and artefacts of eastern cultures.

“HONAM TEMPLE, one of the largest Buddhist establishments in the south of China, stands on the southern bank of the Pearl River at Canton. Passing along the broad granite pavement which conducts from the waterside, and entering the outer porch, beneath the shade of venerable trees, the visitor finds himself within a spacious outer compartment, having gigantic gateways in front and to the rear. Two colossal statues, deities of Indian mythology, and armed and equipped as warriors present themselves next to his gaze. These are the adopted guardians of Buddha, and in temples even greater than that of Honam these panoptical champions are increased to four. We next ascend by a flight of broad steps to an inner causeway, and the vista shown in the photograph comes there upon into view. Beyond, in a central court, is the adytum or innermost shrine, where three images of Buddha glisten with a coating of polished gold. Here the air is laden heavily with the fumes of incense, rising in spiral columns from the altar in front of the gods. A priest tends the burning tapers that from generation to generation have been kept alight ; and all round are bowls of bronze, and vases filled with ashes, embers of incense sticks, and the relics of a thousand votive gifts. The candles which burn upon the altar cast a lurid flare over the mystic images and amid the silken hangings of the roof. The constant tinkling of a bell, or the solemn monotonous chant of some aged priest, the surrounding darkness of the dim interior, combined with the worship of a strange god, induce a sense of depression, which is speedily dissipated by a stroll in the wonderful garden beyond. Here the priests delight to tend and rear rare and beautiful plants, dwarf trees, growing marvels in the form of tiny boats and birdcages, and plants, whose stems are trained into a hundred curious devices. Here, too, is a pen full of fortunate pigs, guaranteed immunity from slaughter, as under the protecting roof of Buddha, the mighty saviour of life.”

Another detailed description of this temple can be found in, The Treaty Ports of China and Japan: A Complete Guide to the Open Ports of those Countries, together with Peking,

Yedo, Hongkong and Macao. (The following account is from pages 160-162)

“A short distance above the island called Dutch Folly will be noticed, on the South bank of the river, the dense mass of foliage marking the avenue of banyans in front of the portals of this fine monastic establishment, which is named in Chinese Hai Chwang Sze (海幢寺) or The Temple of the Ocean Banner. Immediately on landing from the river and passing through an unpretending door-way, the avenue bordering a pathway paved with granite is entered, leading to a square building forming a double gate with two colossal figures standing within the porch and representing certain deified warriors who keep watch and ward over the sanctuaries of Buddha. Another small court and a third gateway are still to be passed before the great inner quadrangle is reached; where in the centre of the grassy enclosure dotted with magnificent trees, rises a platform supporting the great hall of worship, some hundred feet square, in the midst of which tower tranquil images of the past, present and the future Buddha. In front of these gilded figures is an altar of richly carved wood, upon which huge candlesticks of white metal support a galaxy of tapers, whilst in the centre is displayed a massive bowl of similar material, filled with the fine, impalpable powder of the fragrant incense kept constantly burning before the shrine. From the roof, streamers of red cloth

bordered with black velvet and inscribed in velvet characters with the invocation “NAN-MO O-M1-TO-F61” hang in dense array, adding materially to the dimness of the “religious light,” the soft mysteriousness of which is enhanced by the light blue clouds of scented smoke arising from the slow combustion of a block of sandalwood and of the incense-sticks. On both sides of the hall are arranged the images of the Eighteen Lo-Han, or Apostles of Buddha and small tables covered with embroidered cloths serve as lecterns to the priests who perform daily mass. This spectacle may usually be witnessed about four o’clock in the afternoon, when ten to twenty priests may be seen, attired in the gowns of crimson, yellow or ash-grey silk (according to their rank and functions) chanting the Pa-li words, quite unintelligible to themselves, of the mass-book, whilst one of their number beats time on the “wooden fish,” a hollowed block of wood, carved in the resemblance of a potbellied fish, which gives forth a booming sound when struck – whilst the duty of another is to strike a small hand-bell from time to time. The alternate risings and genuflections, the droning hum of the chanters, the silvery interruption of the bell, the investments, incense, decorations, flowers, images, combine to invest this scene with a striking resemblance to the ceremonies of the Romish Church and the mummeries, still more unmeaning, of the so-called “Anglican” imitators of Romanism.

Another large hall, in the rear of the first, contains an image of Kwan-yin (Koon-yum), the Goddess Hearer of Prayers and still further on, in the midst of a gloomy sanctuary, stands a pagoda sculptured in white marble, about thirty feet in height, which was presented to the temple by one of the emperors of the present dynasty. On both sides of the great quadrangle are long ranges of buildings, intersected by courts and corridors, which constitute the apartments of the priests. On the right hand are a range of pens where pigs are kept at the expense of the temple, in fulfilment of the command of Buddha that each man shall do what in him lies to prevent the destruction of a single living creature. Passing through an apparently endless range of corridors on the left hand and after viewing the large hall, filled with benches and tables, which is set aside as the refectory for the priests, a small, paved yard is reached which gives admission to a spacious garden, covering some four or five acres of ground, where flowers, fruit and vegetables are cultivated for sale. At the extremity of the garden are two ponds where fish are allowed to breed undisturbed, in obedience to the same law of Buddha which has been above referred to. Besides the fishponds is a mausoleum in which ashes of deceased priests are deposited, after the process of cremation by which the bodies are consumed. The number of priests or monks inhabiting this temple is upwards of one hundred, who are subject to the authority of an abbot, periodically elected. Large revenues are derived from lands belonging to the monastery. The present buildings date only from the latter half of the seventeenth century, when they were founded by the son-in law of the Emperor K’ang Hi, by whom the subjugation of the Province of Kwang-tung was completed. A temple had, however, existed on this spot for fully fifteen hundred years.”

Thomas Allom, a British architect and illustrator, engraved a number oscenes that were published in four volumes in London in 1843. These engravings were accompanied by detailed commentaries written by G.H Wright, a Protestant missionary, who had spent a significant time in China.

The Honam Temple’s [河南寺] grounds covered an area of about seven acres which were surrounded by a wall, and divided into courts, gardens, and a burial-ground. The priests who died were cremated and their ashes placed in the burial ground. During the mid-1800s, there were about 175 priests residing there.

Above is a picture of the Buddhist funerary building in the gardens of the Honam temple [河南寺]. This painting was done by Lt. James Henry Butt, around 1869. This is where the priests from the Homan Temple [河南寺] were cremated and it is also very likely that So Hak Fu / [蘇黑虎] was also cremated in this building as well and then his ashes placed in the temple’s burial-grounds.

This photo of four monks at the Honam Temple [河南寺] was taken by a Dick Woods in 1903 for the American newspaper, the Tacoma Times distributed around the West Coast of the U.S.A.

Wikipedia states :-The monastery was first established as the Qianqiu Temple under the Southern Han, a 10th-century Tang successor state whose capital was at Xingwang (now Guangzhou). The walled city lay north of the Pearl River, while Henan Island and the monastery lay to its south. By the end of the Ming, the temple operated within the private garden of Guo Longyue (郭龙岳). He was responsible for renaming it after the Buddhist monk Sāgaradhvaja.

The monastery, surrounded by majestic banyan trees, flourished under the early Qing. Jin Bao (金堡), a former minister of the Yongli Emperor, retired here. During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, it was expanded continuously by the monks Azi (阿字), Chee Yut, and others, sometimes prompting English sources to place its establishment in 1662. Around a hundred monks lived at the monastery; the treatment of the wealthy and poor members was very unequal. It was the principal temple for Henan (then known as "Ho-nan") and sometimes even acclaimed the most famous of southern China's Buddhist temples.

The temple complex was particularly important to foreign visitors as it was one of the few locations in Guangzhou ("Canton") open to them before the First Opium War. The main hall’s large buddhas were removed to other temples so that Lord Amherst and his retinue could rest there for three weeks 1–20 January 1817 before returning home via Macao following their failed embassy to Beijing ("Pekin"). The French artist, Auguste Borget visited the temple repeatedly during his world tour, stating "The noise outside the temple was so great and the silence inside the temple was so solemn, that I believed myself transported to another world". The temple faced the row of factories on Guangzhou's waterfront. Regulations issued in 1831 restricted foreign access to its grounds to the 8th, 18th, and 28th days of the lunar months. Prior to the advent of photography, paintings of the grounds at Hoi Tong made up one of the fifteen classes of Qing export paintings.

At the time, the river entrance was the most used, leading to a courtyard guarded by a pair of wooden statues. Beyond, there were flagged walks amid banyan trees, leading to colonnades filled with numerous idols "of every sect and profession". At the far end were three halls, the center of which held three 11-foot (3.4 m) idols of the Buddhas past, present, and yet-to-come—"Kwo-keu-fuh", "Heen-tsa-fuh", and "We-lae-fuh"—in a seated position. On each side were 18 early disciples of the Buddha, considered at the time to have been the precursors to the Qing emperors. Illustrations were made of the trial and punishment of sinners in the afterlife, but none of the Buddhist paradises. The side walls were covered with silk embroidered in gold and silver thread with passages of scripture, and the whole lit with several hundred lanterns suspended from the roof's crossbeams. The garden included rare plants and penjing, miniature trees grown into the shape of boats and birdcages. On the grounds, pigs and other animals were kept as an "illustration of the Buddhist tenet not to destroy but to care for animal life". The pigs became famous, some being so enormously fat that they were nearly unable to walk. Some of the sties were located with the temples and, upon their deaths, they were accorded funeral rites and laid within a special mausoleum on the grounds. Its library was well stocked. The monastery ran its own printing press, as well as a crematorium and mausoleum for the monks. This dagoba was considered "magnificent", if not on the level of Beijing’s Baita. The abbot's cell included a separate reception room and a small chapel with a shrine to Buddha. The entire grounds spread over about 7 acres (2.8 ha).

The monastery was also a site for instruction in kung fu. The master Liang Kun (Leung Kwan) died while training in the 36-Point Copper Ring Pole technique under the monk Yuanguang in 1887. In the 1920s, it housed Guangzhou's Chin Woo Athletic Association.

The great trees of the monastery were ruined during the Taiping Rebellion. The monastery faded from importance in foreign guidebooks after the Opium Wars opened Guangzhou proper to visitors, although the principal factories were removed to Henan during the years 1856–1859 after a devastating fire along the north bank and the number of monks grew as high as 175.