Relic bearing the Ancient Name of Taipa in Tin Hau Temple

　 Located in the downtown of Taipa, the Tin Hau Temple used to be facing a strip of seashore to its south, which has nowadays become an open ground over years of land reclamation. It houses a horizontal plaque left over from one of its restoration that is dated back to the 28th year of reign of Emperor Daoguang of Qing dynasty (1848). The plaque bears the inscription “Long Van enveloped by good fortune”, in which “Long Van” is the ancient name of Taipa. Another plaque dated back to 1891 has the inscriptions “upright and incorruptible” and “beneficiaries - staff for organization operatic performance for celestials”. It is a written record about operas being held in Taipa in its early days and as evidence supporting that operatic performance was staged during feast of deities over a century ago.

　　 A large table for placement of incense burner is most outstanding amongst the handful of wooden historical relics housed by the Temple. It is dated back to the Guangxu era of Qing dynasty and is an important folk artwork of Taipa. The upper part of this gilt wood carving is covered by depictions of the scholarly life of ancient literati in China, with scenes of literati playing a stringed musical instrument and chess, enjoying wine, reciting poems and painting. The lower part is patched with operatic characters powdered in gold dust.