Fung Ying Seen Koon (Pengying Xianguan), Hong Kong

The Founding and History of the Fung Ying Seen Koon

The Fung Ying Seen Koon was founded as an affiliate of the Dragon Gate sect of [[the Complete Perfection Tradtion. The birth of the Fung Ying Seen Koon is as follows:

He Jinyu and Chen Sikai, two Daoist priests who had learned the orthodox teachings of the Dragon Gate sect, together with senior Daoist priest Mai Xingjie, the abbot of the Triple Origin Temple of Guangzhou, once travelled along the Xiangjiang River to visit Li Daoming, the owner of Benli Garden in Anle Village, Fen Ridge. The reason for their visit was that they were aware that the manners and morals of the time were decaying and that they were past their prime, so they thought it necessary to find a holy place for secluded cultivation from which to advocate Daoism in order to remedy the ills of the age.

Arriving at their destination, they saw at a distance green mountains surrounded by a very great number of pines. The place was named Double Fish Grotto and Great Happiness Village. Just as the morning sun began to shine, auspicious clouds in five colors drifted halfway up the hill, making it look like a natural fairyland. Seeing this, they decided to found a Daoist temple of the orthodox Dragon Gate sect on the spot.

After their visit, they asked their Daoist friends Liang Qimei, Zhou Langshan, Su Shouqi, Su Yaochen and Ruan Chanqing to pool a huge sum of money to purchase the land, and they bought the piedmont of the Double Fish Grotto from the relatives and friends of their Daoist friend Feng Yaoqing. There they built a Daoist temple named Fung Ying Seen Koon.

At first, the Supreme Venerable Sovereign and Patriarch Chunyang was enshrined, and later, patriarch Qiu Changchun was also enshrined. From then on the Fung Ying Seen Koon has transmitted its mysterious lineage and expounded the Dao and the scriptures.

In the early days of the Fung Ying Seen Koon, the buildings were dilapidated and the equipment was simple and crude. Later, in 1929, the Jisi year, through the generous financial assistance of the Daoist directors Ruan Chanqing and Su Yaochen, the Eastern Hall was built as a Quiet Chamber for Cultivating the Dao. In the spring of 1951, the western chamber was built, and in the winter of the same year, the senior Daoist Luo Zongxu ceded his Quiet Chamber back to the FungYing Seen Koon, and its name was changed to the Southern Chamber. During the following several years, the two Pavilions, "Plum" and "Orchid," were also built to provide shelter from sunlight and rain for pilgrims, and the Hall of Eternal Memory was established for later generations to honor ancestors with sacrifices. By then, the Fung Ying Seen Koon had become one of the largest Daoist temples in Hong Kong.

In 1950, the gengyin year, the Board of Directors and Advisors was established to administer Daoist pracitce. Soon after that, the Fung Ying Seen Koon applied to the government and was granted the land at the back of the mountain, and opened up new gardens. In 1952, the renchen year, Daoist priests raised funds to build the octagonal Pavilion of Joyous Benevolence. In 1954, the jiawu year, the senior Daoist priest Zhang Yujie donated money to build the Pavilion of Accumulation of Kindness. In 1955, the yiwei year, some colleagues proposed to build the Penglai Pavilion and the Joyful Rain Pavilion. In the winter of 1965, the yisi year, the son of the senior Daoist priest Mai Congfu donated money to build the Congfu Pavilion to commemorate his ancestors. In 1966, the bingwu year, colleagues of the temple enthusiastically donated money to build the Terrace of Light.

Since then the Fung Ying Seen Koon has grown from a private Daoist temple for secluded cultivation into an officially registered, non-profit charitable and religious body. Later, it revised its rules and regulations, accepted female Daoist priests, and built a temple for female Daoist priests so that they could enter the temples to cultivate secretly and accumulate merit. Moreover, we enlarged the Hall of Eternal Memory to offer sacrifices to ancestors, and built or renovated the Hall of Eternal Joy, the Hall of Eternal Happiness, the Hall for the Accumulation of Kindness, the Hall of Foresight, and the Hall of Eternal Remembrance to place funerary caskets, recite scriptures and repent at the appropriate times and seasons, in order that those in both this world and in the nether world would enjoy safety and happiness.

Later, the Fung Ying Seen Koon expanded the Great Palace of the Three Sages (1977), the Southern Chamber (1986), the Hall for Female Daoist Priests (1987), the Eastern Chamber (1988), and the Western Chamber (1988), and made preparations for the construction of the Tower of Seasonable Rain (1994) and the Palace of Original Stars (1997), in a manner appropriate to the development of the affairs of the Fung Ying Seen Koon.

During the past decade, in order to further the perfection of the management of our Daoist temple, the seventh Board of Directors of the Fung Ying Seen Koon, led by President Feng Diping, President-for-Life Qiu Fuxiong, Chairmen Li Xianhua and Lu Weigan, Vice-Chairmen Huang Chiquan and Zhu Yongchang, and the colleagues of all previous boards of directors of the Fung Ying Seen Koon, have spared no effort in their promotion of Daoism and their participation in public welfare and charity activities, to include:

Service to society

1. Offering medical treatment and medicine: We have set up a Chinese and a Western medical clinic that are free of charge. We also produce and export medicinal alcohol for injuries from falls and fractures.
2. Setting up schools and cultivating talent: We have established two kindergartens and two self-study rooms for youth.
3. Nurturing the young and caring for the aged: We have founded two service centers for senior citizens.

Disseminating the religion and elucidating the Dao

1. Lectures teaching the Dao are held to expound and advocate Daoist philosophy, to preach the Dao, and to spread virtue.
2. Rituals of scriptural confession include praying for blessings, redeeming lost souls, deliverance from hell, and offerings for the benefit of this world.
3. Support of ancestors: We spread the principle of filial piety, carry out funeral rites for parents and provide for the worship of ancestors.
4. Training classes for masters of the scriptures and scriptural study classes for Daoist priests: We enable the faithful and disciples to engage in advanced studies of rites and scriptures, and to conduct research into Daoist arts.
5. Organization of the Hong Kong Daoist Philharmonic Society: Through performances meant to introduce Daoist music at home and abroad, we aim to correct misconceptions of Daoism among the people and to acquaint them with the riches of Daoist culture.

In addition, in order to enable Daoist culture to spread properly, the Fung Ying Seen Koon has established the Daoist Culture and Information Center. We invite scholars from home and abroad, senior Daoist priests, and eminent Daoist priests from brother Daoist temples to join in the organization of the executive committee and to make plans for the future of our religion. zh:蓬瀛仙館（香港）