Khye Sian Ong Temple, Jelutong

Khye Sian Ong Temple, Jelutong, Penang (14 September 2019)


Khye Sian Ong Temple (GPS: 5.39, 100.31367) is a Chinese temple in Jelutong, Penang. It is the first and oldest temple in Southeast Asia, outside of Taiwan, to be dedicated to the Chinese Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong (Chinese: 鄭成功; Pinyin: Zhèngchénggōng, Penang Hokkien Taiji: Tni33 Seng3 Kong1 ), but is best known in English as Koxinga (Chinese: 國姓爺; Pinyin: Guó xìng yé; Penang Hokkien Taiji: Kork1 Snaeh3 Ya2 ). Koxinga in the deified form is now being venerated by devotees as Khye Sian Ong (Chinese: 開山王; Pinyin: Kāishān wáng; Penang Hokkien Taiji: Khai3 San3 Ong2 ). 開山王 is the kingship title bestowed upon Koxinga.

According to temple history, Khye Sian Ong Temple dates back to 1804, making it the first and oldest temple to Koxinga in Southeast Asia. The temple incense is said to have originated from Fuzhou, circa 1674, where the veneration of Koxinga began. Khye Sian Ong Temple was originally a shrine at Lorong Kulit. It was relocated to its present site in Jelutong in 1820, when the temple was gifted a piece of land by one Inchi Jemal, the penghulu of the area.

In 1838, the statue of Khye Sian Ong which was in the temple, was taken to Siam, but was not returned. Without its principal deity, the temple was left to neglect until 1858, when Tua Pek Kong was instated as the resident deity. As such, the temple was renamed Khye Sian Ong Tua Pek Kong Temple. The temple underwent various rounds of renovations, in 1864, 1897, 1928, 1938 and 2000.

In 1986, a new statue of Khye Sian Ong was reinstated to the temple as principal deity, and the temple reverted to its original name of Khye Sian Ong Temple. A new statue of Khye Sian Ong was received by the temple in 2013, following the temple's participation in the celebration of Koxinga's recovery of Taiwan, and has been installed on the temple altar.

Zheng Chenggong is well remembered for his role leading the people to fight against the invading Manchus, which were at the time establishing the Qing Dynasty in place of the Ming. The battles between the resistant forces and the Qing forces happened in various part of China, from Fujian Province up to Nanjing, as well as across the straits to Taiwan.

What is little documented is that the turbulence of that period brought forth a wave of Hokkien-speaking refugees to flee Fujian and to seed settlements across Southeast Asia, enabling the Hokkien language to take hold in various parts of the region before the arrival of Mandarin.

Today Khye Sian Ong Temple has a landmark arch which is built in conjunction with the 200th-year celebration of its founding. The founding year of this temple is taken as 1820. This is based on the stelae embedded on the floor of the temple. It is one of several stela in the premises.

What is interesting about the stelae embedded on the floor is the name of the emperor was carved in complete traditional Chinese character - this is out of form, because normally the rule of 避諱 dictates that reverence to the Chinese emperor of the day requires that his name be written with one stroke missing.

However, the founding of the temple was stated on the stelae as in the 25th Year of the Jiaqing Emperor, and his name was written in Simplied Chinese (嘉庆) instead of 嘉慶. And furthermore, it is written with an additional dot to the radical 犬. Could this be a deliberate insult to the Qing Dynasty? If yes, could this be added much later, for surely if something were written in 1820, it would be in traditional Chinese characters.

Finally, an important feature of the Khye Sian Ong Temple are its wall murals, which date to 1936-37. In 2020, a grand temple arch was erected, erasing the obscurity of the temple which has elsewhile been hidden from view. The temple arch was officially opened by the Chief Minister of Penang, the Right Honourable Chow Kon Yeow on 20 March 2020.

Plaque commemorating the official opening of the Khye Sian Ong Temple Arch (13 August 2022)


Khye Sian Ong Temple, Jelutong, Penang (14 September 2019)


Front entrance to Khye Sian Ong Temple. (14 September 2019)


Plaque reading Khye Sian Ong Temple (14 September 2019)


Altar to Khye Sian Ong with two other deities namely the Tua Pek Kong and Nazu. (14 September 2019)


Closer viedw of the altar at Khye Sian Ong Temple (14 September 2019)


Wall murals of Khye Sian Ong Temple (14 September 2019)


Another view of the wall murals, with the temple bell. (14 September 2019)


View of the murals with the altar. (14 September 2019)


The newly erected arch of Khye Sian Ong Temple, to commemorate its 200th anniversary. (14 September 2019)


The name of Koxinga at the top, or Khye Sian Ong. (14 September 2019)


Another view of the Khye Sian Ong plaque on the arch. (14 September 2019)

Khye Sian Ong Temple on Google Street View

Khye Sian Ong Temple (May 2018)

Khye Sian Ong Temple is on the Map of Jelutong

References

List of Clan Temples in Penang, Chinese Temples in Penang and Chinese Temples in Malaysia

 Buy, rent or sell properties in Penang

Do you have a property for sale or to rent out? Are you looking to buy or rent a property? Get in touch with me. WhatsApp me (Timothy Tye) at 012 429 9844, and I will assign one of my property agents to serve you. I will choose the agent for you, according to your property needs. So when you message me, provide me some details of what you need, whether to sell, to buy, to rent or to rent out, and what type of property, is it condo, apartment, house, shop, office or land.

Adakah anda mempunyai hartanah untuk dijual atau disewakan? Adakah anda ingin membeli atau menyewa hartanah? Hubungi saya. WhatsApp saya (Timothy Tye) di 012 429 9844, dan saya akan menugaskan salah seorang ejen hartanah saya untuk berkhidmat kepada anda. Saya akan pilih ejen untuk anda, mengikut keperluan hartanah anda. Oleh itu, apabila anda menghantar mesej kepada saya, berikan saya beberapa butiran tentang apa yang anda perlukan, sama ada untuk menjual, untuk membeli, untuk disewakan atau untuk disewakan, dan jenis hartanah apakah itu kondo, pangsapuri, rumah, kedai, pejabat atau tanah.

您有待出售或出租的房产吗？ 您想购买或租赁房产吗？ 与我联系。 WhatsApp 我 (Timothy Tye) 012 429 9844，我将指派一名房地产经纪人为您服务。 我会根据您的房产需求，为您选择代理。 因此，当您给我发消息时，请向我提供一些您需要的详细信息，无论是出售、购买、出租还是出租，以及房产类型，是公寓、公寓、房屋、商店、办公室还是土地。

 New Properties in Penang

Looking to buy property in Penang? Get the e-brochures right here without having to visit or contact individual developers.

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

 Discover with Timothy YouTube Channel

 PG Food Channel

 Learn Penang Hokkien YouTube Channel

SojiMart Videos

 Share your travels and/or ask a travel-related question

Join the Penang Travel Tips Facebook Group to share photos, tips and anything related to your travels, or ask travel-related questions.

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

Discover with Timothy

Let me take you to explore and discover Penang through my series of walking tours on YouTube. You may use these videos as your virtual tour guide. At the beginning of each video, I provide the starting point coordinates which you may key into your GPS, Google Maps or Waze, to be navigated to where I start the walk, and use the video as your virtual tour guide.

Disclaimer

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

Latest from Discover with Timothy: Gurney Bay - what to see and do there

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.

Robbie's Roadmap