The Chu Tai Sin Cult - temporary exhibition at Museu do Oriente, Lisboa - The 19th of April 2015

As I walked into Museu do Oriente I knew I'd be staying for a few hours, once there were at least four temporary exhibitions I was interested in, one of them being on the Chu Tai Sin Cult and the role it used to play (and still does to a certain extent) in the life of the fishermen of Macau.

 

Having been to Macau in 1998 and tried over the years to further develop my knowledge regarding a country I had fallen for, I must say I had never heard of this Cult, this being the major reason as to why I didn't hesitate to start my cultural "venture" by this particular exhibition, not knowing what to expect.

 

 

To the right side of the main entrance a series of photographs depicting the life of the fishermen of Macau, who having been 52,463 by 1927 and according to records dating to 2011 reduced to 735. Traditions were nevertheless passed from generation  to generation throughout the last century, thus retaining part of the collective memory and specific identity of the fishing community of Macau.


 

 

The fact that many fishing families were forced to abandon their fishing boats and adapt  themselves to new living circumstances brought about by a crisis in the fishing sector didn't mean their beliefs died out with it. Those are kept alive year after year as the  actual and former fishermen families participate in the Da Jiu festivity carrying along with them venerating wooden statues.

 

 

Chu Tai Sin worshippers  who have him placed in altar-like frames at home bring them out in the Da Jiu festivity, so as to ensure his influencing power is maintained.

 

 

 

 

The exhibition comprised a number of wooden artefacts used in those culturally rich festivities. One was allowed to see the artistry and time involved in their fabrication process from the inital carving through the application of an ash and laque mixture and finally the gold covering and painting.

The unique way of venerating the ancestors is closely tied to a well defined representation pattern, in which the old are represented in a sitting position, while the young are standing, loose hair indicating single women and tied up hair the married ones, as well as the inclusion of certain clothing details and the size of the figures reinforcing the idea of the social rank and power those being represented while they were alive.

 

 

 

 

Mediation plays an important role in these festivities with the fishermen of Macau having a group of  laic Buddhists Gui Si carry out the  necessary ritual procedures for the ceremony, as well as the writing down of the required documentation - the Pong (a huge red sheet of paper on which important elements like the names of all the family members participating in the ceremony, their personal requests and every ritual contemplated for the ceremony are written down).

 

 

The statue of Ji Tin Duk Dei, representing Sakyamuni (Buda) as a child pointing up to the sky with his right hand and towards the earth with the left  hand is said to have the particularity of being able to serve as an intermediary transmitting the worshippers' requests to the Deities, whilst travelling across earth and sky, according to a local legend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pei Lou hat and ritual crown worn by the local Gui Si during the ceremonial rituals
 

The Gwoh Gwaan ceremony, very popular among the young and the old (because of being the ones who are more vulnerable), aims at requesting the divine intervention in overcoming life's obstacles. Amongst its various rituals one has worshippers walk several times under a red cloth in the shape of a curtained door.

The cult of Chu Tai Sin cannot be dissociated from Lung Chuen Temple and Maan Sau Ga, a Buddhist female monk, who not only earned fishing peoples' esteem but actively promoted the cult of this Deity.

I found the exhibition to be very interesting and as I walked out of the exhibiting room felt a lot more aware of the importance of maintaining certain traditions or at least have them pass from generation to generation even if it is only to acknowledge that they still exist, despite not having the importance they used to in the past.




 

 

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

I must confess I chose to buy this nine hundred and so page book solely based on its synopsis and some of the opinions written on the back page of the cover, once I had never heard of its author. Because of its size I decided to keep it at home and not carry it with me on the way to and from work, but soon found myself literally and literarily "hooked" onto it to the point of having refused an evening out to simply keep on reading it. 

 

Whether it is a novel or an autobiographical story, as it has been referred to by many, is irrelevant because one thing is undeniable - it is brilliantly written  (though I have seen quite a lot of negative stylistic comments lately) and it has an underlying moral purpose that is not "thrown" onto the reader but rather permeates as one gets to know some of the characters.

 

 

 

"Powerful and original ... a remarkable achievement." - Sunday Telegraph

 

 

"Vivid and compassionate ... impressive." - Guardian 

 

From a certain moment on I stopped copying down some of its extracts .... I felt I'd have a lot of copying to do having therefore opted to just write down those phrases or paragraphs that had some sort of connection to either experiences I had had or those I felt to be interesting to ponder on.

"I had learned the hard way that sometimes even with the purest of intentions, we make things worse when we do our best to make things better."

 

"There's a truth that's deeper than experience. It's beyond what we see, or even what we feel. It's an order of truth that separates the profound from the merely clever, and the reality from the perception."

"I don't know what frightens me more, the power that crushes us or our endless ability to endure it."

 

"What do you want (...)? (...) I want everything, she replied with a faint, wry smile".

"Interested in everything, committed to nothing."

"Men reveal what they think when they look away and what they feel when they hesitate. With women, (...) it's the other way around."

"At first, when we truly love someone, our greatest fear is that the loved one will stop loving us. What we should fear and dread, of course, is that we won't stop loving them, even after they're dead and gone."

"Personality and personal identity are in some ways like co-ordinates on the street map drawn by our intersecting relationships."

"Some feelings sink so deeply into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again."

"The truth is that there are no good men, or bad men. (...) it is the deeds that have goodness or badness in them. There are good deeds, and bad deeds. Men are just men - it is what they do or, or refuse to do, that links them to good and evil."

"We can compel men not to be bad, but we cannot compel them to be good."

"There is no act of faith more beautiful than the generosity of the very poor."

 

I believe that Gregory David Robert's book will not leave those who read it indifferent, whether positive or negatively.

 

The wind rises ...

 

I've recently watched a Japanese animated historical drama, The wind rises, based on the biography of Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the Mitsubishi A5M fighter aircraft, which was widely used in World War II.

Jiro Horikoshi as a student at Tokyo Imperial University

Having been universally acclaimed and awarded quite a few prizes this animated film is clearly thought provoking, as it goes way beyond the biopic it is meant to focus on.

Hayao Miyazaki who wrote the script based on a 1939 short novel by Hori Tatsuo and directed the film is known as often being "preocupied with absence, the value of things left behind and how ghosts of beautiful things are traced onto our memories" and I believe he managed to capture and put all of that in this biography oriented film, which otherwise might have been deprived of its beauty.

 

 

"Miyazaki's depth of imagination defies classification other than his own brilliancy" - Mina Chang

 

 

"Mr. Miyazaki renders Jiro's life and dreams with lyrical elegance and aching poignancy" - Nicolas Rapold - New York Times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My "childhood" revisited ... - The 11th of April 2015

Whenever I go to Figueira I try to get hold of what  little remains from my childhood, despite the fact that it is sometimes painful not to be able to "identify" what once was and no longer is.


 I was therefore quite surprised to come across two buildings which were "important" when I was a child and a young adolescent - one (on the left) because of having been the place where I had my first ballet lessons under the direction of a French ballet teacher married to a well known Portuguese orchestra conductor and music composer, Freitas Branco and the other (on the right), a former medical clinic where I dared visit an injured friend (of the male gender) without a chaperone, which was highly unacceptable at the time.

Heading towards the public park, the former townhall, now turned into a bank brought back some memories of the past - it marked the limit between the old and the new town and from that point onwards everything we, as young adolescents, were willing to go to - the tennis club which often held parties, the casino with its no less interesting balls, the long stretches of sand lined with little bars and cafés ..., to mention just a few. 

The memorial statues which once stood in the park were substituted by fairly modern ones, which I must say I quite liked (at least they were a lot more creative and colourful).

As Mia and I headed towards the main beach of Figueira we came across an old black and white photo of the lighthouse, which now stands in the middle of a street, miles away from the sea which once used to reach its fortress-like walls. 

A few walking lanes and skate board areas have since then been "enbedded" in the scenario setting, so as to diminish the ever growing stretches of sand, resembling desert-like areas, which have entirely changed the previous layout of the coastal landscape. 

Two huge paintings decorate the seafront walking lane from the small fishing harbour to the main beach. One, looking western Europe style influenced (its author may be from one of those countries ... I honestly don't know ...)  stood proudly against the sea and made quite an impression on me ... I simply loved it and felt it made a real difference in the whole sea front scenario. 

 

 

 

To the left, a small beach I used to take my children to whenever we spent our holidays in Figueira remained "untouched". 

Having gone beyond the limit of Figueira and into Buarcos, a fishing village close by, we came across some of the "inventions" carried out by a former Mayor, which people still praise and take advantage of. A series of sports' courts along the beach, a savana-like area with a concert-like stage, as well as memorials to some of the outstanding figures of both Figueira and Buarcos.

Once we reached the old centre of Buarcos marked by an old statue of the fisherman pulling the fishing nets, we sat at a Japanese restaurant (another novelty) along the beach awaiting my brother's arrival.

 

 

Soon after lunch we decided to drive to Quiaios, a mere 15 kilometres from Figueira, where we visited an old windmill (in need of repair) and one of the three existing lagoons - Lagoa da Vela, the one which is easily accessed. Like the other two it is surrounded by dense shrubbery and although I didn't recall having ever been there part of the landscape rang a bell, possibly based on previous descriptions made by my brother, who often rode there on his bicycle.

Once we got back into town we decided to sit on a sea front café we used to go to in the past and be brought the same we used to have then, for old times'sake ...