The Birthday of Che Kung

Che Kung festival or the Birthday of Che Kung is the day when people celebrate the birth of Che Kung. On this day, people, especially Hongkongers, would like to go to Che Kung Temple and worship Che Kung. Che Kung was a military commander in Southern Song dynasty. He protected the Emperor Bing of Song to escape Mongol invaders and considered as loyalty to the emperors.

The real birthday of Che Kung is 2 January in the Chinese lunar calendar. Nevertheless, people prefer the next day to celebrate his birthday.

They are:

Apart from the ceremony carried in the above hall, there are other practices to be done in the subordinate halls e.g. Tai Sui (太歲), Cai Shen(財神). For believers who are students, they often write down their name and wishes on a praying paper, and stick it onto a board called Jinbang timing board (金榜題名板) to pray for better academic achievements. To express their respect to Che Kung, believers may donate to the temple (添香油). Divination (求籤) is also practised in Che Kung Temple as a way of fortune-telling.

On the Che Kung festival in 2014, 65 thousand people went to Che Kung. Believers think practising divination in Che Kung temple has made accurate predictions in the past. The first time was in 2003, Minister of Home Affairs Dr Patrick Ho Chi-ping on behalf of the city pulled out the worst possible bamboo stick in the temple on the Birthday of Che Kung. In the same year, Hong Kong was hit by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak.

Therefore, the person on behalf of Hong Kong practising divination on the Birthday of Che Kung has changed to Lau Wong Fat, the minister of Heung Yee Kuk since 2004.

The Birthday of Che Kung also relates to some political controversy. In the event of Hong Kong Express Rail Link controversy, about 20 post-80s generation anti-rail representatives joined the Hong Kong Government Lunar New year kau cim tradition at Che Kung temple, Sha Tin to draw three divination sticks as a way of demonstration to express their anger towards Hong Kong government.

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Wikipedia