THE TOUR / The Murals and Coloured Drawings in Leong San Tong
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The coloured drawings are indispensable ornaments in a temple or a clanhouse. Paint or calligraphy is applied to the drawings. The coloured drawings are found on the walls (the murals and the painted wall panels) and the wooden structures (the painted posts, lintels and the "Door God" paintings). The paints on the latter also serve as a protection to the wood.
The coloured drawings in Leong San Tong are peerless in Malaysia in terms of quantity, quality and size. The large murals can be found in the Cheng Soon Keong, the rear corridor and the front porch of the basement. The Murals in the Cheng Soon Keong There are four murals in the Cheng Soon Keong. Two of them are the "Watching the Bridegroom at Tai Fo Temple of the Wu State" and the "Birthday Celebration of Guo Zi Yi." The most fascinating ones, however, are the "36 Celestial Guardians" that almost totally cover both panels of the wall. These 36 celestial guardians, 18 on each side of the wall, are commonly found in the Southern Fujian temples. Leading them is the "message carrier" who rides on a horse. The celestial guardiansof both sexes and in mandarin or military attire. They ride on different animals such as the dragon, the lion and other rare creatures, and each of them is armed with a unique weapon. They are rich, interesting pictorial representations of folklores and art The "36 Celestial Guardians" are very huge representations but the artist's work is exemplary. At the bottom of the wall, on the left is the signature of the painter Yeoh Boon Ngah the Hermit. Apparently, Yeoh Boon Ngah was a renowned painter and a man of letters at that time. He knew poetry, painting and calligraphy. He also understands the social status of Khoo Kongsi and the minds of its leaders. His specialties had won him the appointment for the paintings of the "36 Celestial Guardians" in the Cheng Soon Keong and the "Hundred Sons and Thousand Grandsons," the "Nine Old Men," the "Three Visits to the Cottage" and the "Heaven-touching Filial Piety" at the rear corridor. |
  The calligraphy made up of birds or flowers and the signature of Yeoh Boon Ngah |
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 The rear corridor is much less resplendent than the main hall. The sober wall has large murals of the late Qing Dynasty, which are rare in this region |
The Murals at the Rear Corridor
There are seven murals at the rear corridor, three of them large and four of them small. They have survived the test of time for almost a century, since the completion of Leong San Tong. Their perfect condition makes them some of the most important heritage paintings of this country. | |
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The Nine Old Men
The story originated in the Tang Dynasty. During the summer of the fifth year of the reign of the Emperor Wu Zong, the famous poet Bai Ju Yi and eight other old men gathered in Luo Yang. They wrote and recited poems and had the event recorded in a painting called the "Nine Old Men". The painting advocated optimism as a means for good health and longevity. The couplets that go with the painting read : "to observe the two spheres regulating yin and yang between Heaven and Earth: to play a game of chess reflecting the strategies of the past and the present." |
) The magnificent picture of the "Nine Old Men" (CLICK TO ENLARGE) »View details of the Nine Old Men picture. | |
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The nine old men in the painting looked calm and relaxed. They are either observing the "Twin Fish Chart" or playing a game of chess. This implies that they have mastered the vicissitude around them with a kind of easiness, for the twin fish chart in Chinese geomancy is a symbol of the flux of the world.
This painting seems to pay tribute to the leadership of Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi whose insight into the ways of changes in a highly competitive society has steered Khoo Kongsi to the top. | ||
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