Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 85 The Lord of Penang
After three months,

October 10th, National Day.

In such a huge city like Penang, the usually noisy construction sites also stopped work for a rare day, and several main roads were swept clean in advance, leaving them spotless.

Bang, bang, pong,
Countless salutes roared into the sky, from Penang Hill, all the way down to City Hall, and from City Hall along the main road all the way to the city gate. There was a long string of special firecrackers placed there, and God knows how many bangs there were.

Fires were lit, cannons were set off, and countless red ribbons and red flags fluttered in the wind.

Outside the city, Zheng Yi, sitting in his car, couldn't help but sigh, "Ah~, I'm so busy every day. Isn't this just a waste of time? Besides, it's so hot."

At the side, Qian Qiwen gently fastened the buttons of his Zhongshan suit and said, "Alright, alright. I know your time is very precious, Mr. Zheng. From today on, you will be the ruler of Penang, and even the ruler of the entire Nanyang Chinese. Everything must be done with ceremony. Isn't this what the ancients said about etiquette? Etiquette cannot be abolished."

"But it's so hot. Why do I have to wear a Zhongshan suit? Nanyang, I'm sweating after just a while."

"So, I wanted to make you a custom gown, but you refused. This is a big day for us Chinese people, so of course we can't let you wear a suit."

"Wouldn't it look even weirder if I ordered a robe? Damn this sense of ritual! The project site has even been shut down. A day of suspension is a huge waste of money."

As he was talking, the car started and slowly drove over from outside the city, stopping at the foot of Penang Hill, at the entrance of a newly built magnificent temple with the two big words "Hua Miao" written on it.

On both sides of the road, two rows of men stood with their hands behind their backs. They all wore red turbans, red belts around their waists, white shirts on their upper bodies, and black pants on their lower bodies. Each of them was over 1.7 meters tall, and they looked strong and vigorous.

"Open the Dragon Gate!"

At the temple gate, an old man who looked to be in his seventies shouted loudly.

Just as Zheng Yi got off the bus, two rows of strong men all half-knelt on the ground, holding three and a half sticks of incense in their hands, and then sang in unison:
"Guan Gong is in Muyang City,"

"The golden flower sword is in the fight;"

"Pagoda rattan shield measuring the sky,"

"The abacus is showing off its power."

"Nuwa's precious mirror and golden knife edge,"

"Taiping Guozai is Zonghong;"

"Yunxiao Qinglian Hu Jinfeng,"

"Grains, grains, grasses, and trees are among the poplars."

"The waves, umbrellas, pines and cypresses are all signs,"

"Peach and plum blossoms fill the city with silk threads;"

"Five golden dragons support the wise master,"

"Paper, pen, ink, fan in the mirror."

"Auspicious stars and bright lights are shining brightly,"

"The great justice seizes the ninth level;"

"Four loyal and virtuous men support the wise ruler,"

"Five-colored flags Wanlihong."

Hundreds of people shouted at the same time, which almost scared Zheng Yi. He touched his heart unconsciously and smiled and nodded at them.

Behind him, another car slowly drove up and stopped behind Zheng Yi's car. Chen Jiageng, Xu Shengli, Li Jiqian, and Hu Wenhu got out of it one after another.

Xu Shengli was originally a local tyrant in Penang. What Zheng Yi was doing now was actually what his father and grandfather had done. Tan Kah Kee and Aw Boon Hu had already decided to move their family business to Penang and also bought a house on Penang Hill. At least they planned to use this place as the main place for business.

These four people, plus myself, a total of five people, are the parliamentary representatives of the entire Penang City Council.

Aside from Zheng Yi, the other four were all glowing, unfazed by the heat. Li Jiqian was even wearing a soft satin outfit; wasn't he afraid of getting a heat rash? They all looked delighted.

Especially Xu Shengli, he was so happy that Zheng Yi even saw his tonsils.

Today's situation was arranged by him.

He had originally thought that he could discuss the matter of the Kapitan in Penang with the Chinese tycoons, set up a municipal council or an autonomous committee, and just make an announcement in the newspaper. But he insisted that this was against etiquette.

The Chinese people pay the most attention to the word "etiquette". After he said this, other tycoons involved in Penang also responded, especially Chen Zhenlu, a Peranakan Chinese who was far away in Malacca, who actually took the initiative to fly over from Malacca.

He was not even involved in the petrochemical project, but he insisted on taking the lead in donating money. It took him only three months to build the "Chinese Temple" in front of you in Penang, which serves as the main venue for their ceremonies.

There is actually a long tradition of Nyonya Chinese donating to build temples. This is how the Tianfu Temple in Singapore came about. It is also a way for them to build relationships with mainstream Chinese.

In less than three months, the temple was completed, which seemed to be even faster than his petrochemical plant.

As for the ceremony itself, at least the two rows of strong men in white clothes on both sides of the road were definitely performed by Xu Shengli.

The entire ceremony was clearly Hongmen-style.

But in fact, the Hongmen had never held such a large ceremony before. It was probably just a joke. There was no etiquette or not. Anyway, there were more people, so it looked quite lively.

Zheng Yi turned around and bowed to the four of them, and the four of them bowed to him in unison, asking him to walk in front.

Zheng Yi stopped being pretentious and walked in.

"Open the incense altar and welcome the dragon head."

The entire temple is also full of Hongmen characteristics. After all, Penang is a Hongmen city with a strong Hongmen culture. Zheng Yi didn't care about these things, so he just followed the local customs.

However, when the temple was being built, there were so many things to consider that Zheng Yi felt it looked a bit out of place.

As for the Hongmen, they usually worship the Five Patriarchs of Shaolin or Bodhidharma.

However, for such a large temple and such a grand event, a group of Shaolin monks were appointed as the main gods. For the Chinese to hold such a groundbreaking event overseas, they burned incense to Bodhidharma. Is Bodhidharma really worthy of this?
The original plan was to worship Mazu directly like Tianfu Temple, but Zheng Yi hoped that Penang would be as united as possible to reflect the common culture of the Chinese. Generally speaking, the god Mazu is still too Fujian-based, and the people in western Guangdong among the Cantonese do not worship her.

The Li family from Xinyi refused to bow.

In order to show Penang’s tolerance, unity and inclusiveness, it was at Zheng Yi’s insistence that the original Tian Hou Temple was transformed into the current Chinese temple.

In addition to the main hall dedicated to Mazu, the side halls on both sides are dedicated to Guan Gong and Confucius, and there is also a rear hall at the back dedicated to Bodhidharma.

Zheng Yi took the big incense from the host and was the first to light it up. After a simple worship, Chen, Li, Xu and Hu took turns to light incense and worship the sky. Only then did it come the turn of the pilgrims outside to come in one after another.

After the worship, the old man shouted: "Brothers are here in front of the Loyalty Hall, commanding millions of soldiers in the city. I come to the Fude Temple to pledge to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming Dynasty. I, Hong Ying, respectfully invite the great dragon heads of water and land to take a seat on the high platform~"

After saying this, the people who had just come in to worship the gods all half-knelt down again and shouted in unison: "We respectfully welcome the great dragon head of water and land."

Zheng Yi: “…………”

Although I have made preparations, why do I feel so ashamed when the time comes?

What does that have to do with anything? He is the leader of all land and water forces. Is there anyone of that level in the Hongmen?
This is a new creation.

How embarrassing.

Ancestor worship is like ascending the throne.

But he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk up to the platform.

He said in a loud voice: "Today, I am the master of Penang. I hope that everyone, regardless of their background, rich or poor, from all corners of the country, will work together to build Penang, just for the Nanyang Chinese to gain a foothold again. Be our own master and unite! "

Damn, that's so embarrassing.

　Unified interpretation:

　　The reason for worshipping Bodhidharma is that Hongmen worships Bodhidharma.

　　One of the origins of the Hongmen is the Shaolin Five Ancestors Theory, so they believe that they originated from Shaolin. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, when our army was suppressing bandits, many bandit mountaintops worshipped Bodhidharma, and these bandits were all members of the Hongmen.

　　Another theory is Chen Jinnan's theory of the Tiandihui, so some people also worship Zheng Chenggong, but much fewer than those who worship Bodhidharma. In fact, this version became popular after The Deer and the Cauldron.

　　Penang used to be a Hongmen city. At its peak, 92% of the men in the city were Hongmen members. Worshiping Bodhidharma was just to give face to these old Penang Hongmen disciples.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)