Toh Peh Kong
The Chinese in West Kalimantan worship
Toh Peh Kong, as their god and protector, as part of their ancestral
traditions, brought over from China.The ancestral doctrine is that of Sam Kao,
or the three doctrines, a mixture of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian tenets.
There are fused with the Toh Peh Kong cult, which in fact is unknown in
China.The central place of worship of the Toh Peh Kong cult is the Chinese
temple of Tri Darma Budi, in Singkawang.
The Toh Peh Kong cult exists only in
West Kalimantan, and is in fact clarification of the pioneers of the Chinese in
West Kalimantan.Those pioneers consisted of seven Chinese commanders, who
served under Ike Mese and Shi Bi, the armada commanders who came to attack
Singasari in 1293. In their homeward voyage, Ike Mese ordered seven of his
officers and 250 men to stay in West Kalimantan.Toh Peh kong here is also known
in Java, but there he is the personification of Admiral Cheng Ho, the Moslem
Chinese seafarer who once visited Java.
In West Kalimantan, Toh Peh Kong is
not identified with any mortal of the past.Toh Peh Kong here is worshipped in
the shape of a grandfather statue although there are also couples of statue
representing the deity. Toh Peh Kong couples can be seen in the Chinese temple
of Tri Darma Bumi, in Pasar Tengah, Singkawang. There is also one in the
Chinese temple in Sebangkau village. Along the road between Pontianak and
Sambas, a Chinese temple is found in almost every village, dedicated to the
worship of Toh Peh kong.
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