![Leng Chu Kiang Shrine in 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Leng_Chu_Kiang_Shrine_in_2018.jpg)
Lim Ko Niao (), th, ลิ้มกอเหนี่ยว), alternatively Lin Guniang or Lim Kor Niaw and also named Lim Kun Yew,
is a deity worshipped by the Chinese people in southern Thailand. She was said to be the sister of
Lim Toh Khiam, and who according to legend committed suicide after she failed to persuade her brother to return home, and later began to be worshipped as a goddess by the ethnic Chinese communities in southern Thailand for her sense of
filial piety
In Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, and Daoist ethics, filial piety (, ''xiào'') (Latin: pietas) is a virtue of respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors. The Confucian '' Classic of Filial Piety'', thought to be written around the lat ...
and patriotic feeling for China. A shrine, the Leng Chu Kiang shrine, and a museum dedicated to her exist in
Pattani.
Legend
Lim Ko Niao is said to be the sister of Lim Toh Khiam, a
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
Chinese pirate who settled in the
Patani Kingdom
Patani, or the Sultanate of Patani ( Jawi: كسلطانن ڤطاني) was a Malay sultanate in the historical Pattani Region. It covered approximately the area of the modern Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and part of the nort ...
in the 16th century. Her existence as an actual person is not known, and her given name is not clear (''Ko Niao'' or ''Guniang'' means "maiden" or "young woman"); some sources claimed her given name was Cizhen (慈貞), but a separate tale involving Lim Toh Khiam from
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
tells of a sister named Jinlian (金蓮).
She is also named in some sources as Lim Kun Yew, a sea goddess worshipped in some Chinese communities.
According to the Patani legend, Lim Ko Niao went looking for Lim Toh Khiam when their mother became ill, swearing not to return until she had brought him back. She found Lim Toh Khiam in Patani, where he had married the daughter of the Sultan, converted to Islam and was building a mosque for the Queen. However, he refused to return and fought her instead, and she then committed suicide by hanging from a ''
janggus'' tree.
Before she died, she was said to have cursed the mosque her brother was building, believed to be the
Krue Se Mosque
Krue Se Mosque ( ms, Masjid Kerisek; th, มัสยิดกรือเซะ, ) also called Gresik Mosque, Pitu Krue-ban Mosque ( th, มัสยิดปิตูกรือบัน) or Sultan Muzaffar Shah Mosque, is a mosque in Pattani ...
, so that it could never be completed – every time someone tried to finish the building, a lightning would strike the building. In mourning, the local Chinese later made of statue of her with wood from the tree she had hung herself, and created a small shrine for her, and worshipped her for her sense of
filial piety
In Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, and Daoist ethics, filial piety (, ''xiào'') (Latin: pietas) is a virtue of respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors. The Confucian '' Classic of Filial Piety'', thought to be written around the lat ...
and patriotism.
Another legend says that she committed suicide after fighting alongside her brother against rebels in Patani and became surrounded by them.
Her gravestone, said to have been built by her brother and located next to the
Krue Se Mosque
Krue Se Mosque ( ms, Masjid Kerisek; th, มัสยิดกรือเซะ, ) also called Gresik Mosque, Pitu Krue-ban Mosque ( th, มัสยิดปิตูกรือบัน) or Sultan Muzaffar Shah Mosque, is a mosque in Pattani ...
, is dated 1574 but may actually have been created in the early 20th century.
It is believed that she was originally buried near the harbour which has since become inundated by the sea, and the tomb was then moved next to the Krue Se Mosque around 1919.
Worship
The image of Lim Ko Niao was originally placed in small shrine, To Pikong Me, near the Krue Se Mosque.
The image was then moved to Leng Chu Kiang (). This temple was originally named Zushigong Shrine (祖師公祠) dedicated to Master
Qingshui – it was mentioned in Chinese temple record that such a temple existed in
Kuala Bekah, Patani in 1547, the oldest-known temple dedicated to Master Qingshui in Southeast Asia. It is said that a Chinese leader named Luang Cheen Kananurak refurbished the temple and moved the carved image of Lim Ko Niao here in 1879,
The temple was renamed Leng Chu Kiang after the image of Lim Ko Niao was moved there, and it is now commonly referred to as the Chao Mae Lim Ko Niao Shrine. A number of other deities also worshipped in the temple, such as
Mazu and
Fude Zhengshen Fude Zhengshen ('',Keith G. Stevens, Chinese Mythological Gods, Oxford University Press, USA, (November 8, 2001), pages 60, 68, 70, lit. Righteous God of Virtue and Blessing) is a God of Prosperity in Chinese folk religion. He is often considered ...
. The temple was partly rebuilt in 1912 and in 1969.
Other shrines dedicated to Lim Ko Niao have also been established in the neighbouring
Songkhla and
Yala provinces, and her worship has spread further to a few towns in Central and Upper South Thailand.
The worship of Lim To Niao may have started to spread outside of the Patani area in the 1950s,
and the Patani shrine has become a tourist attraction for visitors from
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
since the 1960s.
Festival
A festival, the Chao Mae Lim Ko Niao Festival ( th, งานสมโภชเจ้าแม่ลิ้มกอเหนี่ยว), is held every year in Pattani, starting on the 14th day of the
Chinese New Year. The following day on the 15th, the wooden image of Lim Ko Niao and 17 other statues of various deities worshipped at this temple as well as others from the neighbourhood are carried by the locals in a grand procession. The images are carried across the
Pattani River for bathing in the water, and later in the day, the carriers also walked over fire.
References
{{reflist
Chinese goddesses
Deified Chinese people
Ming dynasty people
Pattani province
Chinese-Thai culture