The Yuen Yuen Institute () is a

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

temple in Lo Wai,

Tsuen Wan District Tsuen Wan District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the New Territories and is served by the Tsuen Wan line of the MTR metro system. Its area is 60,7 km². Its residents, who mostly live in Tsuen Wan Town, enj ...

, Hong Kong.

Location

The Institute is located on hectares of land around Sam Dip Tam (), Tsuen Wan District in the

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

. The area is interspersed with temples, pavilions, and monasteries.

History

The Yuen Yuen Institute was established in Hong Kong in 1950 by monks from Sanyuan Gong (Three Originals Palace) in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, which in turn traces its lineage to the

Longmen Longmen () may refer to: *Longmen (mythology), The Dragon Gate in Chinese mythology, located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain *Longmen Grottoes, collection of Buddhist cave art in Luoyang *Longmen Mountains, mountain ra ...

(Dragon Gate) Lineage of

Quanzhen The Quanzhen School (全真: ''Quánzhēn''), also known as Completion of Authenticity, Complete Reality, and Complete Perfection is currently one of the two dominant denominations of Taoism in mainland China. It originated in Northern China in ...

(Complete Perfection) Taoism. The Yuen Yuen Institute is the only temple in Hong Kong dedicated to all three major Chinese religions:

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

. The first three Chinese characters of the Institute's name denote the essence of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism respectively, so as to advocate the integration and realization of the three religions' teachings. The main building at the Institute is a replica of the

Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperor of China, Emperors of the Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasties for ...

(Tian Tan) in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. In 1968,

Moy Lin-shin Moy Lin-shin (梅連羨 méi lián xiàn) (1931 in Taishan county, Guangdong – June 6, 1998, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) was a Taoist monk, teacher and T'ai chi instructor who founded The Taoist Tai Chi Society (道教太極拳社), the Fung Loy ...

co-founded (together with Taoist Masters Mui Ming-to and Mrs Tang Yuen Mei) the temple for the

Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism The International Taoist Tai Chi Society (國際道家太極拳社) is an umbrella organization for the governance of its member associations around the world, which are dedicated to the teaching of Taoist Tai Chi. As of 2007, the organization h ...

on the grounds of the Yuen Yuen Institute.

Purpose

The Institute's purpose is: *to spread the principles of the three religions, Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism; *to uphold the eight virtues (i.e. filial piety, respect, loyalty, fidelity, propriety, justice, honesty and honour); *to promote social welfare.

Activities

*During the annual

Lantern Festival The Lantern Festival ( zh, t=元宵節, s=元宵节, first=t, hp=Yuánxiāo jié), also called Shangyuan Festival ( zh, t=上元節, s=上元节, first=t, hp=Shàngyuán jié), is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth d ...

, donations are exchanged for lanterns in the belief that these will bring fortune and health. The proceeds go to maintaining the Old Age Home and the hospitals and schools run by the Yuen Yuen Institute. *An annual

Bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...

and Stone Appreciation Show. *A restaurant is maintained at the Institute that offers vegetarian food. *Celebration of

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

or Ghost Month (the 7th month of the lunar calendar).

References

External links

Institute website
{{commons, Yuen Yuen Institute, Yuen Yuen Institute Taoist temples in Hong Kong Tsuen Wan District Three teachings