True Guan Gong stories in Cinese folklore 2 - Of chicken rice and Hong Kong Roast duck and the Past era of the Chinese gold Rushes

As a Singaporean Chinese Austrlian weird Foodie, I came across a stall selling Hainanese chicken rice in Sydney's Chinatown in Globurn street. The lady vendor told me that Hong kong people always worshipped Gaun gong for business and since then ,I made a sub-concious connection that if I were to find a good Hong kong resturant that offered Chicken rice and Hong kong roast , I would use my Qigong astral projection creative visualisation skills and the ideal shop will appear. 1. One such cafe was the Golden wok of Melbourne Causeway Inn ran by Sally Tang, a Malaysain-chinese from Ipoh. She told me that they prayed to Guan gong for buisness as Gaungong was a beancurd seller . 2. Sechuan Flower ,a resturant located nearby my Camberwell home down-under here in Melbourne was run by Kenneth Leong and wife Ellleen . I visited them every now and then in the evening and go to know them quite well as I love Spicy Chinese food . As I sighted their statue of a standing statue there one night , Elleen and I decided to have Gaun gong's intervention to bless the shop , so Elleen placed a metal oval dish of a boiled chicken tigh as a scarificial offering to the diety .We invited Gaun Gong to entreat the shop with good fortune , watched and waited until Guan gong finished eating the chicken ! Then she shook the bell asking to be blessed for good business and the night ended rather humourosuly well delightfully . Kenneth Leong was a member of the Melbourne masonic society . He told me that they regularly burnt joss sticks in prayer to Guan gong in their hall . I have visited the hall a few times and have seen the painting of the pictures of the Five augustus ones on their wall. 3. My father being a freemason had to attend a private conference in Christchurch which lasted for 3 days . As my third Aunty Lina on my father's side and Uncle Eng having migrated to New Zealand and lived in Christchurch , we deceided to call on them and invite them to a Chinese dinner in Christ church . Being was the first time in Chrsit church and told that the Chinese in Christ church was scarce as consequently there was no Chinatown which had a good Chinese resturant, I kept it in mind and in prayer chant to the lord in the way beyound for a sign for a good Chinese resturant with Hong kong roast duck and the Guan gong in it . The answer to my prayers materlised one night while my parents were attending the Masonary buffet night and I was left entirely on my own . Consequently, I went into the casino for the night visit to enjoy myself and looking out for a palce to have my dinner . Just as the public bus rounded through the corner of the highway into Colombus street, I sighted the number 1 Chinese provincail resturant at the bus stop so I aligted from the bus to dine in there . After some intense observation, I noticed the greenish shimmering gilted statue of the gaun gong on display atthe shop front and heeded the menu had a mixed roast duck combination . There and then I decieded than that the number 1 China provincail resturant was the desiganted place and the propritor in conversation affirmed that they stratgically chose that spot for business atthe bus stop as it was so conviently was placed and located to attract potential customers . So the follwong evening, my parents treated my Aunt Lina and Uncle eng to the resturnt after spending the day with them at their residence . And my father complimented me for the ideal location and that the dishes we had were very good besides the roast duck and pork combination dish and the food and service was of a good quality standard and reasonably priced. 4. The era of the Chinese victorian gold rushes in 1854 saw the arrival of chinese pouring into the Victorian gold-fields form Bendigo into Melbourne . Till present day, The Cantoense See yup society still stands there as a heritage building with the Chinese gardens opened in the Empeor Tong zhi era at South Melbourne Raglan street as a hall amrk of China's friendship society with Melbourne . Besides this there was also the Chinese Joss house or a miniture temple built in worship of Gaun gong for wealth , protection, dispensation of justice , settlement of social disputes and communal life as well as the veneration of the Chinese goddess of mercy for Women welfare. Presetnly, it is used as a Buddhsit convention centre attended by overseas chinese devout prasticing buddhist . Traces of the past overseas Chinese heraldry still remains too in Bendigo with a thriving business community form the mining booms days of yore and clebrations of the largest Chinese proecessioanl Dai long Eqaster Dragon . It was only called the Easter dragon because its customary processions were held in March as celebrations after the vegetable market gardening harvest without any assocaition to the Christian Easter .Much later in 1856 of the same era, the Melbourne Chinese Masonic society was founded . Today, it is used as a faternal charitable function hall in suport of the Mainland chinese Communist PRC with dinners hosted for the China delegation . 5. The Chinese diggers arrived in Castlemaine in the 1850s first before pouirng into the Victorian goldfields of Bendigo and Ballarat with the many who hailed from Canton and the Californain gold fields. Bendigo was then known to them as Tsin kum shan or New Gold mountain while Californa was known as Dai Kum shan or Big gold mountian being the orginal venue of their fortune-hunting expedition. As Castlemaine was only a palce for temporary Chinese migrants who came to mine the goldfields to send money backhome to the mainland , the Chinese settlement was few with Little Canton in Forst creek of Guildford , remote country shire away from the municipality of Castlemaine. What was interesting to note that the Temple or Joss house of Castlemaine dedicatd to Gaun Gong worship was for not only for wealth and protection but also for literature with Gaun Gong holding a book and a sword concurrently becasue it was patronsied by literate shop-keepers of acounts, pwn-borkers and bankers who could transcat business . Besides the local grocery for selling their vegetable market garden produce, herbalist, laundary and pawn-shops , there were also gambling and opium-smoking dens kike thsoe you read in Tin tin 's Blue Lotus Inn . All these venues while contributing to a vibrant Chinese community was also sources of protection of discriminaiton against Chinese gold-diggers on these grounds: 5a. Oppostion of their heathenistist worship as thier fortune-hunting and firece loyalty was evident by wealth worship of Gaun-di or Gaun gong agaisnt a European majoirty who were Judeo-christains worshipping in their churches 5b. that the Chinese being very exclsive amongst themselves never attemptes to assimilate with the wider European migrant community though this came much later with mix marriages to European women. The Chinese diggers often resorted to their dens and clans and secet socities of the Yee Hing or the remanant of the Chinese traid society of the Heaven and Earth Society , thus being described as being clannish, Clandestine , evil , sinister, dirty and unsrcuploius and cunning . 5c. That since most Chinese diggers were unskilled, they rarely prospered with alluvival minning and often got into strife with Europaen diggers who had the license to mine while Chinese were prohibited from holding a license and land tenure. Instead, many survived on market-gardening , laundering and pedalling . The acute social conditions of the times led to more vagrant disputes to break out , frequent hit and run murder and increased activites in gambling, smoking and idling and so forth tjat led to events such as the Lambing flat riots of Bendigo. 5d. As most Chinese diggers were tempory settlers, they often mine the fields and sent thier deposits back home in cash , thus the assucations of outflow of European gold money out of the country . 6. 1988 in the year of the dragon was regraded to be msot auspicious accoding to Chinese folklore . So I decedied to volunteer myslef for the Chjinese new year annual Dragon dance in Melbourne Chinatown. This annual dragon procession was held bythe Australain Chinese musuem, home to Melbourne's Dai Loong Dragon or largest dragon which was first used by the Chinese gold diggers in Bendigo in celebration of the lunar New year at the Victorain goldfields and had ben presereved at the Australain chinese musuem since then . 6a. The Chinese dragon dance association is run by Lim Tou Eng also known as the Dargon lady for both her role as the head of this ssmall assocaition as well as for her aggressive fiery temper . Dragon lady hled this procession annually with the sracifical offering of Roast pork dediacted to a shrine to Guan Gong . I was placed as leg no 8. with rest of the crew and those participating in the cortege holding paper porcessional floats and weapons and we had to wait for 20 minutes till the rites were over before we headed off with the march that ran from Cohjan place preceit to Longsdale street. 6b. The rites and ceremony involved dedication to Gaun gong and prayer for auspiciality as Dragons were intertwiend with rain magic . It is also a symbolof re-incarnation as added by Buddhism . The March ended at 2 pm or so with a three course sumptous free lunch given to all who participated including the liuon dances from the Chinese assocaiton of Victoria . This afternoon banqueting plus the procession became a very memoriable experience in itself but after turning hyper-calvinist and going back to church to keep the sabbath strictly, I never particapted again especially the procession invloves dedication to an idol .