Pak Mei Pai altar

[Lau]

In every school there should be an altar to respect the creator and the past masters of the style. At the altar we burn incense and offer tea and other things. Here is the altar from my lineage (CLC / Lee Sai Keung / Jie Kon Sieuw / me). Some other altars may have different texts. For example our altar talks about four animals where other altars have the same poem but with 5 animals. Here is what I gathered on our altar, and of course I thank everybody (especially Robert !)who helped me to put this together. I would have been lost without you !

In Hong Kong this altar is still actively used for Shin Gung. I started this thread to learn more about our altar. So if anyone has more information on the Pak Mei altar or shin gung then please feel free to add. Or can anyone shed some light on the relationship between Pak Mei Pai and Shin Gung?



Translation in English text
Top (right to left) : Wind fire hall
Middle (top to bottom) : Grandmasters Pak Mei altar
Left (top to bottom) : The legacy of the master creates tiger and leopard form
Right (top to bottom) : Teachings of the immortals make dragon and snake art

Explanation of the text

Wind fire hall:
The "Wind Fire Hall" refers to a sect of Taoism. In Taoism (the religion) there are 3 main branches today. Chuen Jun (philosophical practices), Jing Yat (ritual rites) and Luk Yum (invoking spirits). The last is also known as Shin Gung. This is the branch wind fire hall refers to. The Wind (breath), Fire (mind/spirit), and the body (hall) must all be present. The inverted fire means to "lower" the mind or focus the mind at the lower Dantian. The Inverted fire also symbolize the presents or arrival of the spirit (yours or otherwise). There is a custom or rather believe in Southern China that when a word is inverted (Do in Cantonese) it means something is present or arrived. So Fao Do means the fire (spirit) has arrived. There are also other explanations why the fire character is written upside down. One is that upside down the character resembles the face of the spirits of the altar. (You can see the eyebrows, eyes and nose). Luk Yum/ Shin Gung sometimes is thought of as the dark side of the coin. But there are good Luk Yum masters that truly help people and not asking for reward or anything.

Grandmasters Pak Mei altar:
This shows that this is the place to worship and honor the creator and the past masters of the style. We do this by burning incense and presenting offers of tea, alcohol, fruits and other things the spirits may like

Immortals:
This shows the Taoist origin of the style and implies also the metaphysical facet of the art.

The Four animals:
Dragon is majestic in its "Shan" the perceptive spirit. (Feel your opponent). Serpent is venomous in its "Sum" heart/mind. (Calculate your options) These two show the metaphysical aspects and internal nature of the style. Tiger is tyranious in its "Lik" the strength. (Command your opponent's respect). Leopard is fierce in its "Sai" the determination/dispositions. (Strike terror into the core of your opponent's very being). The four animals show the Shaolin connection of Bak Mei. Sifu and "Ying" imply physical aspects and external nature. "Ying" also makes up the 7th Character.

The couplet is than to illustrate that:
1. Metaphysical aspects and internal teaching are "the essence" and is so hard to grasp that only the immortals can instruct the student when he is ready.
2. The physical aspects (power, strength, forms, dispositions, etc.) are the external teachings that Sifu can transmit in person.

If we see a performance that seems to have all the power and the right movements but something is amissed, we know that the Sifu has done his best. It is the essence that is missing. That is up to the student to learn the ultimate truth of the art.

Regards, Lau

[Eric Ling]

Thank you Lau.

Now we know so much about your altar but almost nothing about you...........

Intro yourself to the rest of the family here.

You are obviouly a high hand...........

[Nataraya]

Evert.

[Southernfist]

Lau:
Very informative and thanks for sharing your Altar pic.
My sifu Kwong man fong has his altar with Pictures of Pak Mei Jo-si, Kwong Wei (character) , Jok Fat Wan, Cheung Lai Chung.

[Lau]

Evert, Thanks for the pictures but they seem to have temporarily? disappeared.

Southernfist. Good to hear your lineage also carries this altar. Does the altar at your Sifu's school mention 4 or 5 animals? Does your Sifu practice Shin Gung?

In general, can one carry the characters of the wind fire hall sect at ones altar if one doesn't practice Shin Gung? Can it be there for historic reference or is it totally "Not done" or "Forbidden" to have these characters if one doesn't practice Shin Gung ?

Regards, Lau

[Nataraya]

Lau,

I can imagine the link between Wind Fire Hall sect and Sam Kung/ Shen Kung, but do not look at it as that black & white.
Somewhere in a thread on this forum, I spoke about the four pillars of Hakka Boxing. One of them is 'Sam Kung', not all schools/ systems have this pillar. That doesn’t automatically imply that their heritage is incomplete, or that they do not have complete understandings. Personal motives, religion, transmission, etceteras, have all to deal about this.

Wind Fire Hall – just like the poems besides the huge portrait – explains you the philosophy of the art/ Hakka culture and their (historical) path. This go pretty deep. Recently I did a little study of the deity and had help from some colleagues. But it is too much to explain here, maybe at a later time. Not now.

Wind Fire said a lot about the origin and development, symbolised in these characters/ signs. The 'Wind’ character have a deeper meaning, as well as the ‘up side down’ Fire Character. Both characters can be ‘melt’ together, showing you a deeper philosophical meaning, for instance the path the practitioner should walk in their life. So, you can use those symbolical meanings in your own environment, without practicing Sam Kung.

My friend (Yong Chun White Crane) is going to observe if they have similar deities as in Hakka culture. If this is the case, then our observational tools, seeing similarities between the two arts, can explain a little bit more.

Sorry for the vague answers, but it’s a lot that could be explained…..

Take care,

Evert.

[Southernfist]

Lau:

My sifu mentions the five animals in our bak mei. But we do not have it on the Altar as your.

My Sifu asked Si-gung Cheung Lai Chung if he could be taught this special skill. Our Si-gung said No, because you call upon the negative forces. Also there were alot of other requirements or things may occur to you or your family.
eg. You could not have children if you were single. If you had small children the spirits may possess them. also your aura was/ would be filled with dark Qi.
You could become mad if you did not practice it correctly.

He even mentioned if you were a good natured person it would make you cold hearted and ruthless. You had to have that nature to control the spirits.

As for the Fire character being placed upside down.
I was told and taught it is done so as to control your temper, self, obssesions. By doing that you are subduing those feelings or emotions.
Since Fire is wild and not manageable that is why this practice is done.

There is alot of meaning and beliefs as Nataraya mentioned.

I believe you respect the beliefs of our Sifu's and ancestors more then being engulfed in practicing them.

[Eric Ling]

Hey guys,


This might have entirely nothing to do with your current altar discussion.

Why some Chinese characters signs are displayed upside down;

Commonly 2 Chinese characters are involved.

“Chai” or wealth, money and luck…….
“Fu” or joy and contentment……

Upside down in Mandarin is “dao” which also sounds like “arrive”.

So to have these 2 characters upside down is to wish for their “arrival”.

[Leon]

Eric said:

Hey guys,


This might have entirely nothing to do with your current altar discussion.

Why some Chinese characters signs are displayed upside down;

Commonly 2 Chinese characters are involved.

“Chai” or wealth, money and luck…….
“Fu” or joy and contentment……

Upside down in Mandarin is “dao” which also sounds like “arrive”.

So to have these 2 characters upside down is to wish for their “arrival”.

Also there is a story that Fu (the word/character) was a gift from heaven, and when it was passed down it was upside down (imagine someone from above passing it down to you)

[Nataraya]

Much can be said about the Characters hanging besides the portrait of the ancestor/ late grandmaster(s). There are truly beautiful pieces of art, and there are general ones. The rhythm in the characters – including the opposite translations – makes it ‘true artwork’ yes or no. So far I have seen one (Choy Lee Fut) which was SOOOOO beautiful. I will see if I can find that particular one.

The classically rhymes contains seven characters, but you will find some of five characters as well. There are two ‘banners’ hanging on each side, Sun and Moon side. Like the Sun & Moon, the characters should have an opposite (but additional) meaning. You may not use two the same characters. In case of pak mei, you will find (then) only four animals. Tiger (physical body) and on the opposite side the Dragon (spiritual stage). And so, if the banners are really masterworks, all the 7characters have an opposite characters, finally spreading a ‘symbolical message’ for all practitioners of that lineage.

In Hung Kuen you will notice that frequently you will find the 12 Bridge hands back. The 12 Bridge hands can be paired in Yum –Yeung classification, such as Hard - Soft, Jik – Bik, etceteras. Now you will see that two characters are (finally missing). And then you see that two characters are added. Some branches of Hung Kuen use heaven Earth, while others use Mountain River. Both with a deeper meaning, based on a Classical saying.
One of the missing points (though) in several schools, is that the Yum - Yeung pairing is NOT always seen. Because Mountain – River are below each other and so miss the balance of the seven rhyme characters.

I can advise every practitioner to start observing these borders because you will find so much artwork back, and directly see the message of their ancestors. Practically - in case of Pak Mei - a missing character doesn’t mean that they only covered Four Animals.

Sorry for the short notes, but you can write a book about the altar and its deeper meanings. Last year I made a little study (in Hong Kong) about the earth God. Took around the 100 photo’s with GREATTTTT details. Truly beautiful.

Okay, enough for now,

Warm regards,

Evert.

[Suhana LIM]

Eric said:

Hey guys,

Why some Chinese characters signs are displayed upside down;

Commonly 2 Chinese characters are involved.

“Chai” or wealth, money and luck…….
“Fu” or joy and contentment……

Upside down in Mandarin is “dao” which also sounds like “arrive”.

So to have these 2 characters upside down is to wish for their “arrival”.

Eric ni hao

A very good and informative explanation. Seem we like to "play" with characters, to make them more powerful and meaningful.

Cheers.

[Lau]

Evert,

Read your remark on the earth god. I just received this picture. This is the bottom part of the altar I was talking about which I think refers to the earth god. Any clue what it says?



Regards, Lau

[ZhangYL]

That's the 'tei chi gung' altar (in cantonese)

Most chinese houses in Malaysia will have this altar if they have a main altar in the house.

Known as the protector of the area where your house stands on ^^