The Making of

A large proportion of the local Chinese community is atheistic. You may have seen pictures of the Chinese people holding joss sticks and bowing to the deities in temples of various sorts. At the core, they are worshipping whatever deities they think can protect them. It is probably a Confuscian influence here: "Pay tribute to the spiritual world but distant oneself from it" is a his famous teaching deeply-rooted in the Chinese community.

So, in the first photo, notice the shiny plank behind and to the right of the octagonal plate. In front of the doors to most homes and shops in Hong Kong the same planks stand. On it the words "Deity of the Earth at the Door" are written.

Usually this plank is fronted by a pot-like shrine in which tiny joss sticks are burnt. The pot-like shrine is exactly like the one placed to the right of it in the photo.

The making of this home for the master of the earth in front of the door is like this: use a piece of whatever wood as long as it is not expensive and stencil the Chinese words on it "Deity of the Earth at the Door"

Then, take out a craving knife to crave the wood along and within the stencilled strokes.

The craving doesn't seem to be difficult but the skills actually take time to perfect. The craver is not supposed to make scratches on the surface of the wood outside the stencilled characters.

When the craving is done, paint the characters with golden paint to make them look like gilt. The reason why painting the characters in golden colour is, I suppose, to lure the Deity to stay. Isn't that bribery?