History
The Encyclopedia of Malaysia states that the early history of Malaysian Chinese religions traces back to the 15th century, with small settlements that were established in Melaka by Hokkien traders, but it was not until the 19th century that there was a mass migration of Chinese. They built shrines dedicated to their deities and cemeteries for those who died. The Chinese migration during the tin and gold mining days, which were a result of high demand for these products, prompted the need of temples, for practices and religious rituals. During that time, most immigrants were illiterate or poorly educated peasants and coolies, thus Buddhist and Taoist monks were brought over from China to run the temples.
Social organizations in the Chinese immigrant society were important, where surnames, dialect, locality and trade mattered. The Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew and Hakka, respectively formed their secret societies, such as the Ghee Hin and Hai San, and they played as 'government' in controlling the Chinese immigrants. Local Malay chiefs called the Chinese leaders Kapitan Cina (literally, "Captain China" or "Chinese Captain"), who soon became patron saints of the Chinese. The evolution of Malaysian Chinese Religion was a mixture of local value and belief systems, where it produced some local deities such as the Na Tuk Kong and Tua Pek Kong.
Read more about this topic: Malaysian Chinese Religion
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of any nation follows an undulatory course. In the trough of the wave we find more or less complete anarchy; but the crest is not more or less complete Utopia, but only, at best, a tolerably humane, partially free and fairly just society that invariably carries within itself the seeds of its own decadence.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“Free from public debt, at peace with all the world, and with no complicated interests to consult in our intercourse with foreign powers, the present may be hailed as the epoch in our history the most favorable for the settlement of those principles in our domestic policy which shall be best calculated to give stability to our Republic and secure the blessings of freedom to our citizens.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“I assure you that in our next class we will concern ourselves solely with the history of Egypt, and not with the more lurid and non-curricular subject of living mummies.”
—Griffin Jay, and Reginald LeBorg. Prof. Norman (Frank Reicher)