IDNO

N.54124.ELT

Description

Initiation of young spirit-mediums at a Chinese temple in Jalan Eunos, Singapore. In a street, in front of a wooden stall with thatch roof, an older man wearing a shirt and trousers, supports a young man as he hits his bare back with a ball of spikes. A group of men, women and children watch from the roadside. [EB 13/07/2022]

Place

SE Asia; Singapore; Jalan Eunos

Cultural Affliation

Chinese

Named Person

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Elliott, Alan J.A.

Date

1950 - 1951

Collection Name

Elliott Collection

Source

Elliott, Alan J. A.

Format

Film Negative Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

N.54088.ELT to N.54191.ELT were found inside the album now numbered A.156.ELT.

The index pages of the negative album provide descriptions of some of the images. These have been transcribed.

Bibliographical Reference: Chinese Spirit-Medium Cults in Singapore. Alan J. A. Elliott. (Monographs on Social Anthropology, No. 14.) London: London School of Economics and Political Science, 1955. Related text on p. 60-61.

Publication: Image published in a Digital Lab Online Exhibition by Gemma Ovens, 2024. 'Chinese Spirit-Medium Possession: Exploring Ritual and Religion in the Photographic Archives of Alan J. A. Elliott' and captioned "Novice tang-ki flails his back with a ‘prick ball,’ helped by his assistant. MAA N.54124.ELT." [source: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/story/chinese-spirit-medium-possession-singapore/, JD 12/02/2025]