IDNO

P.62556.ELT

Description

A woman kneels before a dang-ki (tang-ki, spirit medium) of Ch'i-t'ien Ta-sheng (齊天大聖, qi tian da sheng, 'Great Saint Equal with Heaven' (commonly transcribed as the 'Monkey God'), ceremony in the entrance porch of a Chinese temple in Singapore. [based on Elliott's listing, EB 07/05/2019]

Place

SE Asia; Singapore; Bukit Permei; Soon Tian Keng Temple

Cultural Affliation

Chinese

Named Person

Photographer

Knight, Derrick (Shell Photographic Unit)

Collector / Expedition

Elliott, Alan J.A.

Date

1950 - 1951

Collection Name

Elliott Collection

Source

Elliott, Alan J. A.

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

The batch of prints, P.62833.ELT to P.62887.ELT, were found in a plastic filing folder now numbered C474/5/. This folder came from the cardboard box now numbered C474/.
See archive reference for more details regarding their dates and history.

Photographer: In typescript document now numbered BA5.1.10 Elliott records that some photographs were made on a visit to Singapore by Derrick Knight of the Shell Photographic Unit. These are indicated by manuscript numbers 65-76, 210-215, 269-270, and 340-342 in red ink on the back of the prints.

P.62485.ELT to P.62559.ELT has been described by Elliott as: “‘The cult of the great Saint’. Chapter IV, page 80 ff. (Note: pencilled notes on the back may say ‘Monkey God’ or MG, this being the colloquial, but incorrect way of denoting the cult.)”

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 "A woman kneels before an older tang-ki outside a temple. MAA P.62556.ELT." [source: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/story/chinese-spirit-medium-possession-singapore/, JD 12/02/2025]