IDNO

P.62707.ELT

Description

Dang-ki (tang ki, spirit medium) festival at Lorong 29 Geylang, Singapore [Elliott's listing] probably Long Shan Ting 龙山亭 Chinese temple [suggested by beokeng.com].

A medium in white trousers and vests stands at the top of an open-air tao ch'iao (sword bridge), while two more men climb the right-hand ladder. Onlookers watch from the ground. [EB 15/05/2018]

Place

SE Asia; Singapore; Geylang; Lorong 29; Long Shan Ting [龙山]

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

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.

P.62699.ELT to P.62753.ELT are described by Elliott as “Spirit-Medium Festivals. Chapter VIII, P. 147 ff.”

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 "Crossing a ‘sword ladder’ made of blades during a tang-ki initiation ceremony. MAA P.62707.ELT." [source: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/story/chinese-spirit-medium-possession-singapore/, JD 12/02/2025]