Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Not All Grass Huts

A L O H A!
Honolulu Happily Welcomes YOU with a Warm Embrace




click on photos to smell some fine, old local buildings
There is a bell hanging in this, um, belfry.




"Bells are aural icons of the Voice of God"
Russian Orthodox Tradition

It's a church - no wait, it's a pagoda.
In the next picture you can see that it has 3 levels,
Father, Son & Holy Spirit. . .









"Still round the corner there may wait,
A new road or a secret gate."
-J. R. R. Tolkien

It's the First Chinese Church of Christ in Hawaii,
founded in 1879 under a charter granted by King Kalakaua.
Happy 130th birthday!




Originally known as the Fort Street Chinese Church
(Fo Gai Food Yim Tong)
the congregation decamped from Honolulu's downtown
in the 20's
for the "new" sanctuary (above) that is celebrating
a mere 80 years this month.




Designed by Hart Wood, the South King Street building encorporates Christian symbolism (Nestorian crosses, brought to China as early as 635 A.D. / C.E. by Nestorian missionaries) Chinese style (that pagoda tower, interior ideograms for "longevity" and a distinct "hui-wen" or meandering motif) all woven together in classic 1920's Hawaii regional design that keeps the interior cool.




Original members were Chinese immigrants

to the Kingdom of Hawaii.


Pastors were brought from China back then. By the 60's the congregation was English speaking as were the clergy.

Today the church ministers to many immigrants once again, conducting services in Mandarin with simultaneous translation into Cantonese and even English.
On Friday nights, 50 to 70 China-born teens worship, socialize, and arrange English-language tutoring here. Many of them attend McKinley High right across King Street.



"In a land of immigrants, one was not an alien
but simply the latest arrival."
Rudolf Arnheim



In 1915 some ethnic Punti members of FCCC left it's overwhelmingly Hakka congregation to form the Second Chinese Congregational Church, which later became the United Church of Christ on Judd Street, above.



"The holiest of all holidays are those Kept by ourselves

in silence and apart;

The secret anniversaries of the heart."


-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Of course, Honolulu has many temples too,
such as the Chinese example above.
You can see another local Chinese Temple
and a Shinto Shrine here:











This is a Korean Temple on Liliha Street.




"The crafty rabbit has three different entrances to its lair."
Chinese Proverb

A L O H A! Cloudia



22 comments:

claude said...

I like the chinese architecture.
ALOHA, Cloudia !
Thank you for your visits and comments on my blog.

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

Interesting history and imagery.

Blessings,

Russ:)

Kavita Saharia said...

I loved that three level pagoda and the Chinese temple is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Amazing architecture.
Bells may be are present for town to know - It is time to prayer.

Kay said...

Gosh! I don't recall ever seeing that building before. I guess there's still so much to discover on this island.

wenn said...

interesting..there are temples too..

SandyCarlson said...

May we all be like the crafty rabbit and respect the many entrances to our home.

Thank you for sharing the stories of these lovely homes for these congregations.

Dave King said...

Lovely pics as always, but where did you have to get to take the first one?

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

I like all this uniqueness! (is that a word?)
<><

Daryl said...

So, nu, where's the shul?

Aloha!

Teresa said...

Hi Cloudia,

What a happy way to start my day! I loved the architecture and the ongoing story of the Hakka and the Punti :) Do any of those places have bats in the belfry?

Susan Berlien said...

Such beautiufl oriental influence in the arcitecture!

Deborah Godin said...

It must be very restful on the eye and the mind, too, to have so much of that lovely architecture around!

Cloudia said...

Thanks to EACH of you!
The first picture was taken from my doctor's office directly behind the church!


Yes, we have many temples, and even a Synagogue too.

Many of our little houses have asian style roofs - I want to show you more of those soon.

Yes, unique is a fine word for Hawaii....aloha my friends

Akelamalu said...

I love the different pagodas - such beautiful buildings. :)

Raph G. Neckmann said...

What wonderful buildings. I love the Tolkien quote too.

Anonymous said...

I love the sound of bells.
Still remember them ring, at eleven o'clock, on Jan. 3rd 2003, when I wrote me signature upon getting married.

A Thursday filled with happy sounds for you.

Cloudia said...

What a jolly carrilon of comments!

FA said...

Great post, Cloudia. I really like the first Church (Chinese Church of Christ). I have never seen a Christian Church in this architectural style - it's great!

magiceye said...

"Bells are aural icons of the Voice of God"
i like that
lovely post!

namaste /\
aloha!

Elizabeth Bradley said...

I always urge my husband to take plenty of photos of churches and graveyards when we travel, (don't know what that says about me), and it looks like you Hawaiians have some jazzed up churches over there. Nice post.

Cloudia said...

thank YOU folks too!