Wong Tai Sin


Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian is a Chinese Taoist deity popular in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and Hong Kong with the power of healing. The name, meaning the "Great Immortal Wong ", is the divine form of Huang Chuping or Wong Cho Ping, a Taoist hermit from Jinhua during the Eastern Jin dynasty.

Legend

According to the text Self-Description of Chisongzi, Wong Tai Sin was born Huang Chuping in 328 in Lanxi, Jinhua, Zhejiang province. Western sources have him listed at c. 284 to 364 CE.
Wong Cho Ping is said to have experienced poverty and hunger, becoming a shepherd when he was eight years old. He began practising Taoism at the age of fifteen after meeting an immortal or saintly person on Red Pine Mountain in his hometown. Legend has it that he was able to transform stones into sheep forty years later. Wong Tai Sin later became known as the Red Pine Immortal, after the mountain where he had his hermitage, and his birthday is celebrated on the 23rd of the eighth lunar month.

Influence in Hong Kong

The Wong Tai Sin area and Wong Tai Sin district are named after the deity. Today, Sik Sik Yuen is an educational and charitable foundation that, true to Leung's origins as a healer, runs a free clinic.
In Hong Kong, there is one MTR station named after Wong Tai Sin and there is a Wong Tai Sin Temple. Many tourists from all over the world visit Wong Tai Sin Temple every day.