Roof Decorations of Tin Hau Temple
The most special roof decoration is called “Bogut” (博古) which is made of stone. It is a very common kind of decoration in Hong Kong. Most of them are combine with some basic geometry and some straight line. In Tin Hau Temple, we can see the Bogut are designed in detail and with beautiful colors, such as blue and yellow. But some part are also damaged due to the corrosion of rain water and wind.
There is also a Ruishou at the corner of the roof. One of the leg of the Ruishou is stepping on a ball. However, this Ruishou is highly damaged that the big ears are missing and the red ball also lost.
At one side of the temple, there is a red painting. This is a bat which represent luck. It is because the sound of pat in Chinese is similar to luck in Chinese.
There are two AU on the main ridge. They are facing the center of the house. There are meanings for the AU. For example, wishing more luck, hoping of the young generation of the clan can get a top score in the imperial examination or even the release of soul. Compare the design of the AU to others design, it is found that the time of this design is not belongs to the time of the temple built. That means there maybe no AU at first.
