Oldest Chinese temple in Canada vying for top heritage prize

In a small room on the top floor of a building on Government Street, a tradition that dates back to the Qing Dynasty is kept alive in Victoria.

Tam Kung Temple is the oldest Chinese temple in Canada and the only temple dedicated to the deity outside of Asia. It was declared a national historic site last month.

Tam Kung is a young deity of the sea in Taoism, deified during the Qing dynasty but worshipped for far longer by the Hakka people of China, a subgroup of Han people. The temple has a shrine dedicated to Tam Kung—featuring a wooden statue of the deity made long before the 113-year-old temple was built—as well as five other altars to leave offerings for ancestors.

Tam Kung shrine, with sake and fruit among the offerings. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

The temple’s caretaker, a man in his 90s, starts each day lighting incense, burning offerings to his ancestors, and banging the large antique drum and bell to alert his family in the spirit realm of the gifts.

The room is slightly smoky from incense and bright red from silk tapestries hung on the wall, each one representing a different family that contributed to the temple.

A small group of volunteers and a six-person board make up the team keeping the temple going, the Yen Wo Society. The society was formed by Hakka Chinese immigrants in Victoria in the early 20th century.

The temple is in need of some maintenance and there are plans in the works to bring in more visitors. To help fund these projects, the society is hoping Victorians will give them a boost in the The Next Great Save contest, run by the National Trust of Canada. Heritage buildings from across the country compete in the contest to win the top prize of $50K. Runners up get $10K in second place and $5K in third. They’re currently in second place, having just edged out a site in Nova Scotia by a thousand points.

Tam Kung Temple. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

How Tam Kung ended up in Victoria

The wooden statue of Tam Kung—central to the primary altar for worship in the temple—was brought over from China in the mid-19th century by a pioneer looking to find gold in the Caribou. Knowing he was setting out on a perilous journey across the Pacific Ocean, he brought the sea deity to protect himself.

While staying near the ravine that once cut through Johnson Street—dividing Chinatown from the rest of downtown—he created the first iteration of the Tam Kung Temple in 1876.

“He had a temple in a little hut next to where he was staying and that's how he started, way before the temple was built,” Nora Butz, Yen Wo Society president said.

The Tam Kung statue was brought to Victoria over 150 years ago. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

Built by community (again and again)

When the pioneer left to go gold panning, he asked other Hakka Chinese people to take care of the statue in his absence. A man caring for it, named Ngai Sze, had a dream one night in 1877 that Tam Kung came to him asking for a temple to be built for him.

Ngai Sze decided to make it happen and local Hakka people pooled their money together to build a small brick temple where QV Bakery—neighbour to the current Tam Kung temple—resides today.

Unfortunately, that temple burned down in 1911, so the Hakka community banded together once more to build a bigger and better temple for Tam Kung worshippers. They built a tall, narrow Edwardian building with a temple on the top floor—closer to heaven, according to Gayle Nye, a volunteer at the temple—that still stands today.

There was another fire in the 1980s, destroying many of the original tapestries. But the building still stood and the Tam Kung statue remained unscathed by the two fires.

The 1980s fire was linked to ceremonial burning: worshippers burn fake paper money and paper gold nuggets as a way of sending gifts to their ancestors. The burning still happens today, but no longer in an open space. Instead, worshippers can place the burning items into a kiln built into the wall.

Visitors will drop the burning offerings into the small red door in the wall, allowing for a safe burn while worshipping ancestors. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

Restoring it to its former glory

The temple has stood for 113 years and has been showing its age lately. Slowly over the years, the small team has worked on fixing these issues. When COVID-19 hit, the temple closed for the first time in 108 years, allowing the team to fix up the steep stairs and add an electric lift for those with mobility issues.

In 2023, the roof was constantly leaking—there weren’t enough buckets to catch all of the rainwater—so the board hired an engineer to assess the building. It was going to cost $600K—not something they had lying around, especially for a volunteer-run place of worship.

The enclosed patio is next on the list for repairs. A potted pomelo tree grows in the space, bringing good luck. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

“We were really at a loss and the public did step in,” Butz said.

Through donations from the Victoria Civic Heritage Society, the Canada-China Friendship Society, and the public, they were able to raise enough to fix the roof. Now, they have their sights set on the future.

Bettering the temple for the future

Both Butz and Nye have ties to the early days of the temple and the experiences of Chinese immigrants back then.

Nye is a direct descendent of Ngai Sze, the man who dreamt of the temple. As a member of his family, she became the main champion of the Next Great Save initiative and has been trying to rally enthusiasm in the community. Nye also pushed for the national historic site designation.

Gayle Nye (left) and Nora Butz (right). Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

Their main plan, if they win the Next Great Save contest, will be to add a visitor centre at the entrance of the temple. In it, they will showcase artifacts from the temple that remain in storage. There are years of letters from Chinese immigrants to their homeland and back from the early 20th century, when the temple served as a permanent mailing address for these immigrants.

“Some of them were illiterate, so the temple keeper, who's always a literate person, would write the letters for them and mail it, and then the mail would come back,” said Butz.

They would ask the temple caretakers to store their letters so they wouldn't get lost—and they certainly didn’t, even a century later.

The two, along with their colleagues in the Yen Wo Society, are constantly brainstorming ways to bring more people to the temple. They plan to incorporate scheduled tours (at the moment, they’re by request) and hope more people stop by to explore the space and its history.

“We're finding these past days and weeks of the campaign, there are many in Greater Victoria who relate to it, find it relevant to their own observances,” Butz said.

People visit the temple to ask Tam Kung life questions—should they make a major investment? Should they move?—and after asking, they will shake a cup of sticks, each with a response etched into them. The one that falls out is Tam Kung's answer. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

Contest details

People can vote once a day for their community’s heritage site and Butz and Nye say they hope Victoria will come through in the final few days.

The contest closes at 10am PST on Thursday, giving people three more chances to cast their vote.

Two years ago, Duncan's heritage train station won the top prize of $50K. The folks at Yen Wo Society think they have a good shot at second place, a $10K prize.

“Tam Kung Temple is proud of being here in Victoria and we want Victorians to be proud of us by voting,” said Nye.

Fruit, flowers, sake, and rice wine are among items left for Tam Kung and ancestors. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

Sticks burned in oil and incense are lit early in the day. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

Exterior of Tam Kung Temple. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

Tam Kung Temple is at the corner of Government and Fisgard, across from the Chinatown gates. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily

The mural on the side of the temple—painted in 2023—depicts Tam Kung, the sea deity, and has brought notoriety to the building, says Butz. Photo: Robyn Bell / Capital Daily