Guarding the Halls of the Dead

GOH KAY NEO  吳家娘  (1853 – 1926) Place of  Ancestry :  Ann Kway (安溪) 

As with the homes of the living, in traditional Chinese beliefs those of the dead have to be protected from malign spiritual forces too. Those who are able to afford would often install a pair of stone lions at the front of their tombs. Variants of such guardians include other beasts such as qilins, elephants and birds. A particular Nanyang adaptation is the Sikh guard, not often seen except at tombs of the rich. Rarer still are door gods, physical manifestations of the painted or printed forms found on doors.

Door gods in the form of generals are traditionally found as a pair on the double doors of homes and public institutions like temples and ancestral halls. They ward off evil and protect the occupants of the building. Accoutred in the outfit of generals of yore and with stern demeanours, they are imposing figures who project an aura of righteousness and might.

The Bukit Brown door gods are similar to their two dimensional cousins, every detail of their armour and fittings taking reference from the costumes of martial characters on the opera stage. The flags on their backs is definitely a borrowing from opera; due to the confines of the stage a general is actually representative of an entire army, and such flags represent the formations at his command. The presence of tiger heads (often misinterpreted as bats) complete the martial appearance for the door gods.

Less than five sets of such door gods have been seen in Bukit Brown so far. They are likely imported, carved using greenstone produced in the Quanzhou region by craftsmen based there.

A pair of door gods enveloped by a banyan tree belonging to the tomb of Kang Boon Foo (photo credit Peter Park)

More  about the other door gods in Bukit Brown: 

https://mymindisrojak.blogspot.com/2025/04/kang-boon-foo-bukit-brown.html
https://mymindisrojak.blogspot.com/2025/05/goh-kee-hoon-and-their-door-gods.html