See Yup Temple, South Melbourne

See Yup Temple is located on Raglan Street in South Melbourne. From the outside, it looks like a public park. There is a simple archway that bears its name, and to get through to the temple you'll need to walk through the garden. The garden and the actual building which houses the temple is separated by a laneway which is an odd configuration. 

See Yup refers to the four districts in China of  Southern Guangdong province - Taishan, Kaiping, Xinhui and Enping. During the Gold Rush in the 1800's, many of the people from these districts travelled abroad with the hopes of finding employment, making a better life for themselves and their family in China with some eventually settling in the countries they travelled to. The See Yup society in Victoria was established in 1854 and acted as a centre to care for the wellbeing of its members, and a social hub for them to hang out. It is a lonely life for these migrants who were not allowed to marry and have a family in Australia or have their family members join them from their birth country. This anti-immigration policy is called the White Australia policy and was only relaxed some hundred years later. 

Besides the See Yup temple, there is also an administrative office / hang out place that I know off in Little Bourke St or Chinatown in the CBD. While member counts are slowly dwindling it is a reminder of the days long gone when people would congregate there each weekend to catch up on news, or gossip, play mahjong or pingpong, and generally have a good time. 

As many of its members are Taoists or Buddhists, the See Yup temple was built in 1855. Since then, the temple had undergone restorations and was opened to the public in 1976. The interior of the temple is dark and smoky from the many thousands of joss sticks burnt here since it opened and still is being burnt there. It reminded me of the temples of my childhood which were full of incense smoke, chanting and dark figurines of Kuan Yin and other gods. These days, temples are brighter and airier, and lighting of joss sticks is discouraged to avoid air pollution.

The See Yup temple has a main hall with an altar where worshippers can light joss sticks and pray, donate 'oil and rice' money as offerings, provide fruits as offerings, or shake the prayer sticks and have their fortune told. The ancestor tablets are displayed in rooms on either side of the main halls. These are rooms with shelves for wooden plaques carved with names and dates of those deceased. Prayers are offered by the temple on festivals and their relatives can visit and offer food and prayers at any time.

There is also a second level to the temple which we did not explore, and weren't sure if we were allowed to. Although there is a notice at the entrance requesting for donations from visitors, there is no donation box. At the time of our visit on the weekend, there were a couple of people praying and having their fortune told, so it is quiet even on the weekends. I suppose it might be merrier during festivals like Chinese New Year and on religious festivals.

The temple is basic, small and dark inside. I think the main altar is smaller than the two memorial tablet rooms combined so the place seemed like more of a memorial hall rather than a temple. It was good for a casual visit to know more of the historical places around Melbourne.