Lung Kong Ancient Temple:
In 1662, during the beginning years of the Qing dynasty (清朝:1644-1911), a temple was built on top of a
small hill in Shiu Kou County, Kai Ping City, Kwangtung Province, China, and named “Lung Kong Ancient Temple”
by the four-family members of Lew, Quan, Jung, and Chew. But little did the builders would have ever known nor imagined that their temple laid
the fo
undation and marked the beginning of the growth to one of the largest family organizations existing in the
world today, which is the “Lung Kong Tin Yee” organization. Presently, there are Lung Kong Tin Yee Associations
all over the world and membership by the millions. This hill was called “Dragon Hill” to
reflect its shape and sacred nature. The shape of this hill resembled a dragon’s head looking straight toward the sky. And on many occasions, energy spurts could be seen from the top of the hill into heaven. According to
geomancers, positive chi energy generated from this hill would enhance and influence people’s health, careers,
romance, and prosperity. In other words, this hill has excellent feng shui. Dragon Hill belonged to the nearby
Lew family. However, due to the sacredness of this hill, nearby families of other surnames had eyed this hill
for quite sometime and wished to claim ownership. Because the Lew family members were out-numbered, they
had insufficient strength to stop any invasion by surrounding families. Subsequently, the Lew family eventually joined
forces with the nearby Quan, Jung, and Chew family members and together they built the Ancient Temple on the
Dragon Hill. Inside the Temple, the statues of the ancestor from each family: Lew Pei, Quan Yu, Jung Fei and Chew Wen
were at the altar. (Note: names are translated with Cantonese pronunciations. In present Pinyin system, the spelling
would be Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun.) Respectively, Lew Pei is an ancestor from the Lew family;
Quan Yu is the ancestor from the Quan family; Jung Fei is the ancestor from the Jung family; and Chew Wen is the
ancestor from the Chew family. When the Temple was in place, worshipping services were quite popular not only
by these four families who built it, but also by other surname families nearby and afar. The Chinese has hundreds of family surnames with many famous persons over the past five thousands of years
in history, so why had the four families chosen Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun to be their ancestors to
worship and commemorate? (Note: From this point on, all Chinese names will be here in translated using the Pinyin
system). To find out who they were and what they had accomplished, one must go back about 2,000 years in Chinese
history to the later Han dynasty period between 168 AD and 220 AD. Eternal Brotherhood:
The Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) controlled China for over 400 years, and it was known as one of the
most powerful and strong periods in China history. But toward the end of the Han dynasty (168 AD-220 AD), all the
emperors in this period were weak leaders. With severe corruption in the palace and warlords fighting among each other,
the whole country was disorganized. At the same time, famine and flood struck the land and were often ignored by the
Emperor. People suffered greatly. The worst time period was in 184 AD when a large and powerful group of rebels
called the “Yellow Turban” (symbolized by a yellow scarf tied on their heads) wanted to overthrow the kingdom. The emperor at the time was frightened and sent out official notice to call for volunteers to quash the rebels. The country
was in chaos. Among thousands of volunteers that had wished to join the imperial army, three common, patriotic young
men, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were no exception. At the time, Liu Bei was a mat and straw sandal maker, even
though he was a descendant from one of the early Han emperors. Guan Yu was a fugitive, who had slain a bad bully in
his own town. Zhang Fei was a butcher and a wine seller. It is no doubt that the greatest threat was the Yellow Turban rebellion. This was when Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and
Zhang Fei first met each other while on the verge to enlist into the government force. They got together to discuss
the country’s political, economic, and social problems the country faced at the moment, and became good friends. Furthermore, they discovered that they shared the same compassion, sincerity, dedication and goal to serve the
country and to save the people from the suffering. Desiring to be more than good friends, the three of them
gathered at the Peach Garden (owned by Zhang Fei), knelt down, bowed to Heaven and Earth, and swore to be
eternal brothers. They vowed from that day forward to unite their hearts and strengths to help each other in danger
and to serve the country and help its people from suffering. They were even willing to die together for the cause. The eternal brotherhood of Lui Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, was truly based on absolute righteousness; bonded for
their entire lives. This was the famous historical legend of the “Brotherhood at the Peach Garden” which occurred in
184 AD. Subsequently, the three sworn brothers raised their own army and joined the governmental force and distinguished
themselves in helping to suppress the Yellow Turban rebels. They, as common working folks, became heroes and created
a legend for themselves. After the Yellow Turban rebels were annihilated, rather than becoming united, the kingdom, in
fact, became more fractionized. Severe political corruption continued at the royal palace and warlords were fighting more
fiercely than ever for territorial control. People were still in great misery. The three fraternal brothers continued their
fight for the people until by 200 AD (16 years after the three brothers who have sworn brotherhood at the Peach
Garden), when another young warrior, Zhao Yun, joined them as the fourth brother at the Ancient City. The four
pledged brothers vowed to dedicate their entire lives with great determination to save the empire and to reaffirm the
lawful sovereignty of the Han dynasty. All throughout their legend, besides being bold warriors, all four exhibited
and demonstrated their wisdom, bravery, courage, kindness, righteousness and leadership in their struggle for the
country. Finally in 221 AD, Liu Bei was proclaimed Emperor of the Shu Han kingdom, and his three brothers, Guan
Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, became Generals. Their united effort and tales of deeds are recorded in a famous
novel called "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” by Luo Guanzhong. Due to the four brothers’ profound spirits
of righteousness, kindness, wisdom, royalty, and especially true brotherhood, they influenced and greatly impacted
the Chinese culture and the Chinese people from generation to generation for over thousands of years. Unequivocally,
descendants of the four brothers continue to be proud of the deeds and accomplishments of their prestigious
ancestors; therefore, to worship and commemorate them all is most proper and an honor. Lung Kong in the United States:
Livelihood opportunities, such as Gold Rush and the construction of the transcontinental railroad in
California, USA in the mid-eighteen hundreds, attracted many Chinese people to emigrate especially from
Guangdong Province, China. Due to social hostilities and discrimination, most Chinese immigrants were
forced to stay in the San Francisco Chinatown area. Many different family groups started to formulate family
associations. With no exception, the families of Lew, Quan, Jung, and Chew in 1876 built a “Lung Kong Ancient
Temple” in the heart of San Francisco Chinatown, a replicate of the same Temple in Shiu Kou County in 1662,
for a place of worship and meetings. As years passed, more four-family members arrived in San Francisco. Around 1895, two four-family associations had organized: the San Francisco Lung Kong Association and the
San Francisco Mu Tin Association (later changing its name to Ming Yee Association). The former was engaged
in fraternal activities such as providing a meeting place, promoting social activities for its members, and aiding
and helping its newly arrived members from China. The latter was formed for the protection of its members
from unfair hostilities. Unfortunately a massive earthquake in 1906 completely destroyed the Temple and all
historical records. Not willing to give up so easily, as well as pressing needs dictating, in 1910, the four-family
forefathers got together and built a new “Lung Kong Building” at 1034 Stockton Street as the home for the San
Francisco Lung Kong Association. In 1924, another building was acquired at 924 Grant Avenue, named the
“Ming Yee Building,” in which the San Francisco Lung Kong Association has resided in ever since. Economic opportunities began to open up in many places across the country. Chinese immigrants from
China and from San Francisco Chinatown started to move to meet these challenges. Some of the four-family
members traveled to different parts of the country to work, settle, and formulate additional four-family
associations or groups with names such as Lung Kong , Mu Tin, Ming Yee, and Four Brothers.
