Why did they like to worship Huaguang God? It had a lot to do with fires in this street. From the Qianglong period to the 48th year of Jiaqing period in Qing Dynasty, four fires happened in this street. The first time was in 1759 that the fire burnt down over 40 stores; the second one burnt down over 50 stores in 1768; the third one burnt down over 50 stores in 1778; and the last one burnt down over 100 stores in 1870.

There were much more small fires in the period of the Republic of China. Three to four small fires in a year made this street desolate and depressed.

An interesting folk story was told among the local people. It was said that there was a divine Tian Hou Temple in Fulu Street and a Shibao burner (an incense burner) was placed at the altar. The shape of this incense burner was exquisite. Many people burnt incenses and candles there every day.

One day, there were so many incenses and candles in the burner that it almost burnt down the altar. However, worshipers did not notice anything. Suddenly, someone sighed and said, “What a pity!” A fengshui expert standing in front of worshipers pointed at the burner and said, “Happiness and fame are here. You burn incenses here every day. Don’t you know you’ve burnt up all of your happiness and fame?”

There were two beautiful and vivid patterns, a bat and a deer, carved on this burner. Bat had a pronunciation of Fu (happiness) in Chinese, while deer had a pronunciation of Lu (fame). They both had the meaning of good luck. When people devoutly asked how to prevent fires and gain happiness and fame, the fengshui expert smiled and said, “If you want to get rid of fires, only by moving the burner away and putting a jar of water on the altar can the fire of this street be suppressed.”

It was said that after people did what the fengshui expert told, fire did not happen in this street any more.

(Arrietty)