Temple of Kwan Tai

The Temple of Kwan Tai is a small brightly painted red and green redwood building with two doors, three windows, and a gable roof, The name of the temple is written over the door, ==Construction and initial usage==

Like the other settlers in Mendocino County, Chinese laborers came to the area to work in the lumber industry. In one incident in 1854, a Chinese junk landed at Caspar, just north of Mendocino, one of two surviving ships from a fleet of seven that had sailed to California. Over the next few decades, Mendocino had a substantial population of 500 to 700 Chinese immigrants, who worked there as cooks, servants, and shopkeepers, as well as working in the lumber industry as water slingers (people who kept the trails wet so that the cut logs could slide more easily). Chinese farmers also grew fruit and vegetables for local consumption in gardens now located on the grounds of the Stanford Inn, and gathered and processed seaweed for export back to China. Some of the descendants of these immigrants, such as Look Tin Eli and his brother Lee Eli, became successful and wealthy businessmen. and the earliest record of it is an insurance company map from 1883. Its original building materials cost only US$14. It was enlarged in the 1870s, and at that time had a full-time priest; it was open at all hours to the Chinese population, but white people were not permitted entry. ==Inheritance and restoration==

The temple ownership was passed down from Hee's grandfather to his mother, Yip Lee; she had ten sons, and in turn passed the ownership to Hee despite the return of her husband to China. Mendocino's Chinatown burned down in 1910, It was named as California Historical Landmark #927 in 1979, at which time an architectural report dated it to the early 1850s. These restorations included the replacement of the foundations, east wall, and floor of the building, the addition of insulation, and repainting, the placement of a commemorative plaque noting its status as a historic landmark, and the replacement of the original silk-screened canvas altarpiece (damaged during the restoration process) by a replica purchased in Chinatown, San Francisco. It received the National Preservation Honor Award of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2002. ==Activity==

The Temple of Kwan Tai is one of the oldest Chinese temples in California that has been used continuously since its construction. Other 1850s-era Chinese temples in California include the Weaverville Joss House, the Auburn Joss House, San Francisco's Tin How Temple, and the Bok Kai Temple in Marysville. The temple is used for traditional Chinese rituals in which the officiant kneels and bows at the altar, placing offerings at the table in front of the altar or burning them in the furnace. Offerings of food are made on the first and 15th day of each lunar month and at the new moon, and incense is burned daily. Additionally, the temple may be used for divination by kau cim sticks and jiaobei blocks. As well as continuing to serve as a house of worship, the temple has a mission of educating members of the Mendocino community and visitors about Chinese contributions to California history. ==References==