In 1904, Beow Lean was summoned to Beijing at the behest of Penangʼs Chinese Consul, Liang Pi-Ju 梁碧如, to explain why the temple was founded. The following year he returned with a copy of the Qianlong Tripiṭaka 龍藏 and an imperial sanction 奉旨—a unique instance of the Qing government formally recognising a Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. Beow Lean was then formally installed as abbot 長老. In 1906, shortly before his death from a self-inflicted wound, Beow Lean retired and was succeeded by his aide Ven. Poon Teong 本忠長老, also a Hokkien, who expanded the templeʼs teaching activities and later built the 'Pagoda of a Million Buddhas' 萬佛寶塔. This multi-storey pagoda, completed in 1930, uniquely fuses Chinese, Burmese and Thai architectural styles. Poon Teong was succeeded as abbot by Wan Yin 圓瑛長老 (throughout 1938-53), then Pei Sheng 白聖長老 (1968-90)—a Taiwanese who wrote prolifically on Buddhism—followed by Tat Neng 達能長老 (1990-97). No abbot was appointed during the fifties and early sixties, partly because of upheavals in China. The sixth and current abbot, Ven. Jit Heng 日恆法師, is the first Malaysian head of the temple. Recent additions include the 'Hall of Five Buddhas of Five Regions' 五佛方殿, enshrining images of the five Tathāgatas, opened in 1995; a colossal statue of Avalokitêśvara 觀音聖像, surrounded by pillars that bear the six-syllable mantra (oṃ mani padme hūṃ); and a massive stone inscription of the Heart Sutra 般若心經石牆 (T 251). For historical background and selected inscriptions, see Wong (1963), updated in Li & Xiu (2003).

References

Li Xingqian, Xiu Shui (Ch.); King Leen Peng, Woo Yee Saik (Eng.) 李興前、秀水 (中). 2003. 『檳城鶴山極樂寺』. A Journey of Insightful Discovery at Kek Lok Si Temple. Penang:  Rhythm Distributor Sdn. Bhd. 深度旅遊. [60] pp.

Wong, Choon San. 1963. Kek Lok Si: Temple of Paradise. Singapore:  Malaysian Sociological Research Institute Ltd.. 131 pp. 黃存燊『檳城極樂寺新誌』