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Unknown “Chinese” Temple: By the mid-to-late 19th century, the term “joss” typically referred to venerated Chinese religious icons. Here we see the term used to identify statues of Buddhist hell guardians. These figures are not typically the center of veneration in temples.

Moreover, the statues are positioned in front of murals depicting the Buddhist Ten Courts of Hell. Chinese Buddhist hell is viewed as an administrative center for the underworld where the dead are judged for their deeds in life.

The location is an unidentified Chinese Temple. Real photo post cards with similar reverse designs depict temples from Singapore; it is possible this is one of several “Chinese temples” from that area at the turn of the 20th century.

This photographic card likely dates to the 1920s. (I have seen a used version of this card hand-dated to 1930).

The National Archives of Singapore has a good selection of digitized photographs showing various Chinese Temples, available here: https://tinyurl.com/mr9nwcep.

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