Tan Gong Temple was located in Kuichong Subdistrict, Dapeng New District, east of Shenzhen. He was worshiped along with the Buddhist divinity Guanyin (The One Who Perceives the Sounds of the World or Avalokiteśvara/in Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर), to the left, and the Taoist divinity Taishang Laojun (The Supreme Venerable Sovereign), to the right.
Tan is his surname, and Gong is the honorific title, therefore, Tan Gong literally means Lord Tan. This temple was rebuilt in 2007.
From the statue of Tan Gong in his temple, we can see that he has an image as a child. According to folk legends, he was born in Huizhou Prefecture and became immortal in heaven at the age of thirteen in Nine-dragon Mountain. He cures patients, forecasts the weather and protects sailors in the sea.
The existing record regarding Tan Gong was found as early as in Guangdong tongzhi chugao (廣東通志初稿), during the Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1521-1567), stating that his name was Tan Gongdao. Influenced by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, another Hakka Zhai Huogu(翟火姑) led the rebellion against the Qing Dynasty in Huizhou in 1854. He was also a member of the Triad, one of the major secret societies in ancient China. Eventually, the rebellion was suppressed by the government. Three local deities were recognized by the central government for their assistance in the battle against Zhai Huogu’s troops. Tan Gong was honored with the title Xiang Ji(襄濟).
The recognition of the state boosted the belief of Tan Gong, spreading from Huizhou to Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia along with the Hakka diaspora.
