Society Cohan Tai Biou Pagoda

The Kwan Tee pagoda which is situated at Les Salines, Port Louis. This society exists since 1819 and was founded by Log Choïssane who was responsible of the Chinese presence in Mauritius. Since 1906 fifteen members of the Chinese community represented in equal number between the Cantonese’s, the Fukinese’s and the Hakka’s administered by Kwan Tee Pagoda.

The society can contribute to the discussion on the Committee for Genealogy instituted by the Ministry of Arts  and Culture. According to the Chinese tradition, a religious service is usually organized one week after the death if a Chinese at the pagoda and the ancestral tablet of the deceased with his name written in Chinese characters is deposited behind the altar.

Every pagoda possesses hundreds of Ancestral tablets. On Chinese New Year the descendants of the deceased practice the ancestral cult before the Ancestral tablets as a sign of respect. From these tablets the Chinese can retrace his genealogy.

However, for the Chinese, it is not difficult to trace back his genealogy. Usually, the name of a Chinese is constituted of three syllables: the first sylabble is his clan’s name or his name. From this setting is not difficult to trace his genealogical tree as far back as hundreds of years