The Importance of Tradition
Every country has its own traditions. Among the most fascinating traditions are the rituals and the celebrations given to the different Gods in Taiwan. Through religious rituals, abundant offerings attesting to their devotion to their Gods, the Taiwanese believe that they can maintain cultural identity with friends and relatives, remove doubts, and ease difficulties. Taiwanese believe in the positive reflection of the people’s wish for harmonious interaction, co-existence and co-prosperity among heaven, Earth, and mankind. This also reflects the Taiwan people’s reverence for the basic social values of loyalty, piety, fidelity and justice which are believed to be the most important concepts for people to live harmoniously on this Earth.
The divine is omnipresent in Taiwanese daily life. Many believe that there are countless gods in the universe that can be found “three feet above your head.” This wisdom led to Taiwan’s unique religious landscape, where different religions peacefully flourish together, something perhaps unimaginable in other parts of the world. There is virtually no religious discrimination; it does not matter whether you are a Buddhist, Taoist or Confucian— there is home for all even in one temple. In addition to the many deities enshrined in those temples from all those religions, one can also find many gods of local origin.
Honoring the Deities
Some deities in Taiwan are worshipped for special blessings or for cultural purposes. For example, the coming of age ritual for 16-year-olds is usually held on the seventh night of the seventh lunar month at the Ci Sing Nian Niang Temple in Tainan.
The Jade Emperor is commonly seen as the highest deity, but is not the most popularly worshipped because people don’t want to bother the mighty Lord of Heaven with their petty problems and sorrows.
Therefore, Tsao Chun (the Stove or Kitchen God) became a more worshipped god. His statue or paper effigy is always in the kitchen near the household stove. Once a year, at the beginning of the New Year, Tsao Chun makes a journey to heaven, to report to the Jade Emperor on what has happened in the house and how the family members conducted themselves. It is no surprise, then, that everybody tries to be good friends with him.
According to the legend, the beginning of his career was not glorious at all: As the third son of the Jade Emperor, Tsao Chun didn’t behave appropriately for his noble ancestry. Because of his laziness and love affairs with celestial beauties, his angry father sent him into the human world to serve in the lowest position, as Kitchen God. Ironically, here he was surrounded by women all day long—and at the same time prohibited from continuing his slovenly life.
Just as the citizens trust in the administrative guidance of the City-God (God of the Moat) to protect and support their township, pregnant women ask Chu Sheng Niang Niang, also known as Lin Shui Fu Jen, Goddess of the Children for help. Do not be confused by this, since it is common to have more than one name for people, places, and things in Taiwan.
Confucius is the patron god of students, regardless if they are elementary school pupils or university graduates hoping for good marks and a successful exam. The Earth God is, of course, worshiped by peasants, who build little altars in the fields for him, even if these mini-temples the size of dollhouses often lack a roof.
The gods appear in various shapes. You can find a friendly and smiling Buddha or heavenly maidens near unearthly beings with eerie eyes. But these weird-looking fellows are also considered to be good.
Lions and dragons are in every temple to protect the temples from the evil. It is not seldom to be seen, that even inanimate objects by local inhabitants are seen as deities, as for example rocks, that according to peoples’ belief, became home of wandering spirits or prevented flooding of a village.
No matter how old or young, people go to temples to ask the gods for advice, whether it is about daily life or issues regarding the whole society.
The People’s Favorite
Among the most favored and loved in Taiwan, Ma-Tsu (also known as the Goddess of the Sea) is said to have saved many fishermen’s lives and taught them how to save those in danger at sea. The Royal Court gave her the title of Queen of Heaven but the people of Taiwan prefer to call her Ma-Tsu.
The legend has it that when a ship of believers is being wrecked at sea, a beautiful, tall girl carrying a lantern suddenly appears and guides the ship to safety. There are many legends about Ma-Tsu being able to catch falling bombs and save people during the war.
People of all ages refer to Ma-Tsu as their spiritual Grandmother. Taiwanese believe that Ma-Tsu is the protector, a healer, and an instructor who never gives up on her believers.
Since Taiwan is an island, the people depend on nature’s blessings. On the other hand, with its dangerous, natural surroundings disasters can easily happen. Because of her kindhearted protection, Ma-Tsu soon became the Guardian of Taiwan and was also titled “The Mother of Heaven.” In temples, Ma-Tsu is always accompanied with her two assistants: Ch’ien Li Yen, one who is said to have “Thousand-Mile Eyes,” and Shun Feng Erh, whose “Efficacious Ears” can hear the sailors’ calls for help, no matter from how far away.
Because people believe Ma-Tsu can take care of everyone, her believers devised a method to communicate with her—“p’u kua,” crescent-shaped blocks made out of bamboo.
Each moon block has a flat and a round side, which symbolize Yin and Yang. When tossed onto the ground, they offer three possible answers: Either both fall to the flat side, which means “no,” or if both fall wobbling on the round sides, the God seems amused about the question, but if Yin and Yang are in harmony; one lands flat and the other round, the answer is “yes.”
For more complicated consultations, the Taiwanese developed an advanced divination method with fortune sticks and moon blocks. A set of fortune sticks can consist of 60 or 100 numbered bamboo sticks, placed in a cylinder. When gently shaken, one of the flat sticks will pop out higher than the rest and tell the believer the number of the fortune slip where he can find the answer to his question. If you do not have the right number, the moon blocks will give you a “no” and then you will have to repeat the same procedure—toss the blocks and shake the cylinder. If the result is negative, the procedure must be repeated. One may repeat this many times because it’s possible the gods didn’t understand the question well nor was it precise enough… It is said that one must carefully select the words to the question so that it is very clear. This procedure has been applied in other temples when talking to other gods.
The answers are written in a poetic style similar to a western horoscope—open to interpretation. For example, if you pulled No. 5, the answer will be as follows:
“Do not close your door and sit at home without doing anything/ Only relying on incense burnt in the incense pot/ If you wait until thirsty before digging the well /How will you be able to overcome this difficulty?”
According to the growing popularity of these rituals, the auspicious poems placed on shelves are also offered in a few languages to accommodate the many international tourists.
Rosie Briefkasten also contributed to this article.
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