![]() ![]() Like Mazu, Guan Gong (also called Guan Di or Guan Yu) was once an ordinary human. She is the principal deity in both Mengjia Longshan Temple and Lugang’s Longshan Temple. ![]() Guanyin is usually depicted by full-figure statues that show a kindly woman holding a scroll or book in her left hand and making a mudra symbol with her right hand. Worshipped by people of Chinese descent – including many who don’t explicitly identify themselves as Buddhist – since the 12th century, her full name can be translated as, ‘she who hears all of mankind’s cries’. Guanyin (sometimes spelled Kuanyin) began her divine existence in India as the male bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, but is usually described in Chinese communities as the Buddhist goddess of mercy. They’re easy to tell apart, because Qianliyan is usually depicted with his hand by his forehead, as if he’s gazing into the distance. One is called Shunfenger (meaning ‘ears that hear the wind’) and Qianliyan (‘eyes that see a thousand leagues’). Originally evil spirits, they were brought to heel by Mazu and enlisted as her assistants. Such shrines invariably include statues of two fearsome-looking demons. ![]() Many, like the ones in Tainan and Lugang, are called Tianhougong, meaning Queen of Heaven Palace, a name conferred on her in 1839 by an emperor of China. In Taiwan and its outlying islands, an estimated 800-plus houses of worship are dedicated to Mazu. Many of the oldest Mazu effigies in Taiwanese temples arrived this way during the 17th century. One reason for her eminence in Taiwan is that settlers leaving Fujian often prayed to her before they set sail, carried icons of her on their ships, and later established shrines to express their gratitude for arriving safely. According to one well-known story, while still a teenager she saved her fisherman father and her brothers from an ocean storm by slipping into a trance and plucking them to safety. Born in Fujian, the Chinese province nearest Taiwan, in 960AD, she’s said to have achieved a string of miracles before ascending to the heavens at the age of 26. Taiwan’s most popular deity is the sea goddess Mazu (often spelled Matsu). The Old Man icon in Mengjia Longshan Temple is a favourite among Taipei’s twenty- and thirtysomethings. Statues of this minor god, who works to connect each person with the man or woman he or she is destined to love, are usually small, and show a smiling, white-bearded man in traditional dress holding a staff. The fertility goddess Zhusheng Niangniang is one women pray to her when they’re hoping to conceive, or when they’re already pregnant and hope for her protection, or want a baby of a specific gender (usually male, as traditionally-minded families still prefer sons to daughters). There are other deities which appear in a great many temples, but almost always in a subsidiary role. For this reason, relatives of the recently deceased offer prayers and incense to him in places like Tainan’s Dongyue Temple. Unlike Christianity’s Satan, rather than revel in the torment of those condemned to punishment in the afterlife, he endeavors to help those who find themselves in purgatory. Another is Dizangwang, a Buddhist bodhisattva said to be the king of hell. Mid-ranking gods include Baosheng Dadi, the principal deity in Taipei’s fabulous Dalongdong Baoan Temple. The third group comprises hundreds of spirits who, it’s feared, will spread disease and misfortune if not satisfied with frequent offerings Wang Ye are the centre of attention during Donggang’s boat-burning celebration. The first two protect specific places – parts of the countryside or small neighbourhoods in the case of land gods, much larger settlements in the case of city gods. Major categories of folk deities include land gods, town and city gods and Wang Ye. Almost every god, even those like the Jade Emperor who are believed to have been around for eternity, have birthdays which their devotees celebrate with gusto. ![]() In at least two temples in Taiwan, sacrifices are made to icons of Chiang Kai-shek, who only died in 1975 and who considered himself a fervent Christian. Many were once mere mortals on Earth most of those posthumously elevated to godhood – but not all – lived in the distant past. Among the supernatural entities worshipped in the country are some who might more accurately be thought of as saints, demons or simply ghosts. No one knows exactly how many gods and goddesses there are in the Taiwanese pantheon, and not just because they are so numerous (a figure of ‘around 36,000’ appears in a few books). ![]()
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