Chapter 12 Section 5 Religious Beliefs Originated from the Mainland

The "multi-god thinking" in traditional Chinese culture is particularly prominent in Taiwan, the island of Taiwan. It is rare to see so many gods worshiped by the people.According to some statistics, the number of gods in Taiwan far exceeds 100.They "perform their duties" just like human society. If they are divided according to their "status", they can be divided into two categories: Lord God: According to their respective duties, they can be divided into four types. One is the "Almighty God" with boundless mana.There is the supreme god who commands all the gods in the two worlds of Youming—the "Jade Emperor", and there are also "Mazu" and "Guanyin Bodhisattva".These three "lord gods" are considered to be "universal gods" who have the most "efficiency" in curing diseases, praying for children, eliminating disasters, conferring blessings, and praying for rain. They have the most believers in Taiwan and are most revered.

The other is "divided gods" and "local gods".The palm-splitting gods are responsible for various "professional duties" and are regarded as their own patron saints by all walks of life, such as: scholars sacrifice to Confucius and "Emperor Wenchang"; "Shen Nong the Great"; farmers offer sacrifices to the "Emperor of the Five Grains"; barbers offer sacrifices to "Lu Xianzu" (Lv Dongbin); incense burners offer sacrifices to "Jiutian Xuannv"; carpenters and paper umbrella operators offer sacrifices to "Sage Master" (Lu Ban); ordinary businessmen Offering sacrifices to "Guan Sheng Dijun" (Guan Yu); tailors offering sacrifices to "Yellow Emperor"...the list goes on and on.These "immortals" are all considered to be the founders, meritorious persons or unique skills of certain professions in Chinese history or folklore.In addition, there are many gods with different "efficiencies", such as: worship "Nanji Xingjun" if you want to live a long life, worship "Zhusheng Niangniang" or "Guanyin for Sending a Child" if you want to have a child, worship "Mrs. Linshui" for pregnant women who want to give birth safely, and worship "Mrs. Pray for rain and worship the "Dragon Lord"... As for the local gods, they refer to the "guardian gods" (see above) brought to Taiwan by Taiwanese people of different ancestral origins from their hometowns in the mainland.

The third type is "City God". It is said that the scope of the jurisdiction of the City God belongs to the junction of "Yangjian" and "Hell", so as to make up for the shortcomings of the local officials in "Yangjian" and the "King of the Underworld" in "Yinxia".The situation of the fourth kind of god is extremely complicated, and they will exert different "effects" in different times and places, and it is really difficult to list them one by one. Belonging to the gods: that is, the gods attached to the "main god".They may have some kind of "superior relationship" with the main god, for example: Mazu has assistants "clairvoyance" and "shunfeng ear"; City God has more assistants, including "literary judge", "martial judge" and "general horse". , "General Niu", "Prolong Sushi", "Picket Division", "Reward Good Division", "Punish Evil Division"...; or have a "kinship relationship" with the main god: because believers are devout to the main god, they are afraid that the god will be lonely , mentally depressed, so in order to please the gods, they are often given wives (except monks).For example, the wife of the Lord of the Land "Mother of the Land", the wife of King Guangze Zunwang "Mother of the Holy King", the wife of the Lord of the Sun "Mother of the Sun", in addition to Mrs. Sanye, Mother of King Ling'an, Youying Mother, Dazhong Grandma, Kai Mrs. Zhang Shengwang and others are all in pairs.The city gods of Quanzhou natives not only have wives, but even concubines, who are called "the first wife of the city god" and "the second wife of the city god" respectively.Some main gods also have children. For example, the Xiqin King and his wife have a son, and the Guandi Temple must also enshrine Prince Guanping.

In Taiwan, it can be said that "gods are everywhere, and no gods are worshiped."In addition to the various official gods mentioned above, there are countless "wood and stone gods", "animal gods" or "universal gods" enshrined everywhere in the countryside.For example, all trees with a height of more than 100 feet will have a small temple under the tree to worship as a "tree prince".The banyan tree is called "Rongshu Gong", the pine tree is called "Songshu Gong", and Jingtong Shugong, Jidongshu Gong... Some stones have strange shapes, so people call them "Stone Gong" according to some imagination, and people visit them all the year round. Worship, incense continued.In addition, the pigsty is called "Zhu Chou Gong" and the bullpen is called "Niu Chou Gong". There are also those who worship snakes and turtles, which are called "Snake Sheng Gong" and "Turtle Sheng Gong". Burn the incense and "bye" devoutly.

Because there are so many gods, there are too many temples.According to a statistic during the Japanese Occupation period, there are more than 3,800 legally registered temples in Taiwan, not counting small rural temples.At that time, the population of Taiwan was less than 8 million, and an average of about 2,000 people owned a temple. In the past 20 years, with the development of the economy, building temples has become more and more popular.According to incomplete statistics, the current population of Taiwan is more than 21 million, and there are more than 10,000 temples of various kinds. On average, there is one temple for less than 2,000 people.No wonder some people say: Taiwan is "a small temple in three steps, a large temple in five steps", and "more temples than schools", which makes people feel like "looking at the temple and sighing"!

Religious belief is one of the ideologies of society, a distorted and illusory reflection of natural and social forces in people's minds, and a cultural phenomenon produced under certain historical and social conditions.There are so many gods and miscellaneous beliefs among the people in Taiwan, and too many temples have been built. The formation of this important folk characteristic has its own historical and social inevitability. Taiwan is a typical immigrant society. Hundreds of years ago, when mainland immigrants left their hometowns to cross Taiwan to make a living, Taiwan was still a "wild land" where miasma was endemic, pythons were infested, typhoons were raging, and thorns were overgrown. Both the natural environment and living conditions were abnormal. It is difficult and treacherous, and every step forward requires an unimaginably huge price.Under such specific historical conditions, the ancestors of Tuotai needed some kind of spiritual comfort and sustenance, and hoped to use some kind of supernatural power to protect themselves, so all kinds of god worship came into being naturally. The existing ones are used (such as the "Guardian God" of the ancestral home in mainland China), and the ones that do not exist are created (such as many unique gods in Taiwan). As the number of gods increases, more and more temples are built.It can be said that every ancient temple in Taiwan is a historical witness of the pioneers of Tuotai who went through hardships, overcame thorns and thorns, and worked hard to start a business, recording their history of joy and bitterness!

Strictly speaking, although there are many gods in Taiwan, most of them can be classified into the three sects of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.All these sects came from the mainland. After they were introduced to Taiwan, they influenced each other and merged with each other. Now it is "I am in you, and you are in me", and it is difficult to strictly distinguish them.For example, Taoism in Taiwan often worships Avalokitesvara, Dizang, Patriarch Qingshui, and Dinggong Buddha of Buddhism as its gods; It is called "Gaitian Ancient Buddha"... Therefore, people in Taiwan often see the gods of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism enshrined in one temple at the same time, and this is the reason.

Another notable feature of Taiwan's religious beliefs is that they are extremely "humane".The gods not only have different "status", various "technical expertise", spread across three religions, have kinship and family life, but also have different personalities and emotions. The "world of gods" is almost the same as the world of humans.It is said that the wife of the Tudi Lord, "Tudi Ma", often annoys the Tudi Gong because of her "unpopularity". Therefore, Tutu Temples in Taiwan are generally not worthy of worshiping Tudi Ma.However, King Baoyi loves his wife (尫妈) very much. It is said that if the priest puts his wife's mikoshi behind in the sacrificial parade, he will be angry, so he had to break the boundary of "men are superior to women" and put Mrs. Baoyi's mikoto Lift it in front.

There is a "General Niu Temple" in Shuiyucuo, Chiayi County, and a statue of a divine cow is enshrined in the temple.According to folklore, when Zheng Chenggong ordered his tribe to reclaim wasteland here, he gave them eight buffaloes. These buffaloes worked hard and died one after another. To commemorate these hardworking buffaloes, people set up temples to sacrifice.Up to now, the local people still offer a bundle of green grass and a bucket of clear water in front of the statue on time every day, lest they be hungry or thirsty.Local residents said that they can often see "sacred cows" haunting the fields, helping farmers trample the paddy fields before planting and eating the weeds in the fields.You see, even the relationship between humans and cows is also full of warmth!

Taiwan also has the custom of worshiping dogs and offering sacrifices to dogs, that is, dogs are worshiped as gods and statues are erected in temples.There is a "Seven Generals Temple" in the north of Nantou Camp.Legend has it that during the reign of Qianlong in the early Qing Dynasty, in order to solve the problem of water for farming in the Caotun area of ​​Nantou, six technicians were invited from Zhangzhou, Fujian to help dig a tunnel.The six technicians have a dog, which is always by their side.One day, the dog suddenly ran out of the tunnel and barked, and then went into the tunnel again.Soon there was only a loud "boom" in the cave, and six workers and dogs were buried in the tunnel together.It turned out that the dog wanted to run out to call for help to its owner, but no one responded, so it willingly went back to the cave and died in the line of duty with its owner.Later, people dug out the bodies of six technicians and dogs from the tunnel and buried them together, and built a temple for sacrifices, which is called the "Seven Generals Temple".On the seventh or fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, a ceremony is held.

According to the survey, in addition to the Temple of the Seventh General, there are also the "Nineteen Gong Temple" in Chiayi City, the "Yuanshan Palace" in Lucao Township, Chiayi County, the "Seven General Temple" in Dali Township, Taichung County, and the Yunlin Temple in addition to the Temple of the Seventh General. There are five "Yimin Temples" in Beigang Township, the county, and their legends are full of friendship between humans and dogs. However, in Taiwan, the most humane religious ceremony is the grand ceremony of "Dajia Mazu returns to her natal family" every March 23rd of the lunar calendar. It is said that "Mazu" did exist, named Lin Moniang, a native of Meizhou Island, Putian, Fujian, born on March 23rd of the lunar calendar in 960 AD (the first year of Song Taizu's Jianlong reign).She was named Mo Niang because she did not cry when she was born in the full moon.She has been good at swimming since she was a child, and has a kind heart. She often rescues fishermen in distress at sea regardless of her own safety. She has done many good deeds, and everyone is very grateful to her.Unfortunately, Mo Niang died of illness at the age of 28. To commemorate her, people set up a temple on Meizhou Island to worship her. She was regarded as the patron saint of fishermen who went to sea, and they worshiped her with great incense.After the development of Penghu and Taiwan, fishermen from southern Fujian set up temples to offer sacrifices in Penghu and Taitai.Today, the Chaotian Palace in Beigang, Yunlin is the earliest Mazu temple built in Taiwan, and many Mazu temples in Taiwan are her "spirits". According to legend, after Mazu came to Taiwan, she often missed her parents and brothers in mainland China, so she took them to live in Beigang. Therefore, Dajia Mazu would visit relatives in Beigang every late spring and March, and reunite with her parents and brothers, just like a married girl returning to her natal home. There is a custom of "Dajia Mazu returns to her natal family".At that time, hundreds of thousands of Mazu believers from all over Taiwan will rush to Dajia Town to join them and walk to Beigang to visit relatives accompanied by the statue of Mazu.After the ceremony, they will be escorted back to Dajia.From Dajia to Beigang, the round trip is 300 kilometers, and it takes eight days and seven nights to walk. Regardless of fatigue, the believers are mighty, carrying all kinds of gorgeous guards of honor. They have to pass through more than 30 villages and towns along the way, and visit countless temples. The tens of thousands of miles of teams were undisturbed, helping each other, and the atmosphere was extremely grand and pious. This kind of grand occasion is really breathtaking! Speaking of it, "Dajia Mazu returns to her natal family" is only a custom that has only emerged in the past 60 years. Before that, the most solemn ceremony for Taiwanese Mazu believers was to return to Mazu's ancestral home - Fujian Meizhou Island to "cut incense".At that time, Mazu believers from all over Taiwan will gather in Beigang, and a "pilgrimage group" of thousands of people will be selected to present Mazu's "golden body" and take a boat across the Taiwan Strait to Meizhou Island for "pilgrimage". After 1920, the Japanese colonial authorities ordered to cut off the traffic between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and Mazu believers had to change to Beigang to worship at a distance.In the past 40 years, the compatriots on both sides of the strait have been separated from each other, and the news has been cut off. Naturally, it has also brought disaster to the gods.Now that cross-strait relations have eased, Taiwanese Mazu can finally "enjoy" the same treatment as Taiwan compatriots, and return to their hometown of Meizhou, Fujian to visit relatives. How deep family and nostalgia are contained in the grand ceremony of "Mazu returns to her natal family"!