Department of Cultural Affairs

By Yali Chen
STAFF REPORTER

A visit to the Taipei Xiahai City God Temple this month can help tourists from other parts of Taiwan and overseas to gain a better understanding of the country’s folk culture. The temple is holding a month-long festival to celebrate the City God’s birthday, with many events that will display different aspects of tradition and folklore.

The temple has staged the cultural festival annually since 2006, and this year the event kicked off on June 2 with a traditional performance by a theater group from Fujan Province, China.

The celebration continued with a June 3 Taiwanese opera performance, a work named the Ghost Buddha, by the Ming Hwa Yuan Taiwanese Opera Company.

Besides these two shows, the temple is holding a series of cultural events that will run through July 7 at Yongle Square in the Datong District, Taipei. The month-long festival also includes deity processions, Taiwanese operas, glove puppet shows, martial arts performances and an exhibition of photographs of the temple in the 1940s and 1950s.

Titan Wu, a spokesman for the temple, said that the annual festival is held to celebrate the City God’s birthday, which falls on the 14th day of the fifth lunar month, which is Wednesday, June 15 this year. It also aims to attract Taipei residents and amuse the deities. All events are free and open to the public.

During some of these free events, participants will be able to see temple faithful perform several rituals to banish evil spirits, cleanse the area of unwelcome spirits and tame wandering ghosts.

“After cleaning up the community, we will remove the City God statue from the temple and the deity can start its inspection tour of the Datong District,” he said.

On June 7, “Positioning five spirit generals to protect the five earthly temples,” a rite in which heavenly generals are placed outside the temple, was held to ensure the deity’s safety before its inspection tour.

A number of folk art performance troupes from around the island will gather in front of the temple on June 11 to present drumming performances, martial arts routines, dragon dances, and lion dances.

The following day the City God’s two guardians, General Hsieh and General Fan, will embark on their “night patrol” at 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. The 8-hour tour also features “eight generals” patrolling the deity’s territory to banish unwanted spirits.

Ceremonies such as this one, Wu said, provide a unique opportunity for onlookers to watch these “ghost hunters” in action.

“Among these traditional rituals, the deity procession on June 14 is the most important and boisterous, because crowds of devotees flock into the temple and fill Dihua Street to celebrate the City God’s birthday,” he said.

Considered one of the biggest temple celebrations in Taipei and designated by the Taipei City Government as one of its intangible cultural assets, this energetic deity procession always spreads a carnival atmosphere throughout the community.

It usually finishes up with generous volleys of firecrackers and ritualized performance troupes flanking the statue’s palanquin – a closed litter, formerly used in Eastern societies and carried on the shoulders of four bearers.

“After the procession, we will have a big birthday party on June 15 at Yongle Square,” Wu said. “This festival is a great opportunity to get a better understanding of local folk cultures including Taiwanese operas, glove puppet shows and martial arts performances.

Built in 1859, the historic temple houses hundreds of statues of deities. In 1985 the Ministry of the Interior designated the temple as the Third Grade Historic Site.

Always packed with devout followers, the small temple has retained its original structure and appearance for more than a century.

As a judicial deity, the City God is said to keep a book of the good or evil done by mortals, watch over the movements of ghosts in the underworld, and protect people living in the Datong District, where the temple is located.

Besides the City God, his wife and other 600 deities, the century-old temple is also well-known for its belief in the Chinese God of Cupid and has attracted many young single men and women to pray for a good marriage since 1971.

The ratio of males to females is 3:7, according to temple manager Chen Wen-wen’s observations.

Most Taiwanese people flock to the temple on Chinese Valentine’s Day, which falls on the 7th day of the seventh lunar month, because they believe that worshipping the god of love may bring good luck to find the right person.

Before asking for a perfect match, the inquirer should prepare white sugar, lead coins, a red silk strand and paper money. While holding lighted incense sticks, he or she has to say a prayer that includes their full name, date of birth and address, as well as a description of their ideal partner.

After paying homage to the god, they must twirl the red strand in a circle over a large incense burner three times, then carry it with them at all times.

Chinese legend says the legendary matchmaker known as the Yue Xia Lao Ren, which literally means “The Old Man under the Moon,” holds the “Book of Fate” in his hand and ties a red strand to the feet of a man and a woman who are bound by fate to tie the knot.

The temple, however, warns young singles hoping to get help from this Matchmaker not to take more than one strand, just in case the action might invite troublesome relationships.

“But if your wish is granted, bring some cookies to thank him for his help,” Wu said, adding that from 2001 to 2010, a total of 50,026 newlyweds returned to the temple to express their gratitude to the Chinese god of love, matchmaking and marriage.

Information:
Taipei Xiahai City God Temple
Tel: 886-2-2558-0346
Address: No. 61, Sec. 1, Dihua St., Datong District, Taipei City
Website: http://www.tpecitygod.org/hot-news.html (Chinese only)
Admission: Free
Transportation:
Take the MRT Danshui (Red) Line to Shuanglian Station, go out Exit 1 or 2 and proceed along Minsheng W. Rd. to Sec. 1, Dihua St. and turn left.
From MRT Zhongshan Station, go out Exit 1 or 2 and proceed along Nanjing W. Rd. to Sec. 1, Dihua St. and turn right.
On both routes the walk takes about 20 minutes.