Folk Beliefs & Customs
Discover the divination practices, spiritual rituals, and geomantic traditions woven into the fabric of everyday Taiwanese religious life.
Divination Moon Blocks (Jiaobei)
A pair of crescent-shaped red blocks, clasped in your palms and dropped to the floor -- this is jiaobei, the most direct way Taiwanese people put a question to the gods. Three possible answers -- holy, laughing, and negative blocks -- and this guide shows you how to ask, and how to read the deity's reply.
Jigai: Ritual for Reversing Bad Fortune
When your luck keeps sliding, everything goes wrong, and your health won't settle, Taiwanese people head to the temple for jigai -- also called bu yun, or fortune-mending. Through a ritual master's ceremony, your misfortune is transferred onto a substitute effigy and burned away, symbolizing that the old bad luck has left and new fortune has arrived.
Taoist Liturgical Ceremonies (Keyi)
Gongs, suona, and cymbals sound together as a Taoist priest in a bagua-patterned robe shakes the Emperor Bell and paces the steps of the Big Dipper -- this is "doing fashi," also called keyi, the Taoist liturgical ceremony. From birth to death, trained priests use a rigorous set of rites to bless people, dispel calamity, and bridge the human and spirit worlds.
Talismans and Protective Charms (Fulu)
The little red pouch tucked in a wallet, the folded yellow-paper bagua hanging from a scooter key -- these are fulu, or peace talismans, the most personal form of protection in Taiwanese folk belief. Requested at a temple and "passed over the censer," they are carried close to keep the bearer safe and turn misfortune aside.
Pacifying Tai Sui (The Grand Duke Jupiter)
"When Tai Sui sits overhead, if there is no joy there will be disaster" -- in a year when your zodiac sign clashes with Tai Sui, Taiwanese people go to the temple before Lunar New Year to "pacify Tai Sui," handing over their name and birth data for the temple to enshrine the presiding Grand Duke Jupiter and praying for a smooth, safe year.
Drawing Fortune Sticks (Qiuqian)
Divination blocks only answer "yes" or "no" -- but when you need the deity to say more, you draw a fortune stick. Pull a numbered stick from the bamboo cylinder, confirm it with the blocks, then collect the matching four-line poem: qiuqian is one of the most beloved ways to consult the gods in a Taiwanese temple, and this guide shows you how to draw one and how to read it.
Temple Feng Shui and Folk Geomancy
Why does a temple sit with mountains at its back and water to its front? Why must the front door never face the elevator? From choosing a temple site to where you put the living-room sofa, it all comes down to the same thing -- feng shui, the art of geomancy (kanyu) -- which is about letting the "qi" that flows between heaven and earth move smoothly and gather, and it runs deep in the Taiwanese sense of space.
Spirit Mediums (Jitong) and Oracles
At a temple procession, the man who suddenly shakes all over, seizes a shark-tooth sword and strikes his own forehead without flinching, is a jitong -- a spirit medium, the deity's chosen mouthpiece on earth. By "entering trance," he lets the deity possess his body to pass on divine messages, heal the sick, dispel misfortune, and point the lost toward a way through.
Taoist Priests and Ritual Masters
They both wear Taoist robes, but a "daoshi" (Taoist priest) and a "fashi" (ritual master) are not the same thing. Through long years of cultivation and master-to-disciple transmission, they command the liturgical arts, carrying the weight at temple festivals, life-cycle rituals, and rites for blessing and calamity -- the professional intermediaries between the human and divine worlds.
Common Mantras, Scriptures, and Prayers
"Namo Amitabha Buddha," "Om Mani Padme Hum," "Execute forthwith as decreed" -- these are sounds you have surely heard. From the Buddhist chanting of mantras and the Buddha's name to Taoist scripture recitation and prayer, these sacred words carry thousands of years of religious wisdom and remain the daily practice of countless believers.