Worship Rituals
Introduction to common temple rituals and worship practices in Taiwan.
Incense Offering Ritual
You've lit the incense, but you mustn't blow it out with your mouth -- and the first deity you greet on entering isn't the main god, but Tiangong, the Jade Emperor. Offering incense looks simple, yet the fine points are many. A single stick of incense is the line of communication between worshipper and deity, and this guide walks you through how to offer it and how to pray.
Burning Joss Paper
Gold paper for the gods, silver paper for the ancestors, and never the two confused -- this is the most basic rule of burning joss paper. In the drifting ash, Taiwanese people convey their hearts to gods and ancestors, and this old tradition is now finding a new balance between environmental care and faith.
Preparing Offerings
For Wenchang Dijun, the god of scholars, you offer scallions and celery; Tiger Lord loves raw eggs; and you must never set a custard apple before the Buddha. Offerings are a worshipper's gift of the heart, but what may be offered and what is taboo each follow their own rules -- learn them, and every visit becomes respectful and fitting.
Lighting Beacon Lamps
A whole wall of thousands of tiny lamps, each inscribed with a person's name, burning day and night -- these are the bright lamps (guangming deng) of the temple. To light one is to light your own natal star, brightening the road ahead and dispelling the dark, one of the most important acts of faith as Taiwanese people welcome the New Year.
First Incense Race
On Lunar New Year's Eve, at the stroke of midnight the bell rings, the temple doors fly open, and the waiting crowd surges in -- all to be first to plant their incense stick in the main burner. This is "grabbing the first incense," and believers hold that the year's very first stick of incense buys a whole year of good fortune.
Temple Visiting Guide
Standing at the temple gate with three doors side by side -- which one do you walk through? And why must you never, ever step on the threshold? From "enter by the dragon gate, exit by the tiger gate" to worshipping Tiangong and the proper order of the halls, this guide walks the full temple worship flow so that every visit is respectful and fitting.
Worship Taboos
Don't blow out the incense with your mouth, don't step on the threshold, and don't set a custard apple before the Buddha -- Taiwanese temples pass down many such taboos, and the versions vary from place to place. Learn these fine points and you can avoid an unwitting misstep, making every visit smoother and more complete.
Consecration Ceremony (Kai Guang)
A freshly carved deity statue is, in faith, still just a work of art -- until the ritual master's cinnabar brush dots in those eyes. Kai guang dian yan, "opening the light and dotting the eyes," is the crucial moment that infuses spiritual light into the statue and opens its divine gaze, so that from then on it can "see" the prayers of the faithful.