Detailed Introduction
On Lunar New Year's Eve, as the midnight bell strikes twelve, the temple doors are flung wide and the crowd that has waited for hours pours in all at once, each racing to be the first to plant their incense stick in the great burner of the main hall -- the scene the news cameras never miss: grabbing the first incense.
What the First Incense Means
Tradition holds that whoever grabs the first incense receives the deity's earliest and most special blessing for the new year, luck riding high all the way through. But the first incense stands for more than luck -- it is devotion: a willingness to wait hours in the cold winter night just to be first to offer the deity a New Year prayer.
Popular Temples for the First Incense
- Taipei Longshan Temple: draws tens of thousands to queue each New Year's Eve, the grandest scene of all.
- Dajia Jenn Lann Temple, Taichung: central Taiwan's most popular spot, where Mazu devotees vie to pay their respects.
- Beigang Chaotian Temple: the south's most emblematic, with a long history of the first-incense tradition.
- Lukang Tianhou Temple: the New Year's Eve centerpiece of the old town of Lukang, wrapped in the festive air of its historic streets.
- Taipei Xingtian Temple: incense is banned here, yet devotees still vie to be the first worshipper of the new year.
How Different Temples Do It
The rules vary from temple to temple: some run a first-come sprint, worshippers dashing from the gate straight for the burner; others decide the first-incense honor by drawing lots or casting divination blocks, to avoid dangerous shoving; and some hand out numbered tickets first, then draw the first-incense guest from among the holders.
Safety and the Modern Shift
In recent years, for worshippers' safety, many temples have gradually reshaped the custom: swapping numbered tickets for the sprint, or choosing the first-incense guest by divination block, so a first-incense guest can emerge without the crush -- keeping the meaning of the tradition while looking after safety. Taipei Longshan Temple has simply had a temple representative plant the first incense at midnight on everyone's behalf.
The New Year's Eve Temple Air
In truth, first incense or not hardly matters -- a New Year's Eve visit to the temple is itself one of the most important New Year traditions for Taiwanese people. The temple hangs its lanterns and decorations, incense smoke drifting, as people arrive in new clothes with the whole family, young and old, to pray, receiving a temple-given "peace talisman" and "fortune money" to wish the new year well. However the form of grabbing the first incense may change, that prayer and hope for the new year has always been the warmest of Taiwanese festival memories.