Detailed Introduction
Students worshipping Wenchang Dijun lay out scallions, celery, and radish; for Tiger Lord you bring raw eggs; but set a custard apple before the Buddha and you've committed a real discourtesy. Offerings are a worshipper's gift of the heart, yet Taiwanese folk custom keeps a fine set of rules about what may be offered and what is taboo.
Basic Offerings
- Fresh flowers: for purity and dignity, chrysanthemums and lilies are the most common; for the Buddha, lotus is best. Flowers must be fresh and whole -- nothing wilted goes on the altar.
- Fruit (the "four fruits"): "four fruits" doesn't mean four kinds, but "fruits of the four seasons." Usually you offer an odd number of kinds (three or five), an odd number of each. Wash and dry the fruit; nothing worm-eaten or spoiled.
- Tea and wine: tea or rice wine is offered to the deities, usually three cups. Buddhist temples generally use only plain water or tea, no wine.
- Cakes: for sweetness and good fortune -- "nian gao" (sticky, to "hold on to money"), "fa gao" (prosperity cake), and "ang ku kueh" (red tortoise cake, for longevity), each with its lucky meaning.
The Three and Five Offerings
- Three offerings (san sheng): pork (belly pork with the skin on), a whole chicken, and a whole fish -- the most formal set for worshipping the gods.
- Five offerings (wu sheng): the three offerings plus duck and shrimp (or crab), a higher grade, used for occasions like the Jade Emperor's birthday or a temple's opening.
- Vegetarian three offerings: mock versions made of tofu, wheat gluten, and vegetarian chicken, for Buddhist deities or those who take no meat.
What Particular Deities Like
- The Wealth God: loves sweets -- candy, peanut brittle, and cakes; adding peanuts (for "long life") and mochi (to "hold on to money") is better still.
- Tiger Lord: likes raw eggs and raw meat -- being an animal deity, his offerings should be "raw," and some worshippers even offer raw pig liver.
- The Earth God (Bogong): the most down-to-earth of deities, fond of peanuts (tudou, for "long life") and mochi (to hold on to wealth and blessings).
- Yue Lao: fresh flowers and wedding candy; those seeking a match also bring red thread.
- Wenchang Dijun: students offer scallions (for cleverness), celery (for diligence), garlic (for reckoning), radish (for good luck), and zongzi and buns (for "passing the exam").
- Mazu: peach-shaped longevity buns, longevity noodles, and red tortoise cake, offered in gratitude to this motherly deity.
Offering Taboos
- Guava: full of seeds and hard to digest, it was thought "unclean" by the ancients and unfit for the gods.
- Tomato: for the same reason as guava, also counted an unclean fruit.
- Custard apple (sakya): its name matches "Shakyamuni," so offering it to the Buddha is deemed a grave irreverence.
- Plum: folk belief says the Taoist founder Laozi was surnamed Li ("plum"), so offering plums to worship is as good as "eating Laozi."
- Water spinach (hollow-heart vegetable): its "hollow heart" suggests a lack of sincere heart.
- Pineapple ("ong lai," prosperity comes), apple ("peace"), and orange ("good luck"): the most welcome auspicious offerings.
Arranging the Offerings
Set the offerings neatly on the altar table, fruit and cakes before the deity, and with the three offerings, the chicken's head facing the deity. The cups of tea and wine go in front of the offerings. Afterward you may take the offerings home to eat -- "eating peace," as it's called -- a way of taking the deity's blessing home with you.