Everyone knows the problem. One believes this, the other that, and forever people can't agree on what is right now. This God or that one? That belief or this one? If you have read my travel reports from Taiwan, you should have noticed that this country at the end of the world - seen from Europe, or at the beginning, seen from North America - works quite differently in many respects. The Taiwanese have a little problem with the names of things, some visitors have a problem with their favorite food...
Lit a candle for god, whoever he is
But not at all difficult, however, is the relationship that the Taiwanese maintain with religion. Many here are deeply, deeply religious. They like to pray and do so persistently. They have built temples in the most unlikely places. But all in all, faith is a private matter for the people - no one proselytizes, no one agitates, no one looks askance at someone else because they think another god is the only true one.
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In Taiwan there is freedom of religion, but that is not it. Other countries also have freedom of religion on paper. Here, however, it is really lived. Often there are followers of different faiths even within one family. The different religious communities really coexist peacefully.
God's color is golden
And unlike other countries, Taiwan has a few more of them. Traditional Chinese religions include Buddhism, Taoism, and various folk religions of the original Taiwanese, who only became a minority after the arrival of Chiang Kai-shek's people. The newcomers also brought Taoism from China, and others of them carried Buddhism, which originated in India.
Asylum for Taoists
Taoism and Buddhism were originally practiced separately, mostly they still are. But when the Japanese occupied Taiwan, during World War II, they decided that Taoists were dangerous, Buddhists they think were not. The former were persecuted, so the Buddhists gave them asylum to worship their deities secretly in Buddhist temples.
The temples are made from wood
One such temple is Mengjia Longshan, originally built in 1738 by immigrants from Fujian. Although the purpose was actually to worship Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, statues honoring over 100 other gods and goddesses gradually accumulated in and around the many wooden buildings. Built in the style of a palace complex with an entrance and a square courtyard, one sees imposing figures everywhere.
Mythical creatures such as dragons, phoenixes and heroes from ancient Chinese folklore watch over the faithful visiting one of the most famous cultural sites in Taipei.
Pray for your wishes
They can be trusted, because although the temple has been damaged by fire and earthquakes several times over the centuries, it has always managed to be rebuilt exactly as it looked before. Lively carvings and paintings adorn the underside of the roofs, and the special supporting pillars that support the roof were the first of their kind in Taiwan.
Firecrackers tells all is right
The stone window to the left of the main entrance is decorated with scenes from the classic Chinese novel "The Three Kingdoms". On the right side of the entrance you can see an octagonal bamboo window in which the Chinese characters "Firecrackers announce that everything is in order" are carved. The main gates of the temple are only opened for celebrations or special rituals, so you should normally enter the temple through the left door and exit through the right door.
Infinite flames
When entering the temple, one can often see many believers worshiping the gods and reciting sutras. Walking into the courtyard from the front hall, you will come across a large censer with the interesting figure of a “stupid barbarian on it lifting a corner of the temple” - whatever thats should tell us. There is a bell tower on one side of the courtyard and a drum tower on the other: the bells are rung in the morning and the drum is struck in the evening to remind the faithful to recite their sutras and perform their proper ceremonies.
Another temple, the same color
Like Mengjia Temple, Baoan Temple, dedicated to the God of Medicine, and Qingshan Temple, built in honor of the God Qingshan Wang, are also considered national monuments. The Longshan Temple owes its existence to a special incident: once a man had hung an amulet of the mercy goddess Kuanyin on a tree, and when night fell, it began to emit a dazzling light. People in the neighborhood quickly discovered that the amulet had the ability to grant wishes, and naturally they wanted to build a temple to the goddess. Construction began in 1738 on the site where the amulet was found, and the temple was completed within two years. Praying women and men stand and sit here next to tourists who marvel at everything, candles are lit everywhere, donations of money are left and prayers are offered.
The roof of Mengjia Longshan
Who prays to which god is not exactly known. Because when Taiwan was placed under Chinese administration again at the end of the Second World War, Taoism and Buddhism in Taiwan were already firmly merged. Good thing for the Taiwanese, who can be more than one thing at the same time and worship a variety of Buddhist and Taoist deities in parallel.
Mortals as divines
This is simply because many of their deities are said to have originally been mere mortals who received their divine status through special virtues or merits. The most famous example is Confucius. The latter lived 2500 years ago and was first worshipped by Emperor Yuan, who ruled during the Han Dynasty period of 48-33 AD.
Money for the divines
There are also Christians here, of course, as Spanish and Dutch missionaries brought Christianity to Taiwan in the early 17th century. The Christian god quickly found followers, Taoists and Buddhists also do not mind that others believe differently and do not go to temples to touch golden Buddha statues, but to churches where a crucified man hangs over an altar.
I'm happy too if you give me an upvote - a few more pictures for you.
Paper puppets of divines
A look inside
A temple at the west coast of Taiwan
Ballons outside Mengjia
Statues, a lot of
The court of the temple
Buddha, maybe
An ungry god
and his friendly mother, sister
Shiva, somewhere at the coast
A small temple in a cave under a mountain