Let's Tour Taiwan: Taipei Temples!

Learning how other cultures connect with the divine fascinates me- both in what is different and (more often) in what is the same. We are all asking the same eternal questions, no matter what corner of the globe we come from. This puts "visit houses of worship" high on my sightseeing list.  Fortunately for me, when we visited Taiwan this past summer, the city of Taipei had plenty of temples to check out!

A huge difference between Japanese and Taiwanese temples was immediately apparent.  First, all the temples that we visited were Taoist, as opposed to the Shinto or Buddhist houses of worship in Japan.  Second, the Taiwanese temples were packed and noisy.  While the very famous temples in Japan are always crowded, visitor participation usually seems limited to lighting a few sticks of incense, tossing an offering into the coin box, bowing before the deity, maybe purchasing a fortune, and taking lots of photos. Performing any of these religious gestures is optional.  Taking photos is a must.

Not so the temples we visited in Taipei! The clatter of wooden fortune-telling tools tossed on the floor, a monk lecturing off to one side, the bustle around the offering tables, the burning of spirit money, the heavy clouds of incense, and the color red on practically everything made these temples an experience for all five senses.  There were so many people engaged in various acts of worship, in fact, that I later asked our hotel concierge if the day was a religious holiday (it wasn't).

Here are some of the photos I took during our temple explorations!

Worshippers light incense to be waved and set inside massive, ornate burners.  Incense performs an important
 function in Taoist temples by purifying the space and the minds of the worshippers.  So many
worshippers burn incense, in fact, that the pollution is a growing problem for the city of Taipei.

Offering tables crammed with food.  

Offering round, aesthetically pleasing fruits are best- fruit is that is bitter or unattractive should be avoided.
In Taoism, fruit symbolizes the results of proper efforts and hardship.

Flowers are also placed on the offering tables. For the Taoist, flowers are a reminder 
that Nature can change both one's heart and the hearts of others.

Prayers are offered in front of the tables.  Folded palms display reverence.

The offering tables are a riot of color!  

Many of the temples feature enormous, hanging lanterns.  Many Japanese temples have large, red lanterns with
only a few, painted kanji characters; the Taiwanese lanterns are beautifully and intricately painted. 

The temple to Confucius is particularly fun to visit...here it is getting ready to 

host a matchmaking event. Pink hearts and balloons are everywhere.  

These temples had much more than just worship going on!

These temple grounds are less busy, but plenty of residents still enjoy the gardens
while avoiding the stools set up for the evening's upcoming matchmaking affair!

Tucked in one corner of the temple a group of elderly musicians
plays a mix of traditional and modern instruments.

In the main courtyard, a group of avid photographers practice their fashion photography. 

These wooden crescents are tossed on the floor by worshippers.  The way they clatter onto the ground determines which wooden stick the worshipper pulls out of the jar.  The stick corresponds to a specific drawer in the fortune box, from which the worshipper withdraws a fortune.

The fortune sticks.

Shelves of joss paper, or spirit money.  Gold paper is exclusively for ancestors or higher deities.  This is something I never see in Japan, and seems to be more religiously Taoist in nature.  The paper is burned in special furnaces to make sure that the deceased has many good things in the afterlife. 

The temples were almost overwhelming in their beautiful intricacy.

I may have enthusiastically appreciated the temples, but I know next to nothing about Taoism.  Even though our tour guides were incredibly helpful, I probably have gotten a lot of things wrong.  If something here is incorrect, please tell me!  

Photos taken in Taipei Taoist temples Baoan, Longshan, and Taipei Confucious, as well as Sansia Tsu-Shih Temple in Taipei County.

Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!