A temple not for worship?

All these gods are mostly worshipped by performance troupes in their homes and by artisans in their studios. There are only a handful of temples

dedicated to them across Taiwan. Wu Wen Chang (五文昌) are the five gods who achieved greatness in the academic field during their lives on earth.

Wen Chang Di Chun, at the center of the temple, is the most popular god among students and their parents. Some 20 temples have Wen Chang Di Chun as their main god, while many major temples also house the god. In the weeks leading to major school exams, alters are covered with photocopies of exam registration papers at temples worshipping the god.

Even students who are not particularly pious kneel in front of the god asking for divination on the outcome of their exams. Some even pay to have small lamps bearing their names lit next to the alters to bless them.

Students eager to win the favor of Wen Chang Di Chun may have to turn elsewhere, however, because despite all the trappings of a temple, Wen Chang Temple is intended to be a showcase temple for traditional crafts rather than a religious center, said Tsai Chi-ren (蔡志忍), a media spokesperson for the center.

Visitors are encouraged to worship the gods by just putting their hands together. There will be no candles, no burning of paper money, no lamps to light in the temple, no talismans to buy, not to mention divinations with bamboo blocks or drawing-lots.

Although the opening ceremony of the temple follows all the traditional procedure and the schedules were arranged in consultation with the lunar calendar, the Center for Traditional Arts is cautious about walking the thin line between academic thought and "superstition."

"The opening ceremony procedures are more academic than superstitious. All the steps have definite and explainable meanings in folk religion. We don't want people to think of them as superstitious rituals," Chen said.

The same attitude applies to the management of the temple, which shuns supernatural practices, such as providing talismans and divinations. Even providing free incense sticks -- which all temples do in Taiwan -- smacks of encouraging the occult.

"As a government agency, we can't provide incense to visitors. We can't represent local people either. However, we believe you can be pious without the external rituals," Chen said.

Asked whether a temple without incense is a religious or a cultural establishment, Chen hesitated before saying that it was too difficult to say. "As part of the government we are not in a position to lead religious rituals," Chen said.

Hsieh Tzong-rong (謝宗榮), folk customs scholar and director of the opening ceremony -- which is the first time a cultural government agency has teamed up with priests and academics -- said that he understands the center's stance.

"This is the first government-built temple since the Min Guo era. During the KMT reign, only Confucian temples were encouraged, not folk deities' temples.

All the presidents before Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were Christians. It has become a government habit to avoid folk religion practices. Education has therefore taught people to see the many folk religious practices as superstitions, when folk religions are just an integral part of the society. In ancient times, emperors even led worship to heavenly gods as the first thing after their inauguration," Hsieh said.