Pilgrimage kicks off with religious fervor

By Gavin Phipps
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Apr 18, 2004, Page 17

PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

At 10:10pm last night the narrow streets adjacent to the Jenlan Temple (鎮瀾宮) in Tachia, Taichung County, were awash with throngs of worshippers praying, waiting to greet the effigy of the goddess Matsu and preparing to participate in the largest and noisiest religious celebration in Taiwan.

The normally sleepy town was transformed into a giant, all-day night market, with crowds shoulder to shoulder in a chaotic jumble that inexplicably moved in the right directions. At one point yesterday afternoon, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) arrived with a large security entourage and delivered a short speech to kick off festivities surrounding the annual Matsu pilgrimage.

Originating China during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the pilgrimage was outlawed by the Japanese in Taiwan during their occupation between 1895 and 1945. Although local farmers and fishermen began their own mini-Matsu pilgrimage shortly after the surrender of the Imperial Japanese Army on Taiwan in 1945, the pomp and circumstance that surrounds today's pilgrimage began in earnest in 1987, when a reported 100,000 people participated in the event.

PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

Since then, the pilgrimage has gone from strength to strength and now attracts hundreds of thousands of participants and is watched by over a million onlookers as it crisscrosses west-central Taiwan. It lasts for eight days and seven nights and passes through 53 towns in three counties. By April 25, when the thousands of devotees who choose to follow the pilgrimage's round-trip journey through the countryside and back to Jenlan Temple, which is run by controversial independent legislator, Yen Chin-piao (顏清標), they will have covered 280km.

PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

Along way, well over a million people will have witnessed the procession as it passes by their homes to mark the 1,118th anniversary of Matsu attaining the status of a goddess.

PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

"The festival gets bigger every year and now it's impossible to put a number on the amount of people who take part in it. [Matsu] is one of the most revered gods not only in Taiwan, but all around the world," said Yen. "People from local communities participate. People from all over Taiwan come, as well as visitors from Japan, China and other countries."

The pious, travelling on foot, bicycle, scooter and in cars, follow the goddess' effigy, which is carried at shoulder height by groups of bearers for the entire journey. Every year, the pilgrimage brings with it horrendous traffic congestion.

Delays commonplace, yet worshippers and the curious alike are happy to wait several hours just to catch a glimpse of the goddess that has become the nation's semi-official patron saint.

Yesterday, Tachia's main drag and all the roads leading to the Jenlan Temple were completely blocked and are set to remain so until the pilgrimage finally begins snaking its way toward Nanyao Temple (南搖宮) in Changhua County on the first leg of its annual journey.

The Heavenly Mother, or the Goddess of the Sea, as Matsu is often referred to in Taiwan, is thought to have originally been a woman named Lin Mo-liang who lived in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1127).

"Along with being the Goddess of the Sea, Matsu is also the Goddess of virtue and righteousness. Although Taiwan's people may worship many different gods and follow many different paths, Matsu unites them and is revered by all," said Cheng Ming-kun, (鄭銘坤), deputy chairman of Chenglan Temple. "It's widely known that anybody who touches the [palanquin] or lays their eyes on the effigy will enjoy good fortune and peace for the rest of the year. Matsu is a goddess for everyone."

More than religion

Once a purely religious event, the annual pilgrimage has become politicized and been turned into a tourist event and a media circus in recent years.

The Taichung County Government officially named the pilgrimage the Tachia Matsu Cultural Festival (大甲媽祖文化節) in 1999 in an attempt to establish it as another tourist event. Meanwhile, politicians have used the event as a platform from which to address the public, and media coverage is so intense that local residents and worshippers are forced to contend with large numbers of satellite-broadcast vans that clog the town's narrow roads.

It all may sound like hell rather than a religious festival centered on peace and harmony, but Tachia residents such as Lee Fong-yin (李豐潁) takes the clogging of the town's streets in stride.

"It has its drawbacks, sure, but Tachia is not a rich town and the event brings in thousands of money-spending outsiders all of whom have to eat, drink, sleep and spend money," said the taxi driver. "I earn more money ferrying people to and from the town at this time of year than I usually earn in a week, or maybe two. Last year I made over NT$8,000 in about six hours."

Politicization tourism aside, the pilgrimage is still overseen by the numerous temples and related organizations. Uniformed groups and temple employees composed of middle-aged women and large numbers of thuggish-looking types direct traffic as best they can and ensure that the nobody is injured in the melee that follows directly in the palanquin's wake.

Trouble in the name of religion

While the untrained and unsupervised temple groups wield some control over the proceedings and try to maintain the pilgrimage's congenial and festive atmosphere, trouble often erupts.

The most volatile aspect of the pilgrimage is when the palanquin passes from one district into another and the bearers change. Rival gangs with stronger mob ties than religious beliefs often start scuffles over which group has the right the bear the effigy of Matsu on whose turf.

While heavily tattooed temple official, who declined to give his name, explained that such behavior was expected and that "it is because they are true devotees and wish to prove this to the goddess," the "high-spirited" fracases have been known to spiral out of control.

Last year, members of various Eight Generals (八家將) troupes bedecked in their heavily embroidered finery began brawling with each other in the streets of Tachia on the final day. Using spiked maces, axes and wooden clubs, the "minor skirmish" left 10 people injured and one dead.

"This year there will not be any trouble. We've told the different groups that such acts hurt everyone. We have a list of those who have been banned from participating and they will be arrested if they try to cause trouble," said Yen, who is rumored to have once been a leading gangland figure himself. "Not only were the pilgrims not happy, but Matsu is a goddess of peace and she frowns on anyone who pursues a road of violence".

Specialists a form of "temple-procession art" that combines self-flagellation with martial arts and dance, Eight Generals groups traditionally acted as religious policemen entrusted with the task of arresting evil spirits. In recent years, however, many of the groups have become coopted by gangs and now attract tattooed, teenage gangster wannabes.

With large numbers of people armed with obsolete, yet deadly weaponry and overcome with religious fervor and drunk, Yen's words may fall on deaf ears. Yet, even if violence erupts again, Yen doesn't think it will hurt the festival, but will instead only hurt those who engage in violence.

"The pictures were broadcast nationwide, but I don't see any drop in the number of people coming here or being put off by what they saw," he said. "People know that the bad element will be punished by Matsu."