Lighting a tiny light — a guangmingdeng in Chinese — for good fortune during the Lunar New Year is said to bring a safe and smooth year, and is one of the services that big temples in Taiwan offer to worshippers.
The Tientan Temple on Chungyi Road in Tainan is the local religious center. At the end of each lunar year the temple notifies devotees who lit a guangmingdeng in the temple the previous year to remind them to come back to light one again for the coming year.
The period between the first day of the Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival is the peak season for lighting good fortune lights. To cater to the thousands of devotees, more than 40 students are recruited to help with the illumination ritual every year.
The Tianhou Temple in Anping, with its history of more than 300 years, is well-known nationwide for its worship of Mazu and Koxinga, who defeated the Dutch to claim Taiwan in 1662. Since last year, the temple has offered a special household deal, allowing each worshipper to light one safety light for up to five people. As the organizers expected, this thoughtful service has been well-received.
The Lu’ermen Tienhou Temple, another temple dedicated to Mazu, offers different kinds of lights depending on where they will be placed and how many people they will be lit for. These include regular lights placed outside the temple, lights placed inside the temple closer to the statue of Mazu and large lights placed in the corridors that can be shared by a family. This way, devotees can connect with the deity based on their own particular needs.
In addition, the district office at the Miaoshou Temple in Anping built a road designed for outdoor lights next to the temple. The proceeds from the lighting ritual will be used to pay the electricity bills for the lights installed on the road, so not only are donors given divine protection, but the community at large benefits. The temple will display the names of contributors in front of the shrine devoted to the deity.
Despite the economic problems beginning last year and rumors that people have abandoned the practice, the tradition has stood the test of time. Representatives of these temples all said this year’s business was better than in previous years.
(translated by Theodore Yang)
新春點光明燈可帶來整年平安順遂,也是各大廟宇為信眾提供的服務之一。
位於台南市忠義路的天壇是府城人信仰中心,每年年底,廟方會主動寄發通知單給前一年曾在廟中安光明燈的信眾,提醒他們回來點光明燈。
農曆正月初一到元宵節是點燈高峰期,為因應每天數以千計的安燈民眾,天壇每年都要招募四十多名工讀生協助處理點燈事宜。
有三百餘年歷史的安平開台天后宮,以供奉媽祖及在一六六二年驅逐荷蘭人的鄭成�?W全台。自去年開始,推出以「戶」為單位的計價方式,同一個燈位最多可註明五個人的生辰,如此貼心的作法,果然獲得熱烈回響。
同樣奉祀媽祖的鹿耳門天后宮則隨著位置、數量不同,有多種光明燈,包括一般的殿外光明燈、比較接近媽祖的殿內光明燈,及位於迴廊可全家共點的大型光明燈,讓信眾根據需要和神明「結緣」。
安平妙壽宮區公所則在廟旁開設了一條馬路,規劃「戶外光明燈」,將民眾用來點燈的錢,支付馬路路面崁燈電費,廟方則將捐錢者大名呈在神明前,這種點燈方式不但是做公益,還能享有神明庇佑。
雖然去年以來,百業蕭條,也傳出有民眾「退點」光明燈的情形,但這幾所廟宇均異口同聲表示,今年點燈的狀況反而比前幾年好。(自由時報)
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Drive-through (or drive-thru) restaurants provide people with the immense convenience of being able to purchase and pick up meals without needing to leave their vehicles. These restaurants have been around for decades, and their success has spawned a number of equally handy services. The drive-through concept originated with the drive-in restaurant, the first of which was established in the US in 1921. Patrons would order and eat the food that was delivered to their cars by workers called “carhops.” Ten years later, a drive-through service was introduced, but it was not until 1947 that the first exclusively drive-through restaurant opened its
On Tuesday last week, the flame for this summer’s Paris Olympics was lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in southern Greece in a meticulously choreographed ceremony. It will then be carried through Greece for more than 5,000km before being handed over to French organizers at the Athens venue used for the first modern Olympics in 1896. The pageantry at Olympia has been an essential part of every Olympics for nearly 90 years since the Games in Berlin. It’s meant to provide an ineluctable link between the modern event and the ancient Greek original on which it was initially modelled. Once