Citing air pollution, the Taoyuan County Government’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) posted a notice sealing a Land God Temple’s (土地公廟) furnace that was used for burning “ghost money” on Wednesday, shocking many locals.
The temple, located in Bade Village (八德) in the county’s Lungtan Township (龍潭), has been there for almost a century, village chief Chang Yun-huan (張運煥) said.
“For the Environmental Protection Administration to seal the furnace is not only hard for the villagers to accept, but how would the Land God feel about it?” he asked.
Although the temple does not have an administrative board, it represents the religious beliefs of nearly 1,000 village residents, Chang said, adding that the sudden sealing of the furnace upset villagers, as it prohibited them from practicing the traditional, everyday ritual of burning ghost money and incense.
The bureau fined the temple NT$5,000 for violating the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法).
The bureau said a notice was posted at the temple at the beginning of the month, requiring that an administrative board be organized to maintain the temple and prevent pollution if the furnace were to remain in use. However, in the three weeks prior to Wednesday, no one took on the responsibility, forcing the EPA to seal the furnace, it said.
The bureau said that there would be even more air pollution next month with the ceremonies of the upcoming Chungyuan Festival (中元節), or Ghost Festival.
Since some ghost money contains carcinogens, people could instead celebrate using environmentally friendly alternatives, such as worshipping without incense or virtually burning incense or paper money via the Internet, bureau officials said.
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