Dropping a coin in a pond at a temple while making a wish has become a common practice for many of Taiwan’s worshippers.
Most temple owners see these coins as donations, but refuse to divulge the amount of money they collect from these “wishing pools,” saying it is insignificant compared with other contributions.
Chung Yu-yeh (鍾右業), a secretary at the Kuandu Temple (關渡宮) in Taipei, which recently cleaned up its wishing pool, said the temple collects the coins every other month and uses them to fund temple activities.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
He also said there had been several incidents of tourists attempting to scoop the coins out of the pool, causing the temple some trouble.
Chung said the pool was not meant to draw donations. The reason the pool became popular with locals and tourists was because of the inscription next to it, which reads “many a little makes a mickle (集腋成裘),” prompting visitors to throw coins in the pool, Chung said.
Two unnamed wishing pools at Lungshan Temple (龍山寺) in Taipei City are also popular with tourists.
Coins can be seen scattered over the rocks at the carp-shaped fountain.
A spokesman for the temple said they did not encourage devotees to toss coins in the pools as piety is deemed more important than money.
Wu Chang-yu (吳彰裕), a professor of religion at Fu Jen Catholic University, said the origin of wishing pools was untraceable and that there are no fixed ways of making a wish.
He said that in the West, Rome was the most famous location for wishing fountains.
There are also several well-known wishing pools or wells in China, including the Lingyin Temple (靈隱寺) in Hangzhou and the Sword Well in Suzhou, the professor said.
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