More than 2,000 people in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東) took part in a walk around the township organized by the township office, with many taking statues of Tudigong (土地公, the God of Land) with them.
While it is not unusual to see people parading statues of immortals on religious holidays or township offices organizing trips for residents, it is unusual to see a combination of the two.
However, in Luodong on Saturday, people joined a walking tour around the township, with many carrying statues of Tudigong taken from their homes or workplaces.
Photo: Chu Tse-wei, Taipei Times
“Tudigong is the guardian of the people and has a close relationship with the people, which can be seen everywhere,” Luodong Township Mayor Lin Tzu-miao (林姿妙) said. “We are holding the event because Tudigong’s birthday on the second day of the second lunar month [which falls on Thursday] is approaching.”
Some people carried Tudigong statues with red bags hanging over their chests, while others used small wooden sedans.
“I threw the divine blocks to ask if Tudigong would like to go for a stroll and he agreed immediately,” a woman, surnamed Chiu (邱), said.
The “divine blocks” refers to a pair of crescent-shaped wooden objects — often colored red — that people use to ask for opinions from immortals. After throwing the blocks onto the ground, if one block settles with the flat side up and the other with the rounded side up it indicates that the immortal has answered: “yes” to the question asked.
Participants came from beyond Luodong for the event, with many coming from Suao Township (蘇澳).
“As soon as we saw information about the event, we thought about bringing our Tudigong statues,” a participant from Suao said. “I asked Tudigong: ‘Uncle, would you like to go out for a walk?’ and I was surprised that he agreed immediately.”
The terms “Uncle” or “Uncle Tudigong” are both terms that people use to address the god, showing an intimacy between the God of Land and his believers.
Statues of Tudigong are often displayed at temples, while, in addition to ancestral tablets, such statues are often seen on private altars.
Worshiping Tudigong is common in companies or factories, as people believe that Tudigong might help bring success and prosperity.
The township office also arranged for a dancing lion, drummers and life-sized statue of Nezha (哪吒, also known as the Third Prince) to join the 5km walk.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
The New Taipei City Social Welfare Department on Thursday celebrated Paralympic competitor Chen Tzu-wei (張孜維), who received last year’s national Golden Eagle award for exemplary achievement by Taiwanese with disabilities. Chen, who suffers from childhood-onset muscular dystrophy, did not attend the first award ceremony held by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in November due to illness. Chen was formally presented with the award at the department, where he gave thanks to government workers for supporting his education and livelihood, the department said in a statement. Chen was raised by the Ai-hsin Home for Persons with Disabilities in the city’s Bali District (八里)
RSS