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.
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