In an attempt to bring young people closer to traditional temple culture, Chingfu Temple in Badouzi Township (八斗子) near Keelung has substituted charms for rolls of paper tape, emulating the widely popular paper tape rolls sold at the National Palace Museum.
In 2013, the National Palace Museum released a series of paper tapes that replicated Qing Dynasty Emperor Kangxi’s (康熙) calligraphy, titled zhen zhi dao le (朕知道了, “I got it”), which quickly became must-have collectibles.
The temple has long maintained the tradition of giving people who go to the temple to pray a traditional charm they can hang in their houses, temple management committee director-general Hsu Cheng (許呈) said, adding that the temple prints thousands of such charms every year.
However, due to changing times, young people who go to the temple to pray usually decline to buy incense and refuse the charms, he said.
Using the museum’s success for inspiration, the temple last month made its first batch of paper tapes, which read “safety and prosperity for the family” (闔家平安), to be handed out.
The rolls of paper tape are only given to worshipers who donate money to the temple, Hsu said, adding that it seems the intended effect was achieved, as numerous photographs of the tapes have been circulating on Facebook.
The temple has 300 years of history and primarily worships the Earth God (土地公), committee member Hsu Chen-hao (許真豪) said, adding that it was built under the orders of a Qing emperor to provide divine protection for nearby residents and miners working in coal mines near Badouzi.
The name of the temple was changed from its earliest form, Fute Temple, to its current name to bring good fortune to the Qing empire, Hsu Chen-hao said.
In addition to the paper tapes conveying divine blessings of safety, the temple also created a larger version for sealing boxes, which reads: “safely delivered.”
The temple hopes to promote use of the tape with local businesses to create a uniquely local product, Hsu Chen-hao said.
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