Huang Yu-sheng (黃裕勝) brought his dachshund to worship the Hound, the guardian of pets, in Yuanshan Temple in Chiayi County’s Lucao Township (鹿草鄉) to pray for good health.
“My dog has been with me for years. We are like family. I hope we can stay together longer,” Huang said.
Nowadays, worshipers bring fried chicken, the Hound’s favorite food, as an offering to pay their respects, Yuanshan Temple director Chen Yu-liang (陳昱良) said.
Photo: Lin I-chang, Taipei Times
Yuanshan Temple, founded about 300 years ago, is dedicated to Wangsun Dashi (王孫大使), who was brought to Taiwan with the Hound during the Qing Dynasty after they traveled together for years and became gods.
Followers in the past believed dogs could bring wealth, as a dog’s bark resembles the pronunciation of the Chinese character wang (旺) which means prosperous, Chen said.
As medical services were not adequate during those days, some injured people would place their wounds under the Hound’s nose for it to “smell” to pray for recovery, he said.
That was why its nose was eroded and became shorter, he added.
The Hound has dozens of statues for followers to bring home to worship, he said.
Some followers would bring a statue of the Hound home and place it in a shrine to pray for blessings for their pets, he added.
Worshipers would sometimes bring their statue of the Hound along with their pets back to the temple, he said.
Pets have become more important as part of families in Taiwan, Chiayi City Ziranmen I Ching Association director Chen Chao-kai (陳昭凱) said.
There are more than 2.8 million pet dogs and cats in Taiwan, exceeding the number of children aged under 15, according to Ministry of Agriculture statistics, he said.
Pet owners view their pets as human beings, so getting statues of the Hound and lighting lamps to pray for blessings for them have become popular over the past few years, he said.
However, lighting lamps is not believed to get rid of bad luck directly, he said, adding that pet owners would have to do good deeds, such as helping others, to clear the bad karma for their pets.
Pets are becoming more important, and demand for health services, beauty services and funeral services for pets have grown over the years, clinical psychologist Lin Tzu-yin (林姿吟) said.
It is because people feel more alienated in modern society, she said.
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