Guandu Temple (關渡宮)

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I have had the photos for this blog uploaded and ready to go for well over nine months, but I sat on it and kept pushing the it back in order to stay on top of other stuff. I suppose though that I might have just been leaving it for just the right time as over the next few weeks I plan on posting about a few really cool Taiwanese temples that have a lot of historical significance. 

The first temple I'll be introducing is Taipei’s Guandu Temple (關渡宮) which like a lot of Taiwanese temples is dedicated to several gods with a main shrine dedicated to the goddess Matsu (or Mazu 媽祖.)  

The temple is situated in Taipei's Beitou district (北投區) which is more famously known for its geo-thermal hot-springs. The temple is easily accessible by Taipei’s MRT system via Guandu Station (關渡站) on the Tamsui line (淡水線) and a short walk from the station on a road lined with lanterns guiding your way. 

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Thousand-Arm Guanyin

Thousand-Arm Guanyin

Guandu is popular with Taipei residents as it is along the Danshui River and has not only the popular temple, but also the Riverside bicycle path and the Guandu Nature Park (關渡自然公園) which is quite popular with nature lovers and wildlife photographers. 

The temple itself, originally named Lingshen Temple (靈山廟) has a history dating back to 1661, although the temple didn’t actually begin construction until somewhere around 1712 when a Buddhist monk traveled from China bringing with him a golden statue of the goddess Matzu.

The original temple was quite modest compared to what you see today, but due to the wealth of the immigrants who lived in the area, and because most of their income came from transporting goods by sea, it made sense to pool some of their wealth and build a more spectacular temple along the banks of the Danshui River dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea.

Walking around the temple grounds. 

Since then, the temple has been renovated and expanded upon several times over its over 350 year history making it currently the one of the largest and oldest Matsu temples in the northern area of the country. 

As mentioned above, the main shrine of the temple is dedicated to the goddess Matsu, which is a folk-religion deity, but the temple was originally founded by a Buddhist monk. The temple has several shrines and there are several floors and buildings that surround the main temple which are dedicated to other folk-religion deities as well as different Buddha’s including Guanyin (觀音), Ksitigarbha (藥師佛) and Shakyamuni (釋迦佛.) 

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Guanyin Shrine. 

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Buddha Shrine

One of the interesting things about the temple is that it is built into the side of a small mountain. The mountain has a cave which has been converted into a pathway that brings you to another beautiful shrine. The walkway is eighty meters long and has statues against the walls which depict the 28 heavenly emperors. The walk through the cave is really cool and whenever I visit the temple, I find that I spend quite a bit of time walking through it looking at the murals on the wall. 

At the end of the hallway there is another shrine room which I think is probably one of my favourite shrines in all of Taiwan which has a giant shiny bronze statue of the thousand armed Guanyin that has incredible detail. The room set up around the statue is small and the detail on the walls is spectacular. There is a small balcony on a cliff in front of the shrine that overlooks the river and is a nice place to relax for a few minutes.  

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Cave

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Murals on the wall of the cave

If you climb the stairs behind the temple, there is a park on Mount Ling that has a cool overlook of the the river and a view of the back of the very large temple that looks towards Taipei city with Taipei 101 in the distance. The park has Sakura trees that are in bloom in winter and if you show up at the right time, you'll be able to see the temple as well as the sakura. 

I’m not going to go into great detail about all the shrines at the temple or the superstition and miracles that people believe makes it such an important place. If you visit the temple there is an excellent information brochure (in English, Japanese and Chinese) which introduces the temple, it's history and all the shrines inside. I recommend picking it up when you visit and checking it out. 

I love Taiwanese temples and the art and craftsmanship that goes into building them – but I'm not a fan of perpetuating stories of superstition and miracles. So even though other blogs might tell some spectacular stories about things that have happened in the past, I'll let you get that information from them. 

Guandu Temple is really one of the best examples of temple architecture in Taipei and it has a long history making it one of the most important religious structures in northern Taiwan. If you are visiting for a short time, I know all the guide books recommend visiting Longshan Temple (龍山寺) but I highly recommend you make time to visit this one as it is just a important historically and if you are interested in the craftsmanship and artistic side of things, this one is going to appeal to you more than the massive crowds at other popular temples. 

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Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)

Time for the Ghosts to go Home

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Ghost Month wrapped up last weekend and now that it is over we can all breathe a sigh of relief as the ghosts have gone back to the underworld. For the less superstitious among us, we can also breathe sigh of relief, as people won't be burning things as often and you'll be able to enjoy some fresh air!

As I mentioned in my previous post about the Sacred Pigs, Ghost Month is probably the most confusing time of the year for foreigners in Taiwan. There is so much going on in terms of Taiwanese culture and ancient religious traditions that it seems like everywhere you go there is something cool is happening.

It is easy to be a silent observer when these things happen, but if you try really hard to actually understand the complexities of the tradition surrounding Ghost Month, you might cause yourself a bit of a headache. 

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Lanterns on the outside of the temple

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Lanterns on the outside of the temple

I recently celebrated my ten year anniversary of being in Taiwan, and I can honestly admit that even now, as a fluent speaker and having studied Taiwanese culture for years, I still have trouble understanding everything that is happening around me.

I'm not saying that it's impossible to understand, and I'm sure there are people who could better explain all the aspects of Ghost month, but I'm sure they probably have a doctorate in Taiwanese anthropology. 

A few day before Ghost Month ended, I headed to see the 'Doorway to Hell' in Keelung to get a last glimpse of the open door before the Ghosts would be ushered back to hell or wherever it is that they're supposed to go. 

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The Main Shrine and Ghost Gate at Lao Da Gong Temple (老大公廟)

The doorway to hell, or the Ghost Door (鬼門) is housed in a temple in Keelung city. The temple which is named Lao Da Gong Temple (老大公廟) is quite a large one, but also quite a bit out of the ordinary as far as temples go. When Ghost Month rolls around, the outside of the temple is decorated with well-over a thousand lanterns and make the temple look really cool. 

The inside of the temple is actually not as ornate as most typical Taoist temples are throughout the country and it actually seems to be somewhat plain-looking as far as that goes. My guess though is because the temple houses the doorway to hell and because so many people in Taiwan are superstitious that they don't often visit. The temple tends to be its busiest during ghost month where it attracts most visitors who come to make offerings to the spirits of those who passed away without the opportunity of being honored by their family, known better as the ‘angry ghosts’.

The Gates of Hell happen to just be a small hole in the wall to the left of the main shrine of the temple. It is just a narrow door with a lot of calligraphy inscribed both around the door and on the inside. On the day that the gate opens, hundreds, if not thousands of people will come to the temple and the news media will park their cameras in front to offer a live feed to the nation of the gates opening. 

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The Gate to Hell! 

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The Gate to Hell! 

I attended the ceremony a few years ago (check the shots on my flickr here) and I have to say that despite all the fanfare, it was actually a little boring considering nothing actually happened when the gate opened. Although, I'm sure really sure what I expected to happen. 

After shooting at the temple, I made my way back over to the downtown core of Keelung and walked up the mountain next to the harbour where you will find the popular Zhongzheng park (中正公園.)

On top of the mountain there is a temple/alter (主普壇) dedicated primarily to Ghost Month which means that the temple is more or less a museum for eleven months of the year. The temple has been used for almost 200 years during Ghost Month celebrations and attracts most visitors during late August and July. 

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Peeking in the Ghost Gate. 

Despite visiting a few days before the end of Ghost Month, the temple was still lit up and preparations had already started for the celebration that would take place on the weekend. If I had shown up on the actual last day of Ghost Month, the front of the temple would have long lines of tables set up with offerings for the ghosts and people would show up en masse to honour their ancestors.

This year, I decided that instead of getting in the thick of things with thousands of people, that I would visit a few days earlier to get the shots I wanted. I enjoyed the day in Keelung, which was strangely a sunny day (it rains around 300 days a year there) and enjoyed the lack of people crowding up my shots! I did miss the atmosphere of the celebration however. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend this year as I had other things to do. 

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Ghost Month Altar

With Ghost Month finished, Moon Festival (中秋節) will soon arrive and it will be time for more cultural activities, barbecues, moon cakes, eating pomelo and a week or so later Double Ten Day, the National birthday of the Republic of China (Taiwan) will be taking place. It's going to be busy over the next few weeks and I'll have quite a bit to shoot! 

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Ghost Month Altar

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Ghost Month Altar

If you're in Taiwan, I hope you're enjoying the Fall weather and since Moon Festival and Double Ten Day are coming, that you will enjoy your time off and enjoy some of the celebrations! 

If you have any questions, comments or criticisms, be sure to comment below. 

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Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots) 

The Pigs of God (義民節殺豬公)

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Ghost Month (鬼月 or 中元節) is a month long festival that takes place in Taiwan during the lunar month of July (August on the western calendar) and is probably the most confusing times of the year for expats and tourists in the country. Ghost Month is a festival steeped in ancient tradition, culture and religion and even understanding the basics of the holiday can be a bit difficult for the average person living here. 

The festival starts on the fifteenth day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar. It opens with the ritual opening of the ‘ghost gate’ or the 'gates of hell' (鬼門) at the Laoda temple (老大公廟) in the port city of Keelung.

When the gate opens, ghosts escape and wander freely around the country for the month. During this period of time it is superstitious for people in Taiwan to wander around alone at night, go swimming, get married, move to a new house, open a business, hang laundry outside, wear red (ghosts like red), sing songs or whistle, etc. etc. etc. 

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One of the Three Princes (三太子)

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One of the Three Princes (三太子)

It is important that people do their best not to disturb the (easily irritated) ‘hungry ghosts’ which are wandering around the country. Instead families should prepare offerings of food, alcohol and of course burn ghost money so that the ghosts have their fill and get enough money to live comfortably in the underworld. 

During Ghost Month there are different rituals held on specific days, but what I'm going to focus on today is a specific ritual practiced by the Hakka (客家) people in Taiwan called the Pigs of God Festival (中元普渡殺豬公).

There are various festivals with Pigs of God held throughout the year in Taiwan and even though they're all somewhat similar, the one I'm talking about today is the one held during Ghost Month. 

So what is the Pigs of God festival? To put it briefly, it is a cultural and religious event in Taiwan that involves animal sacrifice and growing a pig to a size of extremely unhealthy proportions in order to offer it to the gods and of course, during Ghost Month, to the ghosts wandering around Taiwan. 

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Bringing the Pigs of God into the Temple grounds. 

This Pigs of God festival has become a controversial one over the past few years with many arguing that Taiwan has become a modern country and this sort of practice should not continue while others argue that it is a traditional aspect of Hakka culture and therefore it should be preserved.

The pigs in question are raised on farms and contests are held throughout the year to see who can raise the largest. The winner this year was 1682 "Taiwangrams" (台斤) which (if my calculations are correct) is 1009 kilograms. (Taiwangrams is a crappy translation).

I'm not sure how large a typical pig grows, but I'm sure it's not anywhere close to that size.

The pigs are raised in a way that they are constantly overfed which ultimately makes them immobile and forces them to just lay there in their room until the time comes for them to be sacrificed. This lifestyle is extremely unhealthy for the animals as they develop painful bed sores and often suffer from organ failure. 

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A Taiwanese woman checking out the "winning" pig. 

This festival still attracts crowds of people each year, but it has started to lose its appeal in larger cities and animal rights activists consistently point out the unnecessary suffering that it causes these animals.

Coincidentally this sort of activity is actually illegal in Taiwan yet the government fails to enforce laws when it comes to this kind of thing as they are afraid of the backlash they'd receive. 

Evidence of this inaction is that the festival was used by local politicians (looking to be elected in the elections in January 2016) to get out and mingle with common folk and to take part in these carnival-style temple festivals.

While walking around I saw several legislators and politicians from all the major parties making the rounds and showing their reluctance to actually make a positive change. 

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The second place winner.

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Third place

This year I attended the Pigs of God sacrifice ritual at the local Yimin Temple (義民廟), a popular multi-religious Hakka temple in Ping Chen City (平鎮市) I arrived earlier than the Pig Gods (they're not slaughtered in public any longer) and had a chance to shoot some of the preparations and talk to the temple chief who seemed more like a successful politician than a religious leader. 

When the Pigs of God arrived there was a lot of fanfare including taiko drummers, fire crackers and traditional Chinese music being played on deafening horns. The Pigs of God arrived in vehicles that were retrofitted in an ostentatious religious fashion that would be ‘appropriate’ for transporting the animal sacrifices or a disco party. 

Typically at least three Pigs of God are brought to the temple after being paraded around the city and they represent the first (特等), second (壹等) and third prize in terms of weight. The largest pig is placed in the middle and gets the most attention from onlookers while the other two are on either side. The pigs are shaved and their skin is painted white and black; The dagger used to kill the pig is jammed into its back and pineapples are placed in their mouths as their skin is spread out and put on display with ribbons and flowers draped around it. 

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I have no words for this. 

It is believed that the fatter the pig the more blessings people will receive from the gods so over the last few decades people have come up with more ‘efficient’ and essentially cruel ways to submit the largest pig possible to the gods. During Ghost Month the pigs are put on display and their meat is offered to the ghosts as a sacrifice. When the ghosts have had their fill, the meat is butchered on site and passed out to the people who took part in the event. 

As if sacrificing the The Pigs of God wasn't enough, other animals have the unfortunate luck to be sacrificed to the gods as well. This year there were a stuffed ostrich and several skinned goats (wearing sunglasses and smoking cigarettes) which were brought in to accompany the pigs.

While speaking with the temple chief I mentioned that it was the first time I had seen an ostrich at the festival. He laughed and said every year is different and sometimes they even have crocodiles. He went on telling a long story about the importance of each animal in mixed Mandarin and Hakka (forgetting that I was a foreigner) and I just smiled and nodded.

I didn't stick around for the whole night this time around, but just to explain some of the entertainment that was going on around the festival, there was a Taiwanese opera troupe performing off to the side, there was a stage set up for later in the evening where middle-aged ladies dressed in skimpy clothes would sing and dance, a Three Prince (三太子) dance and a night market was set up selling traditional night market fare on the street next to the temple.

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The Three Princes taking a break 

The entire festival has a carnival-like atmosphere and for most people, I'm sure it is easy to forget that there are massive dead pigs on display.  

The whole thing is a bit surreal and even though there is a lot of strange and almost unbelievable things happening, it is still a rather interesting event to take in while visiting Taiwan. I would obviously much prefer that the Pigs of God weren't real animals who lived a life of tremendous suffering and cruelty before being slaughtered, but as far as culture goes, I suppose we have to respect it despite our objections.

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Say "Cheese!" 

Things are changing in Taiwan and young people are no longer amused by this type of activity. Animal rights activists can take solace in the fact that because of their hard work certain aspects of this festival will be either phased out or completely replaced.

If you are genuinely interested in experiencing the festival, then by all means attend one and check it out. If you are squeamish or have a dislike for extreme noise pollution, it isn't the best place for you. 

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An altar set up where fireworks will be set off at midnight

I haven't included the full set of photos in the gallery below so if you are interested, click the Flickr link to be brought to the high res set off-site. As always, if you have any questions, comments or complaints, don't be shy and comment below!

Update: Check out Part Two to the Pigs of God

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Gallery / Flickr (High Res Photos)