Chang Ah-hsiu decided to move to Takeng Village because of its feng-shui, or auspicious topography. And sure enough, after marrying he had five sons in a row, all of whom grew up, married, and settled down nearby.

Seven or eight years ago the youngest moved to Miaoli to set up a plumbing business, and soon after the first and second oldest moved away too. The third oldest had four sons of his own, but only the youngest of them is still at home, the other three all having moved away.

And this is no isolated example. "There's been a serious population outflow from the mountain areas in recent years," says Takeng Mayor Yang Tseng-p'ing, adding that fewer than twenty of the hundred or so families that lived in the village in the past remain.

The exodus means that the local earth gods, responsible for protecting the local populace, are ending up with very little populace to protect. At the same time, their once neat and tidy temples have become dilapidated and overgrown with weeds for lack of care. Pained at the neglect, off-mountain villagers came up with the idea of gathering these "abandoned" gods together for collective worship and letting them live together under the same roof.

The Nei-heng-kang Fu-teh Temple (Fu-teh means literally "fortune" and "virtue") took in eleven earth gods for collective worship. For the gods' comfort, the villagers immediately set about remodeling the temple, expanding and reinforcing it so the gods would not only be protected from the elements but would also be able to receive more attention from worshipers.

In addition, nearby Ch'iao-t'ou Fu-teh Temple and Wai-heng-kang Fu-teh Temple took in three and seven earth gods each. Besides its earth gods, Wai-heng-kang Fu-teh Temple is also home to a fu-po chiang-chun (Subduing-the-Waves General) and a shih-mu niang-niang (Granny Stone-Mother). Fu-po chiang-ch?n is the deified transfiguration of Ma Y?an, a noted general of the Han dynasty.

Beyond Wai-heng-kang in the direction of Fu-teh Bridge, standing in the middle of some rice paddies near a path through a bamboo grove, rises another pair of distinctive Fu-teh temples: Ta-k'eng-k'ou Fu-teh Temple and Shui-t'ou Fu-teh Temple.

Ta-k'eng-k'ou Fu-teh Temple is a private temple belonging to the Li clan. It was originally situated about 100 meters to the northeast of its present location, before being moved there in 1977.

"Although it's a private temple in name, in fact it's no different from any other earth god temple. A lot of people with other surnames come here to worship too," says Li Hua-man, who provided the land for the temple and who once served as a village representative.

The earth gods at Shui-t'ou Fu-teh Temple are responsible for ensuring that the paddy fields have adequate sources of irrigation, a duty that fits in with a Hakka saying that the earth god "holds the mouth of the water." An antithetical couplet flanking the temple's entrance reads:

Fine grain grows

by irrigating fertile fields;

Fragrant incense is offered

at the thought of abundant blessing.

People suspect that some more earth gods may soon move in. With their new roommates, they say, the earth gods will be just that more effective!

[Picture Caption]

Eleven earth gods under the same roof are a grand sight to see.

The temples may be small, but they have all the essentials: a table for offerings, a paper-money stove, and an incense burner for the spirits of the departed.

Now that people have moved away from the mountains, the temples have gradually become subject to neglect and disrepair.

A memorial tablet and several sticks of incense are quiet testimony to the people's deep love of the earth.

Offerings in hand, a pious woman goes to an earth god temple to worship.

The most common offerings to the earth god are chickens and ducks.

An old woman with her grand child prays to the earth god for blessings during the coming year.

The temples may be small, but they have all the essentials: a table for offerings, a paper-money stove, and an incense burner for the spirits of the departed.

Now that people have moved away from the mountains, the temples have gradually become subject to neglect and disrepair.

A memorial tablet and several sticks of incense are quiet testimony to the people's deep love of the earth.

Offerings in hand, a pious woman goes to an earth god temple to worship.

An old woman with her grand child prays to the earth god for blessings during the coming year.

The most common offerings to the earth god are chickens and ducks.