Communicating with deities
The incense, offerings, and spirit money used in worship are all channels of communication with deities and spirits. Lai Longyi says that foreign visitors often ask what those long stick-shaped objects are. “In olden times people used incense as a kind of ‘courier’ to carry their hopes to the deities.” The image of incense smoke wafting upwards gives the impression of the smoke carrying people’s aspirations up to heaven. Some people even explain the meaning of incense burning by comparing it to Wi-Fi, which gives foreign friends an immediate understanding of its purpose.
“Spirit money, meanwhile, is based on the concept of a humble offering that expresses gratitude to the gods,” says Lee. Lai explains that jinzhi (“gold paper”) variety of spirit money is reserved exclusively for worshipping deities, while the money burned for hungry ghosts is yinzhi (“silver paper”). Jinzhi, the currency of the gods, is made by sticking gold-colored metal foil onto bamboo paper, and is often also printed with auspicious Chinese characters expressing the desire for wellbeing or longevity. The spirit money that is burned for hungry ghosts includes a type called jingyi (“threads and clothes”) that represents products needed as daily necessities by the spirits. Lai unfolds a sheet of jingyi spirit money on which are printed images of combs, clothing, shoes, hats, and other everyday items, and explains that the die-cut hole in the paper is there in simulation of ancient coinage, which had a hole in the middle.
If you want a clear answer from the gods to a question expressed in your prayers, then casting jiaobei (divination blocks) is another way to communicate with them. These are a pair of crescent-shaped red blocks that are flat on one side and rounded on the other. When you toss the two blocks on the ground and one comes up yang (lying with its rounded side facing up) and other yin (flat side up), this is called shengjiao (“sacred blocks”) and it means that the gods have agreed to your request, and the matter that you prayed about will go smoothly; ordinarily this “yes” only holds if one throws a shengjiao three times in succession. Another method of seeking answers from the gods is by drawing bamboo “fortune sticks” or printed “fortune verses” that are provided by the place of worship. In recent years a number of temples, aiming to help foreign visitors better understand Taiwan’s folk belief systems (including Hsing Tian Kong in Taipei, Donglong Temple in Donggang, Pingtung County, the Mazu Temple in Lugang, Changhua County, and the Grand Mazu Temple in Tainan) have prepared English-language fortune verses to point them in the right direction.
The use of numbers in worship is another complex topic. Traditionally, odd numbers represent yang while even numbers represent yin, and one must always use odd numbers when worshipping deities, for example by burning three sticks of incense, or presenting offerings of the meat of three animals, or five fruits. In addition, many items used as decorations and offerings at temples are chosen because their names sound the same as, or similar to, words with auspicious meanings. For example, when worshipping the Wenchang Emperor (the God of Literature, who helps students on their exams), acceptable offerings include celery (qincai, which sounds like qin, meaning “diligence”), radish (caitou, which suggests hao caitou, meaning “good fortune”), spring onion (cong, which suggests congming, meaning “intelligence”), zongzi dumplings (which suggest gaozhong, meaning “passing exams with a high score”), and garlic (suan, which suggests hui suan, meaning “skilled at calculations”). On the other hand, when praying to Yue Lao, the “Old Man Under the Moon,” who is the god of love and marriage, one should offer red jujubes (hongzao), symbolizing zao zhaodao—“finding a partner soon,” or peaches (taozi), symbolizing taohua (peach flowers), an allusion to love and romance. Lee Wen-huan notes that this practice is a remnant of ancient sorcery. “Folk beliefs are like time capsules, preserving things from ancient times. At the same time, they incorporate new elements, such as absorbing the ideas of Buddhism and Taoism.” He concludes: “Folk religion is very inclusive.”
Some temples in Taiwan have English-language “fortune verses” to help guide foreigners in the right direction.
The jingyi spirit money that is burned for hungry ghosts is printed with images of everyday items such as combs, clothing, shoes, and hats, showing that conceptions of the afterlife are very similar to life in the mortal world.