Issues

Temple festival in Taiwan: procession devoted to worship of Green mountain ruler Qingshan Wang held in a Taipei temple

Ekaterina Zavidovskaia

Religiia i obshchestvo na Vostoke, Issue II (2018), p. 246-269.

 
The paper is a case study of a temple festival – one out of thousands in present day Taiwan – organized annually in the Qingshangong 青山宫 temple in Taipei for the worship of a deity called Green mountain ruler Qingshan wang 青山王, this event was observed by an author in 2008. By tracking history of this local cult, which was brought to Taiwan by immigrants from Fujian province in the XIX century, the paper aims to show connections between the deity` s imaginary biography and its functions and specifics of worship. Qingshan-wang seems to play a role similar to that of City God as a judge of the souls of the deceased; he is also a protector of neighborhood population from evil forces and disease. Music societies affiliated with the temple, which perform music as an offering during the temple festival present a peculiar feature of this event, members of these music societies affiliated with the temple participate in the election of persons who will be in charge of temple affairs during one year. This case study stresses features of popular religion characteristic of both Taiwan and mainland China and those to be observed in Taiwan only.

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Keywords: Taiwan, temple festivals, folk Taoism, cults

Volume: 246-269