You ever get the feeling Taiwan and Japan are really two versions of the same country?
Let's see... They're both long islands, essentially arranged north to south. They both are located in an earthquake- and typhoon-prone area. Both have major cities lined along one coast, with another coast essentially left untouched.
They both have Chinese ancestry (though Japan's is much older).
Japan has Tokyo, the major economic center of the country with lots of suburbs and shopping districts and new buildings. Taiwan has Taipei, the major economic center of the country with lots of suburbs and shopping districts and new buildings.
South of Tokyo is Kyoto, a former capital of the country, home to the cultural history of Japan. South of Taipei is Tainan, a former capital of the country, home to the cultural history of Taiwan.
Kyoto is known for its history, culture, and many temples. Tainan is known for its history, culture, and many temples.
I don't want to get all Lincoln/Kennedy on the two nations, but it's interesting how similar the two are.
Anyway, speaking of history and temples, let's celebrate a God's birthday.
The Official God of War Temple is located in Tainan, and when I visited last year it was that God's birthday. How they know when he was born is beyond me.
Guan Di, or Guan Dong, a Han-dynasty general is the deified person the temple honors; and the temple is both the oldest and most impressive in Taiwan. With all the festivities around the birthday celebration, it was quite intense!
As you see from the prior pictures, flowers, wreaths, tents, stalls, and other decorations were erected for the celebration!
A small puppet show was being done out in front, but not many people were watching.
It seemed like a comedy, though I couldn't undersetand anything that was being said in the story. It was still fun to watch for a little while.
As you've come to expect from my prior posts, this temple too has lots of ornate detailing on the roof and inside.
A close-up of some roof carvings.
Once inside the first gate, I found a woman singing a song that was probably religious in nature. She wasn't exactly a great singer, but she was passionate.
Lots of people came that day to give offerings (seen in front) of food, especially fruits. Most of them went on through to tour the temple or pray to the God.
The special gifts filled almost the entire inside of the temple, leaving two aisles to walk back and then to the front.
After making my way out the back door, I was greeted with the now-familiar courtyard concept, with several smaller buildings open to the public.
This is inside the main temple hall. Notice all the food and flowers! Statues are frequently dressed up (and in the winter covered with scarves) to keep the Gods happy (and warm).
In one of the outbuildings, hundreds of smaller statues looked down upon the visitors.
The gifts to the Gods poured into these outbuildings as well, seen on the table here. You can see a stone in the lower-right corner of this picture (and lower-left corner of the previous picture) that visitors were rubbing a certain way for good luck.
Even more tiny statues were found in these little windowed rooms in another building.
And here are even more in a different style of room! This is probably similar to the Japanese temples with hundreds of (sometimes over 1000) statues. The more the merrier?
Why would so many people worship a God of war? Well, this particular God, as a human, was very honorable and loyal. Apparently he even invented a method of accounting, so he is also worshipped as a God of commerce.
The temple isn't too tough to find, and is easily accessible by the tourist buses in town (ask at the TIC). Regular city buses also go to the temple and several other historical spots and shrines are located nearby. Around the corner, on the main street, is where I had my delicious coffin toast. I'll talk about that later. (Note that during normal days there is probably much less clutter in the main hall!)
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