Today we visited our first couple of temples. In the previous days we’ve walked past a couple of them but we hadn’t gotten a chance to go inside one just yet. From the second we stepped off of the tour bus at Longshan Temple I was mesmerized. The details in the architecture from the gates, to the pillars, to the rooftops were intricate and reflected the rich culture and history of Taiwan. I couldn’t understand all the rituals—lighting incense, bowing, praying—but I felt the significance of them. Despite the bustling of tourists, there was this sense of quiet respect that I felt from the locals, and it made me want to slow down and take it all in. There were people of all ages—children, young adults, middle aged adults, and elderly. As we moved through the temple and heard from Peter and Professor Young, I started to appreciate how these temples are more than just tourist spots. They’re places where history, spirituality, and daily life all come together.
Peter told us about moon blocks, or confirmation blocks, and confirmation sticks which are used to confirm an answer to a person’s questions. With the moon blocks you ask a question, throw the blocks in the air, and based on the position that the blocks land in you are told you are given a yes, no, or the gods laughing at you as they tell you no! I tried it myself and asked the gods if I’ll be fulfilled in the fall semester and they said yes! I was a little confused about how to use the confirmation sticks, but from what I know, you pick out a stick, ask the gods if it’s the right stick and read the fortune with the correlating number of the sick if yes, and choose another stick if no. I didn’t get to try that one but I would definitely like to at other temple visits!
Before we visited the next temple, Xingtian Temple, we walked through some of the nearby streets and Peter told us about how some were built during the time of Japanese rule and some during the time of Chinese rule in Taiwan. It was really interesting to see the subtle differences in architecture and realize Taiwan’s complicated history, having been constantly disturbed by the “bigger guys” of Asia. However, that history has made Taiwan what it is with its rich mix of various practices, languages, and beliefs.
Xingtian Temple had a very different feel from Longshan. It was simpler in its architecture, but still elegant. What stood out most was how active and community-oriented it felt. There was even a separate room where someone from the temple taught life lessons to temple visitors. It reminded me of how a Christian church operates, like how a a preacher teaches sermons. This temple felt more grounded, less touristy. It felt more focused on everyday spiritual practices and personal wellbeing, like a temple that people genuinely use as a part of their regular routine. What solidified this idea for me was the medical check up area where several elderly folks, and even some younger folks, were waiting to get their blood pressure checked. I was intrigued by that and I continued to compare it to the Christian churches I saw and attended growing up. One thing I realized was that while my childhood church might have occasionally held events of that type (medical check ups or other), it was never a regular service provided by the church.
These visits make me want to learn more—not just about the temple itself, but about the traditions that give it meaning and how the temples are integrated into the daily lives of local Taiwanese people.
For lunch, Peter took us to an all you can eat Mongolian barbecue restaurant. Here, we lined up at the ingredients station where we each put raw vegetables, raw meats, and various sauces of our choosing into a bowl. We then put our bowls on a conveyer belt that sent our bowls to the cooks who dumped the contents of the bowl onto a giant iron hot plate too cook everything. When Professor Chen warned us about Taiwan not caring about allergies or cross contamination he seriously wasn’t lying! Anyone who’s on a strict vegan, halal, kosher, or other diet of the sort might have been mortified at how they were preparing the food. I, however, was amazed. They used huge, long chopsticks to move everything around to cook everything evenly and they did it with such ease and my food came out so yummy! There was also a hot food bar where I got fried pork and a sort of stew with duck blood/sticky rice cubes. I was really excited to try the duck blood because I’m a fan of the haejang-guk, a Korean sou[ made with pork bone broth and blood sausage as the main ingredients.