Temple Celebrations

In one of my earlier articles I attempted to describe the small city in which I teach and the only unique aspect of this community, the Matzu Temple. Many of my friends and acquaintances have told me about the huge celebration that will take place here in March when droves of people will enter the city to worship the goddess of Matzu. What I did not know or expect was that people would start their trek to our city days in advance and the celebrations that would take place before the "official" event scheduled to take place the third week in March. Since the Chinese New Year (in January), streets leading to the temple have had visitors and worshippers on a daily basis. During my lunch break, I often hear the drums and gongs that are played during temple ceremonies. Occasionally, when walking to 7-11, I am stopped by a mini parade of worshippers, marching “bands” or Buddhist puppet shows.

What I have come to understand is that there is a pilgrimage from one temple in Taidong to the temple in my town, Hsin Kang for the annual Matzu Festival. It takes many days for thousands of people to walk the distance, just to worship Matzu. For two days during the week of March 22nd, school is cancelled for the actual celebration but in reality the merriment begins well in advance of those few days. The reason for the school closure is essentially twofold: the pilgrims will be sleeping on the concrete floors of the school’s classrooms and it provides an opportunity for the students and teachers to participate in the town’s activities. There is a catch for the teachers however; we are required to be in school those days, unless we choose to use our sick days. Also, those two days worth of classes had to be made up in advance during Wednesday afternoons when we typically don’t have classes. As for me, I plan on staying in school those two days to cleaning up my classroom and work on future lesson plans. My Western thinking makes me believe that if it isn’t an “in-service day,” we should be given the day off like the students. But, every day and every class must be accounted for. No "free" days in Taiwan!

I have already attended one of the celebrations associated with this festival. This particular event, highlighted by a parade, was to mark the arrival of “Matzu,” the goddess that protects the people as they leave China for Taiwan. (To understand the significance of this migration from China to the island of Taiwan you have to understand the history of this nation which is beyond the scope of this article. If you are interested, look on the internet concerning the history of Taiwan) Worshipers, townspeople, students, parents, EVERYONE, shopped the shacks set up along the street and bought culinary treats from the numerous vendors while they waited hours for Matzu’s arrival. I never knew three city blocks could accommodate so many people and vendors!


The parade that accompanied this celebration was approximately four blocks in length and culminated at the temple. There were easily as many floats and performing groups as we see at the annual Curwood festival. The cheerleading team I am helping coach was invited to participate in the parade so I got to march with them. We were placed toward the back of the parade and as we got closer to the temple the excitement and celebration heightened. It really was quite electrifying! At the temple there were probably twenty different news crews assigned to capture the celebration for the entire nation. Adjacent to and surrounding the press was a multitude of party goers all cheering and drinking. This was one exciting Chinese celebration!

I have witnessed a few temple celebrations before, so I knew a little of what to expect, but was awestruck when I saw the magnitude of this one. And, this wasn't even the main event! As expected, there were people dressed in giant costumes that were to represent gods or guardians, fireworks, music, an abundance of food, and shopping. As the giant "god" figures approached, I anticipated that one of them would be the much anticipated Matzu. When a little doll came down the road in a small temple-looking box held up with bamboo poles and carried by four old men, I wondered why everyone rushed to touch it. That was Matzu. The older generations believe that if they have the chance to touch Matzu, their year will be blessed. The elder ladies rushed toward her much the feeding frenzy of school of fish while most of the younger participants stood back and quietly showed their appreciation and respect to the goddess less aggressively.


The cheerleading team was scheduled to perform around 6:30pm, but when our group reached the temple we were told that Matzu was running late and it would be closer to 8:00pm. At 8:00pm the word was that it would be another hour or so. The team finally performed for Matzu in front of her temple at 10:30pm. I couldn’t believe that the schedule ran so far behind, but I seemed to be the only one surprised. Even though I have been in Taiwan now for over seven months, I am still caught off guard when time schedules are seemingly disregarded. As stated in my previous article, this is just part of the culture and everyone just “goes with the flow.” The performance was well received in spite of the fact that cheerleading is not well known or understood as a sport in this part of the world. My town is not only fortunate to have an art-study high school with a cheer team, but also three post-college cheerleading coaches. The team of 50 young men and women practice two times a week and are PAID to perform at events like this. In the end, everyone enjoyed themselves, me included

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After the performance, most of the students made their way back home but I decided to do a little more observing. There was a group in the parade that caught my eye. It was a collection of marchers of every age, young and old alike, dressed in bright yellow costumes with elaborate face makeup. They were ahead of us in the parade, so as we approached the temple, they were walking in the opposite direction. But, the strange thing was, most of them weren’t walking. Many were being carried, some sitting down looking as if they were about to get sick, and still others just exhibiting a glossy-eyed stare as if "possessed" or drugged. My friend caught me staring at this group and knew I was confused. He graciously told me that these people are believed to have a "gift" that allowed them to communicate with the gods. What I was witnessing were demons leaving their bodies so that their “spiritual ears” would be able to hear more clearly. I’ve heard of exorcism or deliverance before, but I had no idea that Chinese culture had a similar belief. It goes to show that there are some similarities across the religious spectrum.

I look forward to the actual event to take place during the upcoming week. If what I witnessed so far is only the lead up to the main Matzu festival celebration, I can't imagine what it will be like. I will let you know in a subsequent article.

On a separate note, I have less than one hundred days left in Taiwan. I have written many articles for the Argus-Press, and will continue to do so for the next few months. If there are any particular questions you have about the Taiwan culture, living in a different country, or the school system, feel free to email me at kstrein@yahoo.com . I would love to answer reader questions in the next couple articles. Think Spring Owosso!!!!!!!!!!!