contributed by Peng Chew Lim and Hsun Chang, translated from Chinese by Ying Ruo Show, 24 July 2020

In the first half of 2020, the whole world was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As strict border controls were timely imposed, disruption to the daily lives of the Taiwanese was less severe.

Chinese folk temples in Taiwan also implemented anti-COVID measures such as taking temperatures of visitors and ensuring social distancing. The four-day long holiday during the Qing Ming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) in April alarmed the government, which ordered visitors who had visited the eleven most popular tourist sites in Taiwan during this period to self-quarantine at home so as to prevent a virus outbreak. One of these attractions is the Beigang Chaotian Temple 北港朝天宮 in Yunlin County, a famous Mazu temple established in 1694.

After it was listed as one of the sites at high risk, the Beigang Chaotian Temple increased its pandemic prevention measures, such as controlling the flow of visitors, requiring visitors to wear masks, taking temperatures and disinfecting with alcohol. However, there was still a large number of visitors every day who wanted to offer incense to Mazu, to the extent that 10 non-contact infrared thermometers were worn out. To cope with the crowds during the Labour Day (1^st May) holidays, the temple purchased 2 automatic temperature measuring devices. After mid-May, when no more community cases were reported, “incense-offering” groups of devotees arrived from different parts of Taiwan in their coaches. Only 20 passengers were allowed on the 40-seat sightseeing buses. All visitors to the temple, whether they were devotees or spirit-mediums in trance, had to wear masks and have their temperatures taken.

A spirit medium having his temperature before entering the temple (sources: © 2020 Huang Wei-Ciang)

The annual Taiwan Mazu procession that transverses four counties in Taiwan over a period of 9 days and 8 nights has been described as one of the three biggest religious festivals in the world by Discovery Channel. Various Mazu temples in Taiwan pool their resources to organise this procession, and some temples even provide live GPS updates on Facebook for devotees to follow the journey of Mazu as she travels across Taiwan.

Every year, on the 15^th day of the first lunar month, also known as the Yuanxiao (Lantern Festival), the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple 大甲鎮瀾宮will perform a ritual to throw the moon-blocks in order to decide the date of the procession. This year, on 8^th February, the Dajia Mazu Jenn Lann Temple announced after the ritual that the procession will begin on 19^th March. This alarmed some members of the general public who were worried that the procession might lead to a spike in infection. On the other hand, some other devotees believed that Mazu will extend her protection, devotees will not be harmed by the virus, and there will not be a spread in the community. The Dajia Jenn Lann Temple chairman, Yen Ching-Piao, announced that the procession will be held as scheduled but will be scaled down. He added that if the central government officially bans the procession, the temple would cooperate. Though an official ban was not announced, on 26^th February the temple decided to postpone the procession after consulting experts.

Subsequently from 7^th June, the ban against outdoor activities was lifted in Taiwan. The next day, the Jenn Lann Temple sought Mazu’s advice by throwing the moon-blocks again, and it was decided that the 9-day 8-night procession would begin on 11th June. The number of participants was smaller this year. Still, on the midnight of the procession day, more than ten thousand devotees knelt down to send off Mazu on her procession. The Dajia Mazu procession during this pandemic can be seen as another example of Taiwan’s highly effective response in stemming the virus outbreak.

The question of whether religion or science has an upper hand in their encounters remains. When the sacred encountered the coronavirus in its full fury, various factors added to the anxiety and social pressure of the Taiwanese during this period. Temples in Taiwan reacted to the social pressure by implementing rarely seen controls such as compelling spirit-mediums to take temperatures, controlling the number of incense offering groups, and postponing the annual Mazu parade - the second time this has happened in its long history due to a pandemic. The question lingers for the devotees: will Mazu continue to protect them from pandemics in the future?

---

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the blog editorial team or the Asia Research Institute.

South Asia | Southeast Asia | East Asia | Other Places | Hinduism | Buddhism | Islam | Christianity | Other Religions

back to project's homepage