Exploring Temple Culture

2025 / March

In Taiwan’s religious culture, divination by drawing fortune sticks is widely practiced among the faithful. One can get guidance from the gods on anything from marriage and medications to personal and national luck. In this month’s Cover Story, we explore several aspects of religion in Taiwanese society, including local shrines to youyinggong (spirits of the unclaimed dead), divination culture, temple service personnel, and street temples. As focal points for kindness and empathy, such phenomena have promoted harmony and prosperity in Taiwanese society.
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Let’s Meet the Unclaimed Dead:

The Youyinggong Belief System

“If no one were rash and reckless in their youth, why would there be shrines to youyinggong by the roadside?” This Taiwanese phrase is an admonition used by many parents to urge their children to act with caution in life. It is also a reminder of the dreams of prosperity our ancestors had for ......

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Taiwan-Style Chicken Soup for the Soul:

The Treasured Tradition of Divination through Verse

Before the Premier12 tournament of the World Baseball Softball Confederation in 2024, a netizen who felt uneasy about the event went online to the divination webpage of Donggang’s Jhen Hai Temple and received a “fortune verse” with the meaning “following hardship, rewards will follow,” thereby......

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Temple Deacons and Stewards:

Making Faith Accessible

Entering the solemn, elegant gate, the noise of the city seems to disappear instantly. This is Xingtian Temple (Hsing Tian Kong), one of Taipei’s busiest shrines.......