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A Roof with a View
Publication Date：06/01/2004
Byline：MARK CALTONHILL
Away from modern Taipei, Taiwan's traditional skylines hark back to a time in which every detail had a purpose and an audience--not necessarily of this world.
Wander through the gates of a Taiwanese temple, and so much ornate detail--decorated doors, carved pillars, murals, and tables laden with offerings meets the eye in a way that it is easy to forget to look up at the roofs and ceilings, where more colorful detail awaits. Not to worry: It was not intended for your eyes anyway.
The true audience for the most colorful of these decorations, chutou ("plays"), like those of puppet and opera shows staged during religious festivals, are the gods and spirits that congregate around temples.
Chutou include scenes from historical and literary classics such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Journey to the West, religious figures, most commonly The Eight Immortals Cross the Ocean , and each has a special significance for its heavenly audiences. Even the sculptured fruit, flowers, and animals are more than they seem. Peonies, for example, symbolize a hope for wealth and nobility, chrysanthemums stand for longevity, and lotuses represent purity. Most auspicious are the dragon, symbolic of the emperor, and the tiger, king of the wild beasts.
Not that temple decorations are entirely without a temporal audience: In earlier times when few people were literate, they also served as educational aids, acting as stimuli to oral teachings passed down from generation to generation. Today, the crowds come to look and wonder.
Mark Caltonhill is a freelance journalist who
writes on religion and culture in Taiwan.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Mark Caltonhill.
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