Zi Nan Temple in central Taiwan’s Zhunan Township, Nantou County, attracted nearly one million worshippers over the Lunar New Year holidays, while also becoming the most-searched temple on Yahoo Taiwan.
“The temple grounds have been as crowded as a market,” according to Zhuang Qiu-an, the site’s chief executive manager. “A lot of people lined up overnight for a gold ingot, and even more have come to ask for good fortune with a gold chicken or by borrowing lucky cash from the Earth Lord.”
A gold chicken is a figurine in a glass case that is purchased from the temple. The lucky cash of the Earth Lord, Tudi Gong, is real money that pilgrims borrow from the temple, with a limit of NT$600 (US$20.26), and return after a year, as a means of bringing prosperity. According to the temple website, the god usually responds to what is wished for, and worshippers return more to the temple than they borrowed.
The temple uses the god’s profit to fund community projects, including NT$15 million annually in scholarships for students in the county.
The total amount of lucky cash borrowed and returned this year topped NT$100 million, up more than 10 percent from 2012. The temple will shoot off fireworks on the Lantern Festival Feb. 24 and invite pilgrims to eat chicken soup Feb. 25, another ritual symbolizing a peaceful year ahead.
Zhuang said the temple is also investing more than NT$40 million to build a water-themed wedding park where couples will be able to take photos and hold marriage ceremonies free, with blessings from the Earth Lord and Yuexia Laoren, the matchmaking god. The Earth Lord has told him several times in dreams that young people are not “productive” enough, Zhuang said.
“Tudi Gong wants them to have more children.”
Plans for the two-hectare facility include traditional buildings and a Western-style church, with glass-topped floors over water with fish swimming in it.
Yahoo Taiwan tracked temple searches on its site in two periods from Feb. 4-10 and Feb. 11-17, before and after the first day of the year on the lunar calendar, Feb. 10. The next five most-searched temples after Zi Nan were Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center, Kaohsiung City; Beigang Chao-tian Temple, Yunlin County; Hongludi, Zonghe District, New Taipei City; Jinshan God of Wealth Temple, New Taipei City; and Xingang Fengtian Temple, Chiayi County. (THN)