Dialogues with Gods: IMAS in Jiying Temple’s Lantern Festival and Procession
On February 24th, the Lantern Festival day, the International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies (IMAS) brought together foreign students and scholars from the College of Social Sciences (CSS) to participate in the Lantern Festival event at Jiying Temple in Muzha. This collaboration is not the first between Jiying Temple and IMAS. In December 2023, IMAS held a holiday celebration at the temple, featuring an indigenous-style roasted pig.
Building on the success of their previous collaboration, Jiying Temple invited IMAS to participate in the Lantern Festival. Tradition says that the Heavenly Emperor punishes humanity for their wrongdoing, preparing to unleash a calamity of fire and light on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. As a result, people hang lanterns on this day, so that when the Heavenly Emperor looks down from above, it appears as though the earth is ablaze with fire, signifying that punishment has been dealt.
Therefore, in the evening of the Lantern Festival, IMAS students and CSS scholars, holding torches and lanterns joined hundreds of residents of Muzha in a traditional folk parade. Some participants dressed up as different deities in the parade, including the God of Wealth, the Third Prince, and the Eight Generals. This was their first experience of traditional Taiwanese cultural activities.
Dr. Akachukwu Darlington Umeh, a research fellow from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, noted that in his country, carrying torches would be seen as intending to start fires or protests. He expressed surprise that in Taiwan, it is part of a celebration. Other scholars, including Raian Hossain from the University of Nottingham and Yimovie Sakue-Collins from the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, continued discussing Taiwanese culture late into the night after the event ended at nine o’clock. They all expressed a desire to participate in similar cultural activities again.
One week later, they welcomed their second opportunity. Jiying Temple once again invited IMAS to participate in the procession activity. The Procession is an event where divine power delineates boundaries. Residents within the boundaries of the procession receive the protection of the gods. The procession is also a ritual that purges impurities and instills a sense of livability and security within.
Despite the light rain, the students and scholars first listened to Academia Sinica scholar James Morris explain the significance of the procession, then joined a group that stretched over a kilometer long. The organizers allowed the students to participate in the most important part of the procession, carrying the palanquin of the deity.
Symbolizing the combination of local culture and international participation, students and scholars were welcomed by many participants from all over Taiwan. Parade-goers greeted them in limited English, took photos with them, and even shared so-called Taiwan-style chewing gum: betel nuts.
IMAS Director Philip Hsiaopong Liu stated that learning should not be limited to the classroom. IMAS has always emphasized the importance of cultural experiences. Over the past few years, students have visited islands just ten kilometers from mainland China, fishing villages, mines, the mausoleums of both Chiangs, and a century-old brewery in Taiwan. Participating in local religious activities this time is a new attempt. International students are welcomed to IMAS to benefit from the excellent graduate education offered by the CSS and to immerse themselves in Taiwanese culture.
