Our final temple during this trip to Taipei was the Xingtian temple, which is a relatively young temple, built in 1967. It’s dedicated to the god Guan Yu, the patron god of businessmen. People believe that worshiping him would be good for their business and prosperity.
Inside the temple, the courtyard was very busy, with crowds of worshippers bowing their heads or kneeling in devotion.
They even queued up for a consultation, either for themselves or for someone else – if this other person could not attend, they would bring a piece of clothes of that person, which was then touched by the consultant, who gave his/her blessing and it looked like well wishes too.
On the main altar I only saw fresh flowers, candies, cookies and tea. Afterwards, I read in a guide book that the temple forbids the killing of offering of animals.
The temple also discourages the burning of ritual paper money as an offering to the deities and the spirits of the deceased – but there was more than enough incense burned to make up for it.
Useful info:
- The temple is at No. 109, Sec. 2, Minquan E. Rd., Zhongshan District and you can easily reach it by taking the MRT to Xingtian Temple Station
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