The Lantern Festival Story

In one of my posts about my about the fireworks in Beijing, I had made reference to an experience here in Taiwan for the Lantern Festival. I said I would post if anyone was interested in reading, and my Grandma emailed me and told me she would want to hear about it. So, here it is...

The Lantern Festival is always celebrated on the fifteenth day after Chinese New Year. This marks the end of the a series of celebrations for the new year, and is a time when people put many red lanterns on display.


My first year in Taiwan, I had the chance to go watch a celebration in a small town near our school. The town's name is She-Kou, and it is the home of a friend from Salvation Lutheran Church. To celebrate vendors set up games that are on the street and sell snacks for anyone who would come out. In the evening there was a parade through the town, and many people set off fireworks.

Much of the significance of the parade was centered around the local temple and other traditional Taiwanese religious beliefs. The main feature of the parade was the "god box" which was taken from the temple and wheeled around the streets of the town. Along the way, the god box/altar would stop at many of the houses and businesses. When the altar stopped at a house, the people at those places would set off fireworks in hopes of scarying away evil spirits.

Other parts of the parade included people dressed up in the form of walking gods, and other colorful clothes. One of the most disturbing things I saw was a man who was walking in the parade. He had his shirt off and was carrying a big knife, almost like a machete. As he walked he would stop and fling the knife over his shoulder and cut his back. As I looked at his back it was full of open knife wounds, and he looked like he had worked himself into a stupor as he pressed on throughout the parade. Honestly, I don't know the exact significance of what this man was doing, but I believe it was some sort of sacrifice or ritual to please the god.

The parade culminated with the god box being brought back to the front of the temple. It was at this point that many people also gathered around the outskirts of the temple and watched what was happening. When the god box got to the temple, then the fireworks really started to pick up.

People would hold boxes that contained a set of fireworks and shoot them all off at one time.


The smoke in the areas was nearly suffocating, such to the point that many people would wear facemasks to filter out the smoke. Here's a picture of my friend Ray, wearing his facemask.

As you can see, I am in the background without one. When I initially got there, I didn't think I would need a facemask. I had no idea what I was in for, and eventually put one on.

As they did this, the god box was pushed around the square, running into all of the people. As I stood there, I needed to move to get out of the way and to keep pace with the crowd. I did not stay for the whole ceremnoy, after awhile I had enough of the smoke, the noise, and the crowds. I assume afterward there was a large spectale in which the god box was put back into the temple. Here is a picture of the people pushing the god box around the temple in the square.


The night was an experience that I will not forget. It was the closest and largest scale that I have ever seen of idol worship here in Taiwan. So it was many things to me...heartaching...frustrating...educational...curious...motivating. It was a motivation for why I am here, which is to share the hope of life in Christ to the people of this island. Even as I sit and type this over 3 years later, I am reminded of that very purpose and goal for which I have come. May God work through me to accomplish his will with the people of Taiwan.