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In traditional Chinese society, religious rituals have been a long history. Through devout worship, people pray to the gods for good fortune and avoid evil, and get the blessing and compassion of God.
By giving incense, the prayers burned gold (silver) paper money, and interacted with gods and Buddhas, soothing the soul and satisfying the needs of believers at all levels.
Although the culture of sacrificial activities has undergone the evolution and development of various dynasties in different time and space, gold(silver) paper money, and incense still play a pivotal role in religious rituals.
Facing the environmental impact of the greenhouse effect of climate change, Recent research on environmental pollution prevention and control have shown that the pollutants produced during the burning of gold( silver) paper money and incense are one of the reasons that cause the deterioration of air quality and affect human health.
Various large-scale religious celebrations often burn a large amount of paper money and incense, which frequently arouses public complaints and petitions.
Therefore, the Environmental Protection Administration, R.O.C.(Taiwan) and the Environmental Protection Bureaus of counties and cities have vigorously promoted "reduced burning of gold paper" and "golden paper centralized incineration" to reduce air pollutant emissions and improve air quality.
Taipei Xingtian Temple（Hsing Tian Kong）, and the "Xietian Temple" in Jiaoxi, Yilan County, also worship Guan Shengdijun (Guan Gong).
The Xingtian Temple didn’t set up a gold furnace and has forbidden the prayer to burn gold paper money since August 2014. On the 26th, August all censers and offering tables were removed, which caused great shock in the religious world.
On the contrary, the Xietian Temple has been established for more than 280 years, has upheld traditional folk customs, set up gold furnace, burned paper money, and prayed for incense.
This difference arouses the author's curiosity and discuss in depth. So,based on the Taipei City "Xingtian Temple" as the object and the Yilan area as the research scope.
The "Xietian Temple" , "Cihang Palace", "Four knot Fude Temple" , "Sanqing Palace" , and the "Guangcheng Palace" of the world-saving type are chosen for the research objects. We also conducted random sampling pilgrim interviewers to explore their views on not burning gold paper and incense sticks.
We also interviewed representatives of environmental protection authorities and religious authorities to understand the operation of government policies.
Based on the results of interviews and observations with the person in charge of the temple, pilgrims, and the public sector, we explored and analyzed the differences in the perception of traditional religious beliefs and environmental protection concepts among the three parties.
Keywords:
burning gold paper money,incense,palace temple,environmental protection worship |