BEIGAN, Taiwan, March 27 (Reuters) – One day a year, pilgrims make their way to a small temple on a remote Taiwanese island near the Chinese coast to do one simple thing: Sleep.
Wrapped in blankets, the faithful spend the night on the floor at the Wuwei Ling Temple on Beigan island, hoping the deities it honours will send them a dream that might offer answers that the waking life cannot.
According to local folk beliefs, the Nine Immortals of Jiuli, the sibling deities who preside over dream-seeking, leave their home temple in China’s Fujian province on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year to visit an uncle at Wuwei Ling Temple.
A severe storm forced the deities to remain on the island for an extra day before returning to Fujian. Because of this tale, people in Fujian can seek dreams at the deities’ home temple on any of the other 364 days of the year, while worshippers in Beigan can do so only on this one particular day.
Restaurant owner Yang Jui-yun first sought guidance at the temple more than a decade ago, when she was worried about her daughter leaving for the U.S. to study.
“I heard someone saying ‘hello, hello’ in English. And then I saw an image of a couple holding hands with children,” said Yang, 60.
Years later, her daughter gave birth to twin girls in the U.S. When her granddaughters visited Matsu for the first time, Yang saw the very image that she had dreamt at the Wuwei Ling Temple: Her daughter and son-in-law holding hands with the twins as they walked toward a Matsu beach.
Beigan is in the Matsu archipelago, geographically part of China’s Fujian province and which has been controlled by Taipei since 1949 when the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communists.
Regularly shelled by China during the height of the Cold War, today Matsu is a popular tourist destination, attracting people to experience its stark natural beauty, bird-watch and explore old underground bunkers.
Previously only a niche belief for Matsu residents, the temple has begun attracting a bigger crowd after the county government started promoting it to tourists.
“Most people ask about marriage,” said the temple’s honorary chairman, Chen Shih-tien. “Some ask about their careers; work-related questions are the most common.”
(Reporting by Yi-Chin Lee and Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
