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ADVENTURES IN ASIA WITH LADYB, LAOLAO AND GONGGONG
Story #23: 30 photos and videos of fabulous, fascinating Dimu Temple, a 30-minute walk from where we live!
Puli Town, Taiwan, China.
This is going out tomorrow at the post office!
Dear Grandaughter Mila,
Enjoy the following visual feast and at the end, there’s a Chinese souvenir just for you!
Photo- and videologue
#1: Baohu Dimu Temple is only a 30-minute walk from our place! Begun in 1947, the founder of Acer Computers is a big benefactor. It is Daoist, but you find syncretic Confucism-Daoism-Buddhism all melded together. Taiwan is 28% Confucist/folk religions, like Dimu (more later), 24% no religion, 20% Buddhist, 19% Daoist, 7% Christian and 4% Yiguadao, which is a Chinese universal/unitary religion that fuses them all. Baohu (宝湖) means Treasure Lake. This impressive front gate is just the beginning of an amazing journey into Chinese culture, history, tradition and spirituality.
#2: As you enter Dimu, there is a huge Daoist Bagua (八卦), which along with the Yinyang, takes history back 5,000 years across China, all the way to the I Ching. The gold lettering on each column is to honor donors who help fund the temple’s construction. These dedications are everywhere as you walk around. How many millions of dollars/euros it must have taken to make it happen.
#3: There are entrance canopies below, since it rains so much, as Dimu rises up the foothills to three levels. Notice the Yinyang symbol on one of the roofs, a millenial Daoist symbol. It never fails to enchant humanity.
#4: Rising up a steep incline that is the start of the foothills, Dimu is immaculately kept in pristine condition. Imagine the 10,000s of hours of skilled labor to carve all the stone facings and putting up the temple halls!
#5: Here is nice look at Dimu from the third level. Can you imagine the maintenance needed to keep it looking so good? Notice the incrediblly intricate hand carvings in all the wallkway and stair panels.
#6: The roofs are covered with ceramic tiles and figurines. The first thing that strikes you about Chinese temples is how colorful and intricatedly decorated they are.
#7: The first level is where Dimu is, the Great Mother Goddess of Earth, who assures fertility, stablity and maintaining harmony between nature and humanity. In fact, Dimu (地母) means Earth Mother. I like Chinese religion because females play a big part in the eschatology. You can see her in the alcove in the back of the hall.
#8: Here is a close-up of Dimu in her alcove. She is the larger of the two on the left. Hidden on the left behind the curtain is a second smaller statue like the one on the right. They are Dimu’s female atttendants. With the weight of humanity on her shoulders, Dimu needs their helping hands. The wooden objects are percussion instruments carved as figurative frogs, for chanting. Frogs represent good luck, fertility and prosperity. As I mentioned, Chinese religion is syncretic. The two side walls each have 10,000 Buddha figurines, along with two round towers of bigger Buddhas. Elsewhere, you will find frescos with the parables of Confucius.
Sometimes a procession will arrive with 10-15 people wearing sashes and making generous offerings. The frogs get used for cadance, as well as the big singing bowl on the second altar behind getting tapped for chimes. There is a gong too, not seen. These believers get to put their offerings on the altar table in front, with the gold dragon on its front. An attendant/monk stands behind this altar accepting their gifts and each time saying a nice gester. They also get to put their incense sticks in the beautiful winged bowl on the altar.
#9: Outside the Dimu hall is a big incense pagoda blocking her view in this shot. The tables in-between and close-up are offerings brought by the public.
#10: Presenting flowers in Chinese temples is de rigueur. Outside Dimu’s hall on each side are two fantasic protector lions. How much luck do you have growing orchids? In Taiwan, they are huge and grow everywhere. These magnificent orchid pots are offerings from the public.
#11: I practice Buddhism and Laolao respects it. Outside Dimu Temple are stands selling offerings. Laolao bought a beautiful fresh flower arrangement. I bought hand-folded paper lotuses. After putting our offerings on the tables, we light three sticks of incense, which is offered, to light and then say a prayer to Dimu, while bowing three times. Afterwards, we stick the lit incense sticks standing straight-up in the incense pagoda to the right. At the end of the day, the food is kept for the people working there and all the paper offerings and flowers are burned in a big furnace, whose chimney and spark arrestor you can see at the end of the 15-second clip below, #29. I suspect the flower boxes and vases get reused, to avoid waste.
#12: Every temple has incense lighters. Inside the stand is a tank of butane. Notice both people are lighting three sticks. Not one, not two – three. Behind them is a small donation box.
#13: Standing outside Dimu’s hall is Laolao and Jessie, our great Taiwanese friend, showing us around. She has some BIG incense sticks in her backpack. We credit her family and their friends for making our move to Taiwan possible. You can see Dimu’s second female attendant on the left, in her alcove.
#14: Going up to the second level of the temple there is big hall with several alcoves exhibiting a number of secondary gods. Religious statues in Taiwan are usually dark or black. This color represents power, gravity, experience and wisdom. There are MANY secondary gods and goddesses in Chinese spirituality, with books written about them, each deity with their own story, influence and power. Notice the two guardian protectors on the left and right in the front row.
#15: In the 2nd-floor hall there are towers on wheels that can be spun around at the bases and the four towers also spin.They are full of little Buddha statues. See below.
#16: Per the previous photo, each Buddhist figurine has a name in front of it. Notice Buddha has a Daoist Yinyang symbol in his left hand. That’s fusion! These are the names of people who have donated money to Dimu Temple. Laolao and I always each make a donation of NTD100, about $/€3.00. These donors and especially the ones with their names carved all over the place give more than we do.
#17: Symbology is everywhere in Chinese temples. The panel below says Golden Warbler Mountain (金莺山 = Jinyingshan). Warblers mean many things: springtime renewal, energy, artistic ability, perseverance, adaptability, discretion, redemption, guidance, and the essence of poetic beauty. Next time you see a warbler, thank it from the bottom of your heart.
#18: Between the second and third levels are staircases with a sublime view of the temple and landscape below. People line up to get their picture taken: couples, families, etc. The ritual is to hold your fingers in the snapping position. It is to bring good luck, health and prosperity. Never question tradition. Gonggong and Laolao did what they were told. So far, so good!
#19: On the third and top level are three halls, a big one in the middle and two small ones, each on the left and right. The central hall has some great symbology in front. Chickens are important in Chinese religion. Like the warbler, chickens represent good luck, prosperity and fortune (think of all those eggs), power (at least roosters), protection from evil spirits, reuniting families (think of mother hen with her brood gathering around) and an auspicious male-female pairing with lobster. So, next time you go to a nice restaurant, don’t get Surf and Turf, get Surf and Cluck!
Dragons of course represent (male) strength, power (to protect the temple gods), and good fortune. Chinese dragons live in lakes and seas and water represents life and fertility. Below the dragon’s fiery flame are red and white qilin (麒麟), a celestial animal associated with sages and rulers and often compared to unicorns. On each side of the dragon are phoenixes. They are female, so balance the dragon in Yinyang, while offering rebirth, harmony, renewal and immortality.
#20: In the 3rd-floor central hall are the three paramount gods, known as the Three Pure Ones in Daoism, each with a pair of peach lamps. Peaches are everywhere in Chinese temples. They represent longevity, properity and good luck. When in doubt, eat a peach! These gods represent the Heavens, Humanity and Earth. In Chinese they are called Sanqing (三清). Outside this central hall are the Sun God and Moon Goddess on each side in their small halls. See below.
#21: On each side of the three paramount gods are secondary gods. On this side, the top one is Taishang Laojun (太上老君). He is the founder and protector of blacksmiths, tinkers, miners, potters; gold-, silver- coppersmiths; and foundry workers. The bottom one is Wenchang Wang (文昌王) , in charge of culture and language. You can see him carrying a bamboo tablet book.
#22: You will also see him above the doors of copy shops, bookstores and libraries, riding a tiger, preciously carrying his book. This photo was taken in Puli, not in the temple. For reference only.
#23: On the right side of the top-level central hall is a small room for the Sun God. He is holding his namesake with the word Ri (日), which means Sun.
#24: On the left side is the Moon Goddess, holding her namesake, with Yue (月）written on it, which means Moon or month. The orange blob on the right is a peach lamp.
#25: A lot of divination and prayers seeking a wish take place in Chinese temples. You will hear what sounds the pieces of a board game being dropped on the floor. These are crescent-shaped divining blocks made out of wood or carved bamboo. The person says a prayer/asks for a divination and then drops a pair of zhijiao (掷筊). How they land on the ground determines if the prayer/divination will come true. Not right? Keep doing it until the zhijiao land fortuitously. For starters, I understand that one has to land flat and the other on the rounded side.
#26: In Chinese temples, you will see people reading sacred texts in front of a god or gods. Er…goddesses too! This woman is reciting in front of Yaochi Jinmu (瑶池金母), the Queen Mother of the West, who dwells alongside legendary Jasper Lake. Jasper is a kind of precious jade. Followers can bring their own books or temples have shelves of them available.
#27: On a big panel at Dimu Temple is posted children’s drawings, sharing their experiences visiting here. What a nice touch.
#28: Outside the temple gates are several stands selling hand-folded paper offerings in all kinds of incredible designs, from small and simple to large and ornate. We love watching the ladies patiently focused on their paper-folding work. It’s really impressive handicraft artwork.
#29: Above is a quick video pan of Dimu Temple from the top level, with the beautiful foothills. They rise to 4,000 meters above sea level, only 2-3 hours by car from where we live. The temple straight across on the hillside is only a 45-minute walk from our home. It is purely Buddhist, with hundreds of monks and nuns working there, so it is quite different than Dimu. It is only open to the public during Chinese New Year and we visited three times. A photologue is forthcoming. We are in good spiritual hands!
#30: Here is a 9.5-minute video tour of Dimu during Chinese New Year of the Snake 2025.
Before taping up your letter, every 3-year-old Oklahoma girl needs a Chinese hand bag, to go our shopping and running errands！
Using this handbag is very lucky. The big word in the middle Fu (福) is seen everywhere in China and means prosperity, good fortune and happiness. That’s packing a lot in one word!
But it gets even better, because the four yellow words say, Wufu Linmen (五福临门 – notice I type with simplified characters. Taiwan uses complicated characters). This means,
May the Five Blessings be found at your door.
The Five Blessings are,
Longevity, Wealth, Health, Virtue and a Natural Death
Sounds like a plan to me!
Then, the top line in gold on red says Fuqi Manman (福气满满). It means,
Full of Good Luck
The bottom phrase says Fuxing Gaozhao (福星高照), which equates to,
Your lucky star is rising
That’s a lot Fu’s! How many can you count?
Who wouldn’t want to walk around with such a luck-packed handbag! Enjoy showing it off!
To top it off, I put a couple of small local souvenirs inside for you to enjoy, or even attach to you new bag’s handles.
Love from Taiwan,
LadyB, Laolao and Gonggong
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Jeff J. Brown is a geopolitical analyst, journalist, lecturer and the author of The China Trilogy. It consists of 44 Days Backpacking in China – The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass (2013); Punto Press released China Rising – Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations (2016); and BIG Red Book on China (2020). As well, he published a textbook, Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English (2015). Jeff is a Senior Editor & China Correspondent for The Greanville Post, where he keeps a column, Dispatch from Beijing and is a Global Opinion Leader at 21st Century. He also writes a column for The Saker, called the Moscow-Beijing Express. Jeff writes, interviews and podcasts on his own program, China Rising Radio Sinoland, which is also available on YouTube, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, Ivoox and RUvid. Guests have included Ramsey Clark, James Bradley, Moti Nissani, Godfree Roberts, Hiroyuki Hamada, The Saker and many others. [/su_spoiler]
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