Song Shan Yao Chi Gong 松山瑤池宮 is one of the most exquisitely individualistic temples that it has been my good fortune to encounter in Taiwan. They are a ling-ji (靈乩) temple in the foothills of the Four Animal Mountains that skirt the South East of Taipei City and their main deity is Yao Chi Jin Mu (瑤池金母) also known as Wang Mu Niang Niang (王母娘娘). At present they are coming to the end of their annual 24 day Medicine Offering Festival, and I will first describe the temple and the practice, and then move onto the Medicine Festival.
Ling-ji (靈乩) is a spiritual practice that has become popularized in Taiwan since the mid 1950’s. The actual practice is known as ling-dong (靈動). Now approximately 1 in 6 temples has a ling-ji group practicing from it, and with Taiwan having a total of approximately 25,000+ temples (2006 Ministry of Interior estimate) there are likely to be around 4200 ling-ji temples. Song Shan Yao Chi Gong, an exquisite temple built into the mountainside overlooking Taipei is quite large and has maybe 70 practitioners, but to make a low guestimate by guessing the average number of practitioners at each temple numbering about 20, there are perhaps 84,000 active practitioners in Taiwan. This is a very moderate guestimate. There is one active group in Singapore to date, and this is led by a Taiwanese teacher, Mr. Zhu (朱老師), and like the ‘Techno San Tai Zi’ may become another of Taiwan’s religious exports in Southeast Asia.
There is however no unified philosophy or definition of what ‘ling’ in terms of ling-ji practice is, how ‘ling’ works or the ultimate goal of ling-ji practice, and no commonly accepted explanation of the practice. Neither is there a unified form of practice in ling-ji groups, with each individual ‘expressing their ling’ in unique ways. There are however some commonalities.
Most practitioners belch loudly to expel negative chi. This is followed by spontaneous movements resembling dance, tai chi or martial movements. More advanced practitioners speak ‘God Language’ and speak both to deities and to the ‘ling’ of other practitioners, practice hands on healing and at a higher level are able to see spirits and become aware of their own past incarnations.
On September 5th, Song Shan Yao Chi Gong began its epic annual ‘Medicine Festival’. I use the word epic unreservedly as in every sense it is the largest and longest medicine ritual I have witnessed. The preparation took approximately 6 weeks, and the festival lasts for 24 days. Every day 36 medicines are cooked in traditional medicine pots over charcoal stoves, each medicine made from traditional Chinese herbal recipes and in a 24 hour period, the concentrate is poured into a small bowl next to the cooker and the pot refilled. There are 3 sets of medicine simultaneously cooking making a total of 108 medicines a day being prepared.
The medicine is for the use of spirits and is termed ‘ling – medicine’ to cure the ling of those already passed away. The physical medicines are transformed into ‘ling’ medicines in several ways including continual ‘ling-ji’ practice over the medicines by practitioners and by the help of deities. There is no shortage of either as 5 other temples have taken up residence in a temporary colourful tentage complete with their own deities, priests, teachers and practitioners for the entire duration of the festival. The other temples include on Aboriginal Temple practicing its own newly invented traditions, a Pure Land Buddhist temple and 3 Taoist temples with the common thread being that they are all avid ling-ji practitioners. The main focus of the medicine this year is to heal the ‘ling’ of China’s Emperors, the logic being that as they were responsible for the most suffering; their spirits are in the greatest need of healing. The medicine clearly works on many different levels.
The carnivalesque atmosphere created by all these fabulous individuals is impossible to capture in words, even with the help of photographs, so I have made a short video of some of last night’s activities. Every night of course there are different activities, and last night was particularly festive. Other evenings are more sombre and spiritual in tone.
Every detail of this festival makes it stand out from the vegetarian offerings made of bread in the shape of squid, crabs, frogs to larger mammals, to the care taken to prepare exact amounts of ingredients for each medicine, to the chanting and altars and individual ling-ji practice is exceptional.
There are multiple focus points for the activities apart from the cooking medicines and temple itself. There is the pond which has been decorated with flowers and crystals and had a Medicine Buddha installed, individual altars built on the ground from natural products and renewed on a daily basis to direct the spirits to the medicine rituals, the main external altar belonging to Song Shan Yao Chi Gong, Giant cardboard lotus flowers made in the temple and weighting maybe 60kg each and the individual daily activities of visiting temples from Buddhist chanting to Aboriginal dances.
Last night was the evening for the aborigine dance. The Buddhist chanting which began at noon ended at 8:30 with a slow walk in a long train around every section of the temples and medicine pots to bless the medicines, and the aborigines had dressed in their costumes for the dance which was of course dedicated to the spirits and acted as a further invitation to spirits to attend the festival and to enhance the medicines and ritual objects further. I had taken a South African friend along to watch the activities and we were both brought into the dance. We had bells on our wrists and danced joyfully with the group for maybe 30 minutes. The dance then moved around the medicines as everyone ecstatically shook their hands and bells over the medicines and altars to multiply their energy and to attract the attention of souls in need of healing.
The Festival will end next Tuesday with a smashing of the medicine pots and the sending off of the attending (paper) deities by Taoist priests …
