A 328-year-old temple in Chiayi City has designed a dozen new charms that it is distributing to temple-goers during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Shuangjhong Temple’s (雙忠廟) charms offer 12 different Taoist spells or blessings, promising success in love, examinations or weight loss, or warding off evils, such as a nagging or cheating spouse or loved one.
Su Chung-hao (蘇中浩), a temple devotee who works in the printing industry, said he made the charms with his good friend Kao Chi-jung (高基榮) as an offering after recovering from an illness.
Photo: Ting Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
The temple is dedicated to the gods of fidelity Chang Hsun (張巡) and Hsu Yuan (許遠).
Built in 1689, or the 28th year of the reign of emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, it is the first and oldest temple in the city, temple general manager Lin Chin-feng (林錦烽) said.
The temple has been making woodblock-printed charms since the Japanese colonial period, said Kao, who is also the director-general of the Chiayi City Mother Tongue Culture and Educational Foundation.
Kao said that he designed the charms to appeal to younger people and help preserve a traditional craft.
Chen Lai-wang (陳來旺), 84, said the new charms were a pleasant reminder of his childhood, when he lived close to the temple and often helped the temple to make charms with his father.
“It is nice to see young people being so creative,” he said.
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