One hundred kowtows for thinking lewd thoughts when facing Guan Gong! When Wu Teng-hsing, the fifth generation caretaker of the Deyi Temple in Beigang, Yunlin County, visited the Shuixian Temple in Xingang, Jiayi County, to ask the gods about his future, a pretty woman walked past. Wu inadvertently took a peek as his mind wandered, with the result that he drew the one divination stick with the text “insincere intent, do 100 kowtows.” An embarrassed Wu then had to do 100 kowtows, which left visitors to the temple scratching their head.
The temple to the Revered Narcissus King was built in the fourth year of the Qianlong Emperor, or 1739. The rear hall is dedicated to the Saintly Emperor Guan, who was the spiritual leader of the old Bengang martial arts hall. Whenever there was a problem taking a major decision, people would go to Emperor Guan to ask for direction by throwing divination blocks and drawing divination sticks.
In recent years, Wu has been working hard to pass on the dragon, phoenix and lion array. He has found disciples in many elementary schools, but he was uncertain on how to proceed to the next step. So a few days ago he went to the Narcissus King Temple to ask Emperor Guan for directions. Just when Wu solemnly threw the divination blocks and asked the Emperor for directions, a young woman suddenly walked past and Wu couldn’t help following her with his eyes and becoming completely engrossed.
After a long while, Wu regained his senses and, realizing that he was still holding the divination blocks, hurriedly threw them to the ground three times and received his answer. Happy that things were going so smoothly, he was surprised when he drew the divination stick reading “insincere intent, do 100 kowtows.” Despite all the curious onlookers, Wu had no choice but to do 100 consecutive kowtows, as if he were pounding garlic with a pestle. He said this was the first time in dozens of visits that he had pulled a divination stick giving him a punishment.
Su Mu-kun, an attendant at the Narcissus King Temple, said that 100 divination sticks only contained three meting out punishment. These three are “insincere intent, ask again another day,” “insincere intent, pay more for the incense,” and “insincere intent, do 100 kowtows.” If devotees let their mind wander while asking a question, there is a big chance they will pull one of these three divination sticks, and Emperor Guan often metes out punishment according to the situation. The stick requiring 100 kowtows is the severest of the three punishment sticks.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON)
關公面前起色心，被罰叩首百次！雲林縣北港德義堂第五代傳人吳登興日前到嘉義縣新港鄉水仙宮擲筊，詢問藝陣未來發展時，巧見美女走過，眼睛不自覺地盯著對方看而恍神，結果竟抽到百中選一的籤王，「來意不誠，叩首一百拜」，吳登興只得當眾跪拜百次，好不尷尬。
創建於清乾隆四年的嘉義縣新港鄉水仙宮主祀水仙尊王，後殿供奉的關聖帝君過去是古笨港（區域涵蓋今雲林縣北港與嘉義縣新港）武館的精神指標，遇有大事無法決定，武館要人常到關聖帝君面前擲筊、抽籤請示。
吳登興近幾年來賣力教授龍鳳獅陣，在不少國小開班授課，對未來該如何進一步落實扎根，心裡沒譜，日前專程到水仙宮請示關聖帝君，正當吳登興一本正經地擲筊、拜託關公指示時，一名妙齡女郎突然從眼前走過，吳登興的眼睛不自覺地盯著對方，竟然看得出神。
隔了好一會兒，吳登興才回神，猛然想起神筊還握在手裡，趕忙對空連拋三次、都求得應筊，吳登興正慶幸求籤這麼順利，沒想到竟抽中「籤王」，「來意不誠，叩首一百拜」，雖然眾目睽睽，吳登興只得如搗蒜般連續叩首一百次。他說，到該廟幾十次，還是頭一遭抽到懲罰籤。
水仙宮職員蘇木崑表示，一百支竹籤中，懲罰籤只有三支，分別是「來意不誠，另日再求」、「來意不誠，添香油錢」、「來意不誠，叩首一百拜」，信眾問事若心有旁騖，抽到的機率相當高，關聖帝君常依況狀予以「懲罰」，在三支懲罰籤中，最難堪的就是叩首百次。（自由時報記者陳燦坤）
A: Yet another shopping mall has just opened in Taipei. B: Do you mean the Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Nangang? A: Yeah, the shopping mall run by Japanese Mitsui & Co. opened last week. B: I hear the mall features about 300 stores, Vieshow Cinemas and Japanese Lopia supermarket. A: With the opening, a war is breaking out between Taipei’s department stores. A: 台北又有新的購物商場可逛啦。 B: 你是說Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport 南港？ A: 對啊這家日本三井集團旗下的商場上週開幕。 B: 聽說商場有威秀影城、樂比亞日系超市，還有多達300家專櫃。 A: 新商場一開幕，看來又要掀起一場百貨大戰啦！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
A: Hey, didn’t you go to the opening of the Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Nangang last week? B: Yeah, there are about 300 shops, including the first overseas branch of Japan’s Mahou Dokoro — a famous Harry Potter-themed store. A: Wow, I’ve always wanted to get a magic wand. B: There are also a bunch of great restaurants, such as Smart Fish hotpot restaurant. A: I wish I had Harry Potter’s “apparition” and “disapparition” magic, so I could teleport to the mall right now. A: 你上週不是有去LaLaport南港的盛大開幕嗎？有什麼特別的？ B: 那裡有多達300家專櫃，包括魔法之地的海外首店——它可是日本知名的《哈利波特》專賣店。 A: 哇我一直想買根魔杖。 B: 另外還有各式各樣的美食，像是林聰明沙鍋魚頭。 A: 真希望我也有哈利波特的「現影術／消影術」魔法，能瞬間移動到商場去！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
When it comes to movies, some people delight in watching spine-chilling horror films. Surprisingly, apart from containing a few scares, horror movies may also offer an unexpected __1__. According to a study, watching 90 minutes of a scary movie can burn an average of 113 calories, which is roughly __2__ to taking a 30-minute walk. Researchers from the University of Westminster carried out an experiment in which they __3__ participants’ oxygen intake, carbon dioxide output, and heart rates while they were watching horror movies without any distractions. The results revealed that physiological responses to fear play a crucial role
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