Police in Changhua County earlier this month arrested a man in New Taipei City for allegedly selling statues borrowed from Matsu (媽祖) temples.
Lukang Township (鹿港) police said they on Nov. 12 arrested a 34-year-old man surnamed Hsu (許) in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) for allegedly selling a statue borrowed from Lukang Tianhou Temple.
Police were alerted after a buyer became suspicious of the statue purchased for NT$10,000 on a Web site for auctioning secondhand deity statues and other religious items.
Photo courtesy of a reader
The buyer told police that when he met Hsu, he said the statue was abandoned and not from a temple currently in operation.
However, the buyer said he was suspicious because the figure appeared to be recently used with a buildup of incense smoke on it.
After finding the name of Lukang Tianhou Temple imprinted on the statue’s outer robe, he said he called the temple, where temple officials confirmed that the statue belonged to them, adding that it is known as a “guest” Matsu statue, which can be “borrowed” for festivals or to celebrate a family event, then returned after the “residency period” is over, which is usually three days.
The buyer returned the statue to the temple and reported the incident to the Lukang Police Precinct on Nov. 10.
Police said that Hsu admitted borrowing the statue from the temple on Nov. 3 and listing it for sale online.
Hsu told police that he also borrowed a Sufuwangye (蘇府王爺) statue from Lukang Fengtian Temple and sold it online for NT$10,000.
Hsu faces fraud and embezzlement charges, police official Chang Sheng-sheng (張勝甥) said, adding that investigators are seeking to determine whether Hsu had any accomplices.
Lukang Tianhou Temple secretary-general Liu Chia-wen (劉家汶) said that worshipers can apply to borrow “guest” Matsu statues for free for private events.
“This is the first time we had a person apply for a statue using another person’s identity, and then sell it in an online auction,” Liu said.
The temple would now require two forms of identification from anyone applying to borrow one of the statues, he said.
The incident has attracted interest from the public to borrow “guest” Matsu statues, which are not the main Matsu statue of a temple, but usually among the secondary deities worshiped.
He said that people or local temples or shrines cannot apply to take out a specific statue, as the statue they would receive is chosen through a divination process.
“People usually go to their town’s major temple to ‘invite’ a god or goddess statue when having celebrations, such as a wedding, settling into a new home or opening a new store. It is an important tradition, and still observed by people in Lukang,” Liu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by