Parade of the God of Medicine

The spectacular celebrations to honour the God of Medicine are spread throughout more than 160 temples in Taiwan. Festivities are particularly fervent at Pao Sheng in Taipei and the Temple of Ching Tzu in Hseuhchia.

The incredible procession at Ching Tzu Temple is more than 3km (2 miles) long and is composed of a huge number of dancing troupes, priests, pilgrims and costumed musicians. There are around 21 traditional floats decorated with flowers, each containing a figure from legend or story, as well as huge statues of the medicine god himself, carried on sedan chairs on the shoulders of pilgrims. The highlight of the parade is always the performance by the theatrical and dancing troupes, the Chen Tou, of which up to 78 participate.

The parade is headed by a group called the Centipedes and as the procession gets underway worshippers throw themselves on the ground in front of them to be trampled, in order to exorcise evil spirits and demons.

At midday the procession stops for a ritual rest at the Ching Tzu temple and the high priest performs a function. The parade proceeds to amble its way to the landing spot where the original Ming dynasty loyalists, under their commander Koxinga, arrived when they ousted the Dutch from Taiwan to claim it for China more than three centuries ago. The high priest reads a proclamation of the historical event and the parade dissolves into general celebrations.

The festival is a regional celebration and many expatriate locals living abroad make the annual pilgrimage to come back and see their friends and families for the occasion.

The God of Medicine, known as Wu Pen in life, or as the Great Emperor Pao Sheng after his ascension to Heaven, was said to have been taught by the legendary Taoist queen of the west, who summoned him to her jasper pond, taught him how to combat all manner of evil spirits and ills and regaled him with a medical compendium which far exceeded the knowledge of his times. His patients thought him a god and one story tells of how he brought the skeleton of a young man who had been eaten by a tiger back to life, simply with a balm made from burnt paper prayer-slips. One wonders what the pharmacological industry would make of him today...

The date for this festival relies on the lunar calendar and while we have been as accurate as we can, please check with the local tourist office before you travel.