Taiwan Religious Culture Map

The Quianshuizang ceremony consists of a series of rituals to assure the salvation of those who have met their death through drowning. Qianshuizang includes:
1. Making the shuizang (large cylinders made with specially decorated paper on bamboo frames, which when spinned, are used to guide spirits lost in water to salvation): In the early days, shuizang were made by local residents and delivered on the day of the ceremony. The modern version is made by the Taoist priests and distributed at the temple.
2. Guiding the spirits to take their place: Taoist priests invite and greet the deity statues of Wanshan Temple and then perform the “lighting” ritual, thus imbuing the statues with spiritual power. A drumroll marks the official beginning of the qianshuizang ceremony
3. Reciting Scriptures to the Gods
4. Releasing the Water Lanterns: Water lanterns are released to induce lost souls in the water to come forward and accept salvation.
5. Passage to Salvation: This ritual is also called the Horse Ride to Salvation, because the rituals are conducted by a Taoist priest leading a horse while offering up prayers to the gods to grant salvation to the souls of the deceased.
6. Shuizang Procession: The shuizang are lined up at Jinhu Wanshan Temple and Xiahugang Wanshan Temple. These long rows of ritual cylinders are one of the most impressive scenes of the entire event.
7. Mantra Recitation and Repentance Ceremony
8. Activating and Spinning the Shuizang: In this ritual, Taoist priests first recite sutras to invoke water spirits to come and purify the souls of the deceased; then participants spin the shuizang to mourn for the deceased.
9. Banquet Offering: The deceased are then invited to partake of banquet of offerings prepared for them.
10. Pushing the Shuizang: The shuizang are pushed over to symbolize the souls’ successful passage to salvation.
11. Burning of the Shuizang: At the conclusion of the entire ceremony, the shuizang are burned in an expression of appreciation to the gods.

The latter syllable of the word shuizang is also pronounced zhuàng in Taiwanese, meaning “to spin.” In Taoist teachings, two kinds of spinning rituals are employed to help the deceased receive salvation. Xiezang (blood spinning) is used for blood-related deaths such as those of women who die in childbirth, while shuizang (water spinning) is used for those meet death through drowning. Zang are cylindrical columns made of bamboo and paper, which are used as a sort of spiritual engine to guide deceased spirits to salvation. The making of shuizang requires the use of Makino bamboo that is at least two years old. The bamboo is split into strips to make four large hoops and four smaller hoops. The small hoops are strung together to form a tube, which is then encased in the four larger hoops. Bamboo cross-sections link the large and small tubes together, forming a cylinder within a cylinder. The inner cylinder is pasted with white, gray, or light colored paper decorated in a floral pattern. Vertically, the cylinder consists of three sections which represent the underworld, the water realm, and the heavens. Images of twelve deities are pasted from top to bottom, including the Seventh and Eighth Masters (escorts to the underworld), Tudigong (the God of Soil and Land), and Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy). A flight of paper stairs leading upward is pasted in the bottom center of the shuizang. At each corner of the cross-sections is affixed a triangular pennant marked with the name of the deceased. During the ritual, descendants pat and spin the shuizang, indicating to the spirit the route it should take and helping it to free itself from each of the underground levels to find salvation.

The salvation ceremony at Kouhu Wanshan Temple actually involves two separate rituals, the quianshuizang ceremony and the yoke-borne meal offering. In this ceremony, local residents place offerings and meals in baskets which they hang across their shoulders on a carrying yoke. They then proceed on foot to deliver the food to their ancestors at the Wanshan Temples in Kouhu and Sihu. The ceremony is held on the 7^th day of the sixth lunar month. Those who are not able to participate in the march themselves set up a shrine outside their front door and pray in the direction of Wanshan Temple. The extraordinary number of annual participants forms an impressive line that snakes towards the temple. The ceremony illustrates the cultural and spiritual significance of this act of reverence for and remembrance of the ancestors.

According to legend, during the Great Flood of Jinhu in 1845, there was one local resident, Chen Ying-xiong, who was known to be a good swimmer blessed with a powerful physique and exceptional strength. When the flood struck, he rushed home to save his mother, but arrived too late. While outside his collapsed home, he heard the cries of a group of eight children nearby. Despite the roaring current, he leaped into the water to save the children. Unfortunately, all nine were lost to the flood. Residents dubbed him “the great humanitarian” and erected a statue known as the Water Hero to commemorate his heroic act. The statue is now worshipped in Jinhu Wanshan Temple. A notable characteristic of the statue is that eight children cling to the Water Hero, a memorial to his selfless act.