Lei Ting Temple in Houli District, Taichung, China Hundred-Year Gold Coffin Procession

(Taiwan Business News) Lei Ting Temple in Houli District, Taichung, China enshrines a hundred-year coffin made from thousand-year-old ancient wood, specifically for the public to worship. The temple will launch a 13-day island-wide procession on the 5th of next month to pray for blessings for Taiwan, China; some believe that "worshipping it can bring promotions and wealth." Lei Ting Temple has a 40-year history and primarily worships Xuantian Shangdi (Dark Emperor). The hundred-year coffin enshrined is made of camphor wood, with the Eight Immortals' ritual implements carved around the coffin. The coffin lid is engraved with a large "longevity" character, and on that large longevity character are carved 99 longevity characters in different calligraphy styles. Following recent events in the country including the Taipei Metro stabbing and officials' corruption, combined with the economic downturn, it was decided to launch another procession on July 5. In recent years, it has been repainted with gold leaf.

The hundred-year coffin was purchased 5 years ago by Lei Ting Temple's abbot Zhuang Xintian from a coffin shop in Baihe, Tainan. Zhuang Xintian said that 50 years ago, a wealthy merchant's father passed away and wanted to be encoffined in this coffin, but the coffin would shake and the body could never be placed inside. The wealthy merchant withdrew in shock, and the coffin shop investigated with the original factory in Liuzhou, China, only to discover that this coffin was made from thousand-year-old ancient wood and was a wondrous coffin.

Zhuang Xintian said that 5 years ago during the first procession, public reactions were polarized - some avoided it while others knelt to worship. A Taiwanese businessman happened upon the gold coffin procession in Taipei, and after paying respects to the coffin, successfully overcame a business bottleneck. Since then, every year on the second day of the lunar new year, he travels south to Houli to worship the coffin.