Bamboo Forest Mountain Temple Divine Pig Contest Shows Painted Bread Eco-Pigs: Worshippers Value the Sincerity of Offering
Linkou's Bamboo Forest Mountain Guanyin Temple (note), named by animal protection groups as "holding the most divine pig events in all of Taiwan, China," is one of the few Guanyin temples (note) that still preserves a divine pig weight contest, holding three divine pig competitions every year; animal protection groups have long urged the temple and worshippers to stop encouraging the cruel killing of animals.
This year the turn to host the "Anniversary of Guanyin Bodhisattva's Enlightenment" fell to Guishan District's "Dahu Pingwei" ("pingwei" is a term for a rotating duty area), and the six participating villages reached a consensus to replace "real pigs" with "creative divine pigs"; the venue was filled with bread pigs, fruit pigs and eco-pigs, and worshippers competed to take photos as souvenirs, making them an alternative focal point of the sacrifice. Worshippers said that with offerings now following a fully vegetarian approach, residents are actually more accepting of it, and "the ritual effect can be achieved just the same."
Trivia: Some divine pig weight contests have been accused of restricting the divine pigs' movement and force-feeding them throughout the rearing period so they keep "fattening up," until they become so fat they cannot stand, are paralyzed, and their bodies are covered in bedsores; on the night before the ritual, they are also treated roughly, bound hand and foot and hoisted onto carts, and the slaughter process lacks humane methods such as electric stunning, instead cutting the throat directly to drain the blood. The events often draw outside criticism for suspected animal cruelty.
A Big Show of Creativity! Bread Pigs and Eco-Pigs Take the Stage
The 19th day of the 9th lunar month is Bamboo Forest Mountain's "Anniversary of Guanyin Bodhisattva's Enlightenment" each year. This year the sacrifice fell to Guishan District's Dahu Pingwei, with villagers from six villages taking part. At eight o'clock this morning (the 17th), the temple courtyard square was packed with crowds and a "pig tide," as "creative divine pigs" were carried into the venue one after another, among which only one "real pig" competed.
Dahu Village chief Cai Zhaozhi invited villagers to collect empty PET bottles, wash them and stuff them into plastic buckets to make the pig's body, decorate the exterior with discarded CDs, and cut a hole in a washbasin to make the pig's head, proudly presenting the "most eco-friendly divine pig." Cai Zhaozhi said the "eco-pig" not only promotes the idea of waste reduction but also brings residents together through the DIY process. "These are all made by our residents themselves, not bought ready-made. The divine pig will later be displayed in the village as a memento."
The "Pig" Is Merely a Symbolic Offering, and the Ritual Effect Is the Same
Dahua Village, Wenqing Village, Gongxi Village and Leshan Village also put out "bread divine pigs," each a giant divine pig assembled from sachima, biscuits and shaped pig bread.
Wenqing Village chief Jian Qiaoting said that taking the "creative divine pig" route this year was the consensus of the whole district, and a single real pig represented by the furnace master's family would suffice. "What matters in fulfilling a vow is sincerity; the 'pig' is just a symbolic offering. Our 'bread pig' will likewise be distributed to worshippers after the noon prayers, and everyone can still eat the blessed 'divine pig meat.'"
Leshan Village chief Huang Jinfang also spoke from the heart, noting that with offerings now following a fully vegetarian approach, residents are actually more accepting of it. Dahua Village said that since Guishan District now has many industrial zones and few pig farmers, the most convenient way to make offerings is to use fruit pigs and bread pigs instead, and "the ritual effect can be achieved just the same."
The "Painted Pig" Is Super Cute - Worshippers Say: What Matters Is the Sincerity of the Offering
As for the most eye-catching of all, there stood in the center of the venue a three-meter-tall pink painted pig, made with a wire frame covered in paper, painted on the outside in bright pink and purple and decorated with rice crackers. The advertising sign maker surnamed Chen who was in charge of making it said the divine pig took a week to complete, and he deliberately gave it big, cartoonish watery eyes. "Pigs' eyes are usually rather small, but I wanted to paint it cute so that children would want to come close."
Wenhua Village chief Huang Mingzhu explained the origin of this year's "painted pig," saying that society is now mainly industrial and commercial, and "many people actually don't know how to slaughter a pig, don't have the ability to slaughter a pig, and at the same time don't want to slaughter a pig." So a fun approach was chosen to present the image of the divine pig, which can likewise express gratitude to the gods, and the "painted pig" can afterwards also be available for people to photograph and enjoy together. He stressed, "What matters is the sincerity of the offering, and this must not be allowed to fade, but we have to find a way that most villagers can accept in order to keep building consensus and maintain the traditional faith."
