Temples, incense, and pollution

taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003650808

Okay, bla bla bla… but wait!!

:astonished:

Are they actually supposed to do something about it, or just monitor it? :ponder:

Exactly. Temples will now know when they are poisoning the neighborhood but not much else will change.

Never mind the temples–it’s the factories I worry about. I’ll believe there’s some change when they start regulating what these guys are doing.

Guy

Its time to stop all burning of ghost monies, I feel. Just burn a credit card once then the ghost is set for “life”.

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Interesting. Good they’re at least thinking of doing something. It doesn’t take a PM2.5 detector though to tell when and why the temples are polluting the air, while the “green”/“eco-friendly” certification BS is just good news for the company that issues said certificates. And this idea in particular:

would just lower hygiene standards if implemented, and achieve nothing tangible for the environment. There are some other ideas in the article but it mostly looks like a PR exercise to me, although I hope I’m wrong.

You’re back! :bow:

But what if Visa/MC/etc. isn’t enough, or what if the card expires? Better burn a few every year just in case, plus cash for emergencies… :unamused:

genius.

Not Taoyuan, but here’s another temple development:

The device’s purpose is to remind temple officials and worshipers of
the level of pollution, allowing them to make adjustments accordingly,
Day said, adding that possible solutions include not using incense, or
giving only one stick of incense to each group of visitors as a “token
tribute.”

:astonished:

But what will the ghosts and gods say?

The deities will not care if we do not burn incense, as long as we are sincere, Lin said.

However, another worshiper, surnamed Kuo (郭), said that while temples could burn less incense, an incense wand is required to convey the wishes of mortals to deities.

Someone needs to tell the other side’s representative office to stop sending mixed messages! :ghost: :skull: :skull_crossbones: :rolling_eyes:

The concentration of PM2.5 particulates remained high even after the reduction in the number of incense burners, especially on the first and the 15th day of each lunar month, and Huang said the temple considered removing all the incense burners at one point, but it aborted the plan after many worshipers implored temple authorities to keep at least one incense burner on the premises.

Meanwhile in Tainan:

The Tainan City Government’s Bureau of Civil Affairs is promoting bread and milk sticks emulating ghost money and incense typically burned at temples to improve local temple culture.

The innovations were developed by draftees who opted for work terms in place of their compulsory military service under a new government initiative.

If it keeps them off drugs, great!

The bakery said it uses powdered purple yam, raspberry and pumpkin to print images on the bread that can be used in temple rituals the same way ghost money is offered.

As long as the resulting PM 2.5 is lower, great! :smile:

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I just hope they do not remove/throw away the incesnse burner with atogas!

Which temple is that?

Longshan. Instead of dragons, the burner has little Dutch men holding the “ceiling”.

EDIT:
It is right there on the picture

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Then there’s this…

Wow, so tourists deserve to breathe fresher air than local residents? I never realized that pollution was a matter of face…國家門面 and all that.

Yeah, how are the tourists supposed to get to the attractions if they can’t waddle off their busses, or are those busses ok? Would love to know the contribution of BBQ charcoal to the polution levels here, I’m sure its immense. :smirk:

Oh, now I get it! It’s the hats. :tophat:

And the faces/dress. Really cute. They belong in a museum. They say they ended up there after the Dutch were defeated.

Dunno if it counts, but we have similar regulations in the ol country as the car exhaust damages the historic buildings and monuments’ marble. It is washed off, but still does not help. Makes things look grey and yucky.

Ah, someday we will do without fossil fuel and maybe breathe clean air.

there are lots of stores who burn paper twice a month. also not good if you happen to be eating nearby with ashes flying in your food

Some mortals are upset about the government’s efforts to encourage reduction of burning.

A poster calling for religious groups to bring the statues of their gods to Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei on Sunday to protest against the government’s plan to reduce the burning of incense and joss paper is pictured yesterday. The demonstration is organized by Wude Temple in Yunlin County’s Beigang Township.