Detailed Introduction
Step into a temple's Hall of Light and you'll find a whole wall -- sometimes a towering lamp-pagoda -- packed with thousands of tiny lamps, each bearing a person's name, never going dark. These are the bright lamps. Every year before Lunar New Year the queues to register stretch long, because lighting a lamp is one of the most important acts of faith by which Taiwanese people greet the New Year.
Meaning and Origin
The bright lamp stands for the "yuanchen" -- each person's natal star. Folk belief holds that everyone has a star of their own in the heavens; when its light dims, fortune sinks and the road ahead grows unclear. To light a bright lamp is to rekindle that natal star, so the way forward shines and fortune flows. The custom blends the Taoist idea of the "natal lamp" with the Buddhist tradition of "lighting lamps as an offering to the Buddha," forming a lamp-lighting culture distinct to Taiwan. Each little lamp, name-inscribed and burning day and night, stands for the deity's constant watch.
Types and Purposes
Taiwanese temples offer many kinds of lamp, each for a different wish:
- Bright Lamp: the most common, for safety and a bright road ahead; suited to everyone, the most basic and popular choice.
- Tai Sui Lamp: a must for those whose zodiac clashes with the year's Tai Sui (direct or partial), to pray for calamity to disperse and a safe passage; usually paired with "pacifying Tai Sui."
- Wealth Lamp (God of Wealth Lamp): for prosperity and thriving business, especially popular with businesspeople, salespeople, and stock traders, often set in the wealth-god hall.
- Wenchang Lamp: for exam luck and open wisdom, most often lit by students, and considered most potent at Wenchang Dijun temples (such as Taipei Wenchang Temple and Lukang's Wen Temple).
- Marriage Lamp: for a good match and romance luck, often lit by singles at Yue Lao temples; the one at Taipei's Xiahai City God Temple is the most famous.
- Medicine Buddha Lamp: for health and recovery from illness, most common at temples enshrining the Medicine Buddha.
- Peace Lamp: similar to the bright lamp, the name some temples use.
Registration and Cost
Registration usually opens from the twelfth to the first lunar month, covering the whole coming year (from the first day of the first month to New Year's Eve). You provide your full name, birth data (lunar year, month, day, and hour), and address, and the temple inscribes the lamp seat. Costs vary by temple, from a few hundred to a few thousand NT dollars. At famous temples the bright-lamp slots often can't meet demand -- big temples like Taipei Longshan Temple, Dajia Jenn Lann Temple, and Beigang Chaotian Temple frequently sell out before Lunar New Year, and some now open online registration.
After Lighting a Lamp
- A lit lamp doesn't mean all is well; you still have to strive and better yourself. As the folk saying goes, "Lighting a lamp is no match for accumulating virtue" -- a reminder that doing good is the true foundation.
- Some temples hold "fortune-mending" assemblies at the Lantern Festival, on the main deity's birthday, or on the first and fifteenth of each month, to bless those who have lit lamps.
- The lamp burns all year, and if it goes out midway the temple relights it. Most modern temples use LED bulbs in place of the old oil lamps -- safer, and less apt to go out.
- At year's end some temples hold a "thanking the lamp" rite, to thank the deity for a year's protection and to remind worshippers to renew for the coming year.
- If you light a lamp for a family member, it's best to get their consent first -- registration requires personal birth data, and some hold that it shouldn't be done on another's behalf without permission.