Jerome Yuchien's Ph.D Thesis
Chapter Five: The Deification of Stones and Tree (part II)
The Stone God of Tang-si Town (#S59) has been worshipped only for about fifteen years, since the lottery gambling "Dajiale" ("Everybody Happy") became popular.(note.4) I was told that a person of the town one day took pictures for entertainment on the hill. When the film was developed, he found a vague image of a god in the photo. He came back to the site where he took the picture and found the stone. As the news became widespread, the stone was since deified as the Stone God of Tang-si Town.
The Stone God represented by five stones (#S36; see figure 38), in yellow official gowns, is worshipped in Ka-ho Ward. According to Liu Zhiwan (1961:160), in the earlier period of the Ka-kheng Era (1796-1821 CE.) of the Qing Dynasty, some children found several stones with human appearance, when they were playing in a pond called In-tam-a (literally, the Round Pond). They felt it strange and began to worship them for fun. Suddenly, one of the children was possessed by the spirit of the stones. Villagers were surprised by the miracle and initiated a small temple for the stones and named them Chio-thau-kong (the Stone God).
About 60 years ago, a hamlet in Po.-ho Village, was called "Chio Lang-thau" (literally, stone head of human being). Some elders still remember that there was a stone on the side of a road in the village. A legend says that a driver of an oxen cart once urinated on the stone and, as a result, his cart broke down. He regarded the stone as an evil spirit and out of fear offered it some silver spirit money. Therefore, the villagers also regarded the stone as an evil spirit and kept it at a distance. Year after year, the stone was slowly pushed by rains into a stream beside where it had been located and villagers forgot the stone gradually. In 1984, a shaman of the Royal Lord of Ti, the patron deity of the biggest temple of the district, in trance found the stone again. He commanded the villagers to worship it, because he said that the stone had been deified as an deity. So villagers enshrined the stone and called the deity "Chio-lang Kong" (literally, Stone Man Grandfather) "Chio-thau Kong" (the Stone God) or the Literate and Militant Emperor of Po.-ho Village (#S38; see figure 40).(note.5)
2, With Special Location:
A big stone (#S43; see figure 45), located in Lai-o. District of Taipei City, is named "the Grandfather Yellow Stone (?-ch?-kong)". More than 50 years ago, a man came to the hill side to dig a coal shaft. The stone was located just beside the shaft. The man prayed to the stone that if the stone was divine please bless him to make money by mining coal. As a result, when he became rich, he enshrined the stone and worshipped it. Moreover, all coal miners for the shaft regarded the stone as their protector. Every time before they went down into the shaft, they made wishes to the god to bless them and keep them safe. When they got out from the shaft, they would bring offerings to the god for thanksgiving. Gradually, the stone became the local patron deity of the coal shaft and the village Chap-si-hun (literally, the Fourteen Shares).
The Stone God (#S52; see figures 56 & 57) of Pat-li Rural- town is famous in Taipei. The stone is not particularly huge but is the biggest and most distinguishing one of its surroundings. I think that it is because of its special location that the stone was deified.
Big stones located beside temples are susceptible to be deified. For example, next door to the Stone Goddess (#S2; see figure 2) Temple, a stone (#S3; see figure 3) is worshipped and named "Chio-ia" (literally, Stone Grandfather). Originally there was only a stone deity called Chio-buo (the Stone Grandmother). When the Temple of the Stone Goddess was rebuilt in 1983, building workers found a stone looking like a man under the foundation of the old temple. People believed that the stone, since it is apparently similar to a human being and had been under the stone temple for a long time, should be divine. They decided to deify the stone and enlarge the new temple to set the Stone Grandfather and the original Stone Mother together as a couple.
Beside the Tree God (#T8) of Kang-khau Ward, a stone is venerated as the Stone God (#S14; see figure 14). The stone has been apotheosised for more than 100 years, but no adherent knows the history of its deification. I think that it is its special location that made the stone deified.
3, With Unusual Origin:
During the Japanese colonial period, there was a flood in the area of Lek-biau Ward of Biau-liek City. As soon as the flood ceased, a human-shaped stone was found beside a river. The elders of the village regarded the stone as the manifestation of the Stone Goddess and worshipped it with incense. As a result, a temple was initiated for her (#S4; see figure 4) in 1911 and named "Temple of Stone Goddess (Chio-buo-liun-liun Su)
Below the hill called Chi-san Giam of Su-Lim District, there is a temple dedicated to the Stone God (#S50; see figures 53 & 54). The stone is not the biggest one around the hill, but because it is big, and partly embraced by a big tree, it is the most distinguishable. Nobody knows why or by whom the stone was deified. But the neighbours of the temple are very sure that it was originally worshipped by the Plain Aborigines before Chinese immigrants came to this area to cultivate. The neighbours told me that the Plain Aborigines probably worshipped the stone as the Mountain Deity or something. Chinese immigrants just followed the custom of these Plain Aborigines to worship the stone as the Stone God.(note.6)
4, With Unusual Appearance:
The most important factor that makes stones deified is unusual appearance. At least 32 stone deities were initiated for this reason.
The Stone God (#S34; see figure 36) located in front of Khe- te Land God Temple is a typical case. An informant living in this location told me that about 10 years ago, when a farmer cultivated his rice field, he found a beautiful round stone and put it at the courtyard of the Temple, which was the only public place of the hamlet. About five years ago, one day when the informant came to worship the Land God of the Temple, he recognised that some incense sticks had been put beside the stone. He guessed that the stone was deified by gamblers from outside the village. Therefore the villagers started to worship the stone as the Stone God.
A, With a Human Appearance:
Not far from the Stone God of ?n-lim Town (#S5; see figure 5), a stone with the appearance of human being is worshipped in a temple "Thai-an Kiong" (the Palace of Peace). The Stone God (#S6; see figure 6) here is about 200 cm in height and resembling a human being; therefore people call it the Stone God. Even though the God has thousands of nominal children and the Temple is now the belief centre of six hamlets, the believers know only that it was built at least in 1883 CE. (according to the date engraved on a stone censer in the temple) and do not know the origin of it. I believe that it is because of the human appearance that the stone has been deified.
A stone of about 30 cm high is worshipped as the Land God in the Land God Temple of Pe-go Village. Some villagers told me that it is the Land God while many say that it is the Land Goddess. However, they only remember that the Land God with human appearance (#S12; see figure 12) has been worshipped for more than 100 years and do not know its origin.
There is a stone with human appearance enshrined with some deity statues in the Land God Temple of Tua-un Village as the Land God (#S13; see figure 13) of the hamlet. Mr. Lim, a resident of the hamlet told me that it is the stone that the ancestors of the villagers chose to represent the Land God when they came to cultivate the area more than 100 years.
A standing stone is worshipped in Ho-peng Ward as the stone Granny (#S16; see figure 16). Villagers told me that it is the goddess Mazu (the Granny), but some say that it is Guanyin. Anyway, it is a goddess because the appearance of the stone resembles a goddess. Like the Stone God beside her, it has been deified since approximately 10 years ago and is worshipped mostly by lottery gamblers.
More than 100 years ago, a resident of Tek-san Town of Lam- tau County dug foundation for his new house and unearthed a stone with human appearance. Villagers considered the stone divine and deified as the Stone God (#S17; see figure 17) in Chi-lam Kiong (literally, Purple South Palace), the most important Land God Temple.
In front of the Tieng-ka-lo Land God Temple, a stone with human appearance is worshipped as the Stone God (#S18; see figure 18) in a hole in a tree that represents the Tree God (#T13; see figure 78). I was told that the Stone God was originally located in front of the Tree God more than a hundred years ago. When the courtyard of the Land God Temple was enlarged, the Stone God Temple was knocked down and the Stone God was put in the hole of the tree. However, though they know that the Stone God has been apotheosised for more than 100 years, they do not know for what reason it was deified.
