TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A troupe of temple deities drew attention online after photos surfaced Monday (Dec. 28) showing the spiritual guardians wearing face masks as a precaution amid concern over a recent local case of the Wuhan coronavirus.
On Monday, Zhong Dou Yuan Shuai Dian on Facebook posted images of Ba Jia Jiang (The Eight Generals, 八家將) being worshipped at a temple in Taichung while wearing colorful masks that were custom-made to match the exact face-paint design of each deity. Revered as gods and serve as the bodyguards of the highest-ranked god of a temple, the Ba Jia Jiang were represented by members of the temple bearing weapons, wearing traditional costumes, and made up in fearsome face paint.
The manager of the temple, Lin Po-chin (林伯駸), wrote that in order to cooperate with government epidemic prevention measures, members wore masks when they set out on a procession to Tainan on Saturday (Dec. 26). Lin added that even the temple's Five Generals had worn masks.
The post then included hashtags that in English translate to #Epidemic prevention starts with you and me and #Please always wear a mask when going out in public. The post soon gained over 4,400 likes, 1,700 shares, and 300 comments.
Lin was cited by Liberty Times as saying that he hopes depicting gods in masks will encourage the public to do their part to prevent the spread of the virus in Taiwan.
Taiwanese netizens were impressed with both the creativity of the mask designs and the message of epidemic prevention:
"Creative and aesthetically pleasing. Super awesome!"
"It's amazing that masks would be designed this way."
"This is a model temple."
"Thank you for doing your part for epidemic prevention in Taiwan."
"This is very creative. At first, I did not notice they were wearing masks."
"So cool. They can preserve local culture while still fighting the pandemic."
(Zhong Dou Yuan Shuai Dian photo)
(Zhong Dou Yuan Shuai Dian photo)
(Zhong Dou Yuan Shuai Dian photo)
(Zhong Dou Yuan Shuai Dian photo)
(Zhong Dou Yuan Shuai Dian photo)
