18
JULIAN PAS
does not play any role in the actual consultation; only 49 stalks are thus used. Although two sets of 49 oracles are found in the Taotsang, none has so far been spotted in actual use in Taiwan or other places.
A Sample Study in Taichung, Central Taiwan
My own research and collecting of samples in Taiwan started in 1977-78 and was continued in 1980. Each time when I visited a temple, I tried to obtain a few sample sheets of the oracles either hanging on a side-wall in the temple, or stacked away in specially built wooden cabinets with small drawers for each oracle. Whenever I came across a new variety, I asked the temple superintendent's permission to collect sample sheets of the whole series. I did not always receive a friendly welcome, but in most cases, the response was excellent, especially when I explained that I was studying and trying to understand all aspects of Chinese folk religion. A donation to the temple made all wrinkles of doubt disappear. In the autumn of 1978, I discovered W. Banck's publication, which increased my interest in this area but left quite a few questions unanswered. I hope he will soon complete his second volume. In the meantime, I decided to examine the relative frequency of each type of oracle sets and to test the possibility that the proper character or affiliation of a temple also indicates the type of oracles that can be found there. After collecting about 340 samples throughout Taiwan, I came to certain basic conclusions: the set of 100 oracles, called the Kuan Ti series (Banck #2), is always found in temples dedicated to Kuan Ti (obviously) but is also usually adopted in city god temples, and often but not always in temples in honour of Hsuan-t'ien Shang-Ti, Yu-huang Ta-ti, and even Sakyamuni Buddha. In other words, this oracle is almost never found in the temples honouring the common folk deities (there are a few exceptions). It is certainly not the most frequently found oracle, as will be pointed out below. By far, the most popular series is the 60 slips Matsu oracle (Banck #1).
Then I decided to take the city of Taichung as a sample case. It is located in central Taiwan and has a fast-growing population, being already over 600,000 inhabitants. The newly built harbour will continue to influence the city's growth for many years to come.
18
JULIAN PAS
does not play any role in the actural consultation: only 49 stalks are thus used. Although two sets of 49 oracles are found in the Taotsang, none has so far been spotted in actual use in Taiwan or other places.
A Sample Study in Taichung, Central Taiwan
My own research and collecting of samples in Taiwan started in 1977-78 and was continued in 1980. Each time when I visited a temple, I tried to obtain a few sample sheets of the oracles either hanging on a side-wall in the temple, or stacked away in specially built wooden cabinets with small drawers for each oracle. When- ever I came across a new variety, I asked the temple super- intendent's permission to collect sample sheets of the whole series. I did not always receive a friendly welcome but in most cases the response was excellent especially when I explained that I was studying and trying to understand all aspects of Chinese folk reli- gion. A donation to the temple made all wrinkles of doubt disap- pear. In the autumn of 1978, I discovered W. Banck's publication, which increased my interest in this area but left quite a few ques- tions unanswered. I hope he will soon complete his second vol- ume. In the meantime, I decided to examine the relative frequen- cy of each type of oracle sets, and to test the possibility that the proper character or affiliation of a temple also indicates the type of oracles that can be found there. After collecting about 340 samples throughout Taiwan, I came to certain basic conclusions: the set of 100 oracles, called the Kuan Ti series (Banck #2)," is always found in temples dedicated to Kuan Ti (obviously) but is also usually adopted in city god temples, and often but not always in temples in honour of Hsuan-t'ien Shang-Ti, Yu-huang Ta-ti, and even Sakyamuni Buddha. In other words, this oracle is almost never found in the temples honouring the common folk deities (there are a few exceptions). It is certainly not the most frequently found oracle, as will be pointed out below. By far the most popular series is the 60 slips Matsu oracle. (Banck #1)
Then I decided to take the city of Taichung as a sample case. It is located in central Taiwan and has a fast growing population, being already of over 600,000 inhabitants. The newly built har- bour will continue to influence the city's growth for many years to
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