What Etiquette Should You Observe When Worshipping at a Taoist Temple?

Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism

China has long been known as “a land of ceremony and propriety.” In traditional society, rites were everywhere and at all times: there were rites for travel, for sitting and lying down, for banquets, for weddings and funerals, for birthdays, for sacrifices, for warfare, and so on. Taoism, rooted in the cultural soil of the Chinese nation, renowned as “a land of ceremony and propriety,” has a very complete and highly refined system of etiquette.

After its founding, Taoism, in forming its own distinctive etiquette, carried on Taoist philosophy and absorbed some of the courtesies of Confucianism and traditional Chinese ritual. Closely bound to indigenous Chinese culture and deeply rooted in Chinese soil, it has a distinctly Chinese, Eastern character.

Etiquette for Entering the Halls and Worshipping

1. Entering the Temple

When going to a temple to worship, you should know some of the rules. When entering a hall, one generally walks along the right side of the door (since Taoist temples and monasteries are mostly built facing south with their backs to the north, entering on the right means entering on the east side), or along the left side; one must not walk straight through the middle or take the central path. When walking, do not raise your voice; one should not make noise in the temple, but keep a sincere heart and settled qi.

If you enter the hall from the right, step in with your right foot along the right side of the main door—that is, if you go in on the east side, come out on the west side, and when coming out on the west side, again step with your right foot. Taoism says to enter from the east and leave from the west; this is going along with what is so of itself, following the natural law of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, a concrete expression of taking nature as one’s model.

2. Burning Incense

In worship, five kinds of offerings—incense, flowers, lamps, water, and fruit—are commonly placed on the altar. These are called fasting offerings, and each of the five has its own rules and taboos.

The etiquette of offering incense

There are certain customs when burning incense. Specifically:

(1) Take three sticks of incense and light them holding them in your left hand (the left hand forming the single white crane hand seal), while the right hand brushes back the sleeve. When lighting them, if there is an open flame, do not blow it out with your mouth; wave it out up and down, or fan it out with your right hand.

(2) Facing the sacred image, raise the incense with both hands and bow respectfully.

(3) Plant the incense. When planting it, likewise use your left hand. The three sticks should be planted straight and level, no more than one cun apart (to express the “square-inch heart,” one’s sincere heart).

The space between the sticks must not exceed one cun; Taoism holds that if it does, the gods will not believe you. It is also said that the square-inch heart moves the gods. Planting the incense straight and level requires a focused heart and settled qi. Burning incense teaches us many lessons: why plant it level? So that your heart is at peace and your qi harmonious. Why plant it straight? So that your heart is upright. Why keep it within an inch? For the sake of the square-inch heart. These are the basic rules of burning incense.

3. Offering Flowers

Today, the flowers of the four seasons—plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo—are generally regarded as the finest flowers to offer to the gods, followed by narcissus, peony, and lotus.

For fresh flowers used to honor the gods, a pure fragrance is most important. Flowers with no fragrance at all, or with a strong, unpleasant smell, must not be used.

4. Offering Lamps

Lamps used at the altar must be lit with pure sesame oil; oil made from the fat of the six domestic animals must not be used, or it will defile the gods.

5. Offering Water

Taoists call the water offered at the fasting altar the nectar of seven treasures. Unboiled water and unclean water must not be used.

6. Offering Fruit

Fruit must be washed clean and dried before it is offered.

Round fruits are best, roundness signifying completeness. In general, apples are offered for their meaning of safety and peace; tangerines for great luck and profit; oranges for having one’s wishes come true; bananas are the “fruit of prosperity,” which businesspeople especially like to offer; kiwifruit, also round, signify completeness; and grapes, because there are so many of them, signify abundant fruit. All have auspicious meanings. But among offerings of fruit, a few kinds must not be offered.

The first is the plum (li). Plums may not be offered to Lord Lao the Most High (Taishang Laojun), because Lord Lao’s surname was Li, and so it is taboo.

Pomegranates may not be offered to the Perfected Warrior (Zhenwu), Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven, because pomegranate seeds only sprout and grow after passing through the bowels, which would profane the god; so pomegranates may not be offered.

Pears (li) may not be offered either, since people generally avoid pears for their association with parting (li). These are some of the taboos on fruit offerings. Fruit is generally offered five to a plate, with five plates in all for one altar.

7. Kneeling and Bowing

Generally one bows first to the image in the middle, then to the one on the east, and then to the one on the west. For Taoism says the east belongs to the Azure Dragon and the west to the White Tiger, and the east governs life, so one first kowtows to the immortals on the side of the Azure Dragon.

There are two kinds of Taoist kneeling bow: one bow with three kowtows, and three bows with nine kowtows.

The one bow with three kowtows is performed on ordinary days; the grand rite of three bows with nine kowtows is generally performed on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, on the birthdays of the patriarchs, and during certain major Taoist religious events.

The specific method of one bow with three kowtows:

(1) Stand in front of the kneeling cushion (prayer cushion) with your feet in a V shape, heels two to three cun apart.

(2) While bowing the body, bring both hands together in front of the abdomen, clasped, and raise them from below upward (to the level of the mouth).

(3) The left hand leaves the right and covers the heart (a scattered mind is a great taboo in Taoism; covering the heart shows that one honors the gods with a single, still heart). At the same time bend down calmly, press the right hand on the cushion, and kneel on both knees. Immediately, the left hand leaves the heart and is placed on the back of the right hand, forming a cross. When kneeling, men kneel “in a broad patch,” that is, with their legs apart, and women kneel “in a single line,” that is, with their legs together.

(4) Prostrate yourself and kowtow, touching your head to the backs of your hands (the head and spine should go down together; the buttocks must never be higher than the head—having the buttocks higher than the head is a breach of decorum). At this time, practice visualization of the face of the god in your heart and pray sincerely.

(5) Raise your head, bring the left hand back to cover the heart, push with the right hand, and slowly rise, bringing the right hand back as you do; clasp the hands and raise them high, ready for the second kowtow.

When we kowtow, our hearts must first remain calm and serene, and body and mind very joyful. To stand before the shrine hall with your mind still on worldly trivia is not right. When kowtowing, the principle is to settle the mind and nature within and to value dignified deportment without.

To settle the mind and nature within means that your heart should be perfectly calm, without a single thought arising; before you there are only the gods.

The specific method of three bows with nine kowtows:

The bow: Cross the hands in front of the abdomen: put the left thumb into the hollow between the right thumb and index finger and press the base joint of the right ring finger (the Zi mark); the right thumb presses the tip joint of the left middle finger (the Wu mark); and the remaining four fingers of the left hand enfold the right hand. Outwardly this forms the “diagram of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji),” and inwardly it presses the “Ziwu seal,” signifying “embracing the origin and guarding the One.” When bowing, the hands are level with the nose and must not go higher than the nose. Then, palms inward and backs of the hands outward, draw an arc and slide the hands down onto the chest; the right hand draws an arc downward and around to the right, while you bow the body.

The kowtow: Press the right palm down on the cushion; the left hand leaves the chest and circles in an arc downward, left and right, and rests on the back of the right hand, overlapping it to form a cross. Kneel on the cushion with both knees at the same time, with both forearms resting on the cushion together, the tips of the two elbows and the two knees in one straight line, and touch your head to the backs of your hands. Raise your head, bring the left hand back to cover the heart, then immediately bring back the right hand, clasp the hands again as before, and rise and stand steady. This is one bow and one kowtow.

When three bows and three kowtows have been completed in this way, step back half a pace and bow once more; with this the three bows and three kowtows are complete.