The Beigang Wude Temple in Taiwan demonstrates a commitment to existing traditions while engaging in technological innovation. The organization engages in various divinatory practices on its temple grounds--integrating traditional methods with cutting edge technology. This paper uses textual sources and ethnographic methods to explore the temple's integration of traditional divinatory practices (i.e., Chinese spirit writing, divination) with a robust online presence, including an extensive website and social media outlets.
The temple's construction of a virtual world with 500,000 Facebook followers and a comprehensive website and YouTube! presence is augmented onsite by the organization's use of artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize characters in spirit written text using optical character recognition, as well as its use of other technologies. The temple further integrates technology with its onsite operations through the use of customer relationship management (CRM) software to manage the flow of visitors to the temple and to gain an accurate accounting of those numbers. The use of this software began during the Covid-19 pandemic as a means to meet government requests to track and limit the number of visitors to the temple.
Under the leadership of former financier Li Anle, the temple has increased the numbers of visitors (i.e., pilgrims, local members, tourists) to its grounds. The grounds are extensive and include a cafe, gift shop, hotel, and conference center. Li has maximized the temple's online presence through the organization's website, YouTube!, Instagram, and Facebook. Li explains that, from his perspective, the organization's adoption of AI to recognize and catalog spirit written texts is a natural evolution of the practice. The temple also uses CRM software, license plate recognition software, and one "auxiliary robot" on the temple grounds. According to Li, part of the reason for the organizations use of technology is to appeal to a younger audience.
In terms of material culture, the temple offers consumer goods through its online and onsite gift shops. The products sold range from environmentally friendly clothing and "ghost" money to books of revealed texts. Although the temple is officially registered with the Taiwanese government as a Daoist establishment, it integrates Buddhist and Confucian iconography and scriptures into its practices.
Scholars such as Philip Clart, Vincent Goossaert, and Paul Katz have studied modern and historical Chinese spirit writing practices in mainland China and Taiwan. Margaret Chan has extended the study of spirit writing into the popular sphere with her articles on spirit writing and popular culture in Singapore and other South East Asian countries where Chinese is widely spoken. This paper aims to build upon and expand existing scholarly research through an exploration of the use of technology and the concept of innovation of traditional practices through a case study of the Beigang Wude Temple. Unlike many temples dedicated to spirit writing, this organization worships Wu Caishen, one of the Chinese gods of wealth, as its principal deity. Despite the focus on Wu Caishen and garnering fortune in one's life, its spirit writing practices prioritize healing and followers are dissuaded from seeking guidance from the deity about other matters.
The Wude Temple can be taken as a robust example of how a religious organization in Southeast Asia has adopted technology across various spheres of the organization--integrating its use into core functions, ranging from spirit writing to managing the flow of visitors through the temple and auxiliary structures.
The Beigang Wude Temple in Taiwan utilizes cutting edge technology in its divination practices and on its temple grounds. This paper uses textual sources and ethnographic methods to explore the temple's integration of traditional divinatory practices (i.e., Chinese spirit writing, divination) with a robust online presence, including an extensive website and social media.
The temple's construction of a virtual world with 500,000 Facebook followers and a comprehensive website and YouTube! presence is augmented onsite by the organization's use of artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize characters in spirit written text using optical character recognition as well as its use of other technologies. The temple further integrates technology with its onsite operations through the use of customer relationship management (CRM) software to manage the flow of visitors to the temple and to gain an accurate accounting of those numbers.
The temple demonstrates a commitment to existing traditions while engaging in technological innovation.