The Tainan citizen's lifes are closely related to many Chinese gods and temples. Traditionally, the Chinese people step into adulthood when they are 16 year old. In Tainan, there is a large ritual celebration for all 16-year-olds on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, also known as the Qiniangma’s (七娘妈) birthday. This is an unique celebration that only takes place in Tainan. In the past, families with children working in the harbour took the advantage of this ceremony to show the employers that their children should be paid in adult rate after it. People there usually visit the temple of Wenchangdijun (文昌帝君), the literacy god, to pray for good luck. There are usually many final year high school students preparing for their university exams that will visit the temple in June before the exam. Those people asking for marriage will visit Yuelao (月下老人), which is also known as the god for marriages. Besides these, there are also many other reasons why people there visit the temples. For example, it may be because they are simply praying for good luck to celebrate god's birthday or consulting with the other world. In Tainan, their wedding ceremonies consists a series of complex processes that are very detailed. Both the groom and bride needs to prepare 12 specific gifts that has different meanings during the engagement ceremony. People there believe that the complexity of it is a sign of being civilized.
(done by Ow Wen Xuan)
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