The communication with blood and flesh have much in common with that with bricks and stones. In our bedrooms, we don't use polished language or limit our topics. In a shopping mall, window displays talk to us in most luring and seductive tones. In school, we are forbidden to use any foul language. However, no one is born to speak the language of architecture, we must learn it. If you are ignorant of spatial language, you may not have a immediate life-or-death crises. However, you will miss out on a plethora of things that can inspire you.
Taiwanese craftsmen and masonry always use physical objects that have similar sounds to the positive but abstract things as decorations. It's a genius way to incorporate human language into architecture language. If worshipers "understand" a little bit of "Taiwanese temple language," they can't but feel the communication whenever they pass that place.
For example, on the right wall of Yi Gate at Taipei Confucius Temple is a ceramic solider holding a spear and a tablet. Together, they pronounce similarly to auspiciousness. "
On the left wall is a figurine that holds a flag and ball. They form the phrase in Chinese, meaning "praying for."
These two reliefs are just telling the worshipers that they are praying for auspicious for them.
Using physical objects that share similar phonetic symbols with positively abstract ideas is prevalent in all Taiwanese temples. It's actually a common practice. Of course, if the worshipers don't know the language, they will definitely be ignored. However, if they do, they will surely appreciate them and feel slightly better than those who don't, as they leave the temple to face their own problems in the difficult and lonely world.
