台北霞海城隍廟,霞海城隍廟,霞海月老,霞海城隍廟月下老人

The Matchmaker is the Deity of love and marriage in Chinese mythology. He is holding a marriage appointment book and red threads. Everyone’s ideal partner is written on the marriage appointment book. It is said that everyone has an invisible red thread on his wrist. The Matchmaker is the deity who helps you search for whomever is on the other end of the thread. In 1971, an elderly lady wanted to thank the City God for granting her the wishes. She donated a statue of the Matchmaker to the temple, wishing the deity would help those people who want to get married soon.

1.Prepare a set of God money and three incense sticks before praying, they are provided to visitors at the god money stand.

2.A special offering to the Matchmaker is needed for those who pray to the matchmaker for the very first time. The offering, containing 2 pieces of lead money, a red thread, and sugar, is available at the counter.

3.Light up three incense sticks.

4.Stand in front of the incense burner, pray to the sky god: briefly introduce yourself, for example, your name, age and your address. Pray to the sky god to give blessings on everything.

5.Get your offering at the counter; pray to the City God, the Matchmaker and the other deities. While you are praying, you have to introduce yourself briefly to the gods, such as your name, age, address, and the personality of the person you would like to meet. ( when you get married, you have to bring a box of engagement cookies to express your gratitude.)

6.Pray to Yi-Yong Gong: They will keep all the wicked away, even if the wicked are invisible spirits. They give blessing to everything.

7.Pray to the wife of the City God: The wife of the City God blesses married couples to have a good relationship and family.

8.Pray to the Buddha: The Buddha blesses visitors to have wisdom, peaceful minds and good fortune.

9.Place 3 incense sticks together in the incense burner. You can have some engagement cookies or cakes; you will get the luck from the newlywed couples, and remember to drink blessed tea outside the temple.

10.After praying, you leave the sugar in the temple. The sugar will be used in the making of blessed tea.

11.Circle the red thread and the lead money 3 times clockwise above the incense burner outside the temple. Then keep them in your wallet.

12.Put your god money in the box. We will burn the god money for you. Thank you for your cooperation.

1.A red thread:The Matchmaker helps you to search for

　　　　　　　 the one on the other end of the thread.

2. Lead money: “Good chemistry” and “lead” are homophones in Taiwanese.

　　　　　　　The lead money will bring you a good chemistry in your love life.

3. Sugar:The offering contains 6 packs of sugar. “Six” and “to scoop up”

　　　　 are homophones in Taiwanese.The six packs of sugar

　　　　will help you get the one you love. And the sugar is left to

　　　　 the temple as the ingredient to make the blessed tea.

P.S. People who pray to the Matchmaker could bring some red dates and the Chinese wolfberries as the offerings to the Matchmaker and pray for good health. Praying with flowers is good for getting married soon.

In both China and the West, Valentine's Day is notable for its happy atmosphere. Over the course of the day, many single men and women pray to the Matchmaker for happiness in their current relationship or attend the festivals looking to find suitable partners. Especially during Chinese Valentine's Day, the temple uses the sum of its resources in coordination with the Datong District Office to hold the Datong District Matchmaking Activity, which has been held for the past three consecutive years. Using the temple Matchmaker and the festival as a common cause, the temple invites everyone to visit Dihua street in Datong to celebrate and experience local fare, herbal medicine, cloth and tea. The temple also collaborates with the Taipei City Bureau of Cultural Affairs to put on the Taipei Xia Hai Matchmaking Activity, held for the past six consecutive years, so in the Banqiao Lin Family Garden, the visitors can experience Chinese opera, recreational activities, oracle poem commentaries and traditional marriage role playing games in which someone might play the bride or ride in the wedding palanquin, etc. No matter where you are on Valentine's Day, the matchmaker intends to make you happy and blissful.

August 15th in the lunar year, the Moon Festival, is the birthday of the Matchmaker. The Chinese believe that the full moon on lunar August 15th is the brightest and roundest. The day is also known as the Reunion Day. August 15th is the best time for the single to pray for a happy love life. The City God temple will share a 9-tier birthday cake with all the temple visitors on the day. Visitors will experience the feeling when dressing up in the traditional Taiwanese wedding dress, and sit in the wedding wooden palanquin. The single can picture themselves on a traditional wedding. All the worshipers surely receive the blessings from the Matchmaker.