Religion
Nezha is regarded as a deity in Taiwanese folk religion and is called "Marshal of the Central Altar" (Chinese: 中壇元帥) or "Prince Nezha", the "Third Prince".
As in traditional folklore, Nezha flies around swiftly on his Wind Fire Wheels, so he is also regarded as the tutelary god of many professional drivers, like truck, taxi, or sightseeing bus drivers. They tend to place a small statue of Nezha in the vehicles for a safe drive.
The Xinying Prince's Temple in Tainan City, built in 1728, is the founding temple of the Prince's Temple in Taiwan.
Taiwan's Techno Prince Nezha dance groups (Chinese: 電音三太子) were invited to perform in the opening ceremonies of the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung and the Deaflympics 2009 in Taipei, presenting a fusion of popular culture and Taiwanese traditional art.
Nezha is a well-known Taoist deity in Japan. The Japanese refer to Nezha as Nataku or Nata, which came from the readings of Xiyouji or Seiyuki (西遊記) in Japanese.
Read more about this topic: Nezha (deity)
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“My great religion is a belief in the blood, the flesh, as being wiser than the intellect. We can go wrong in our minds. But what our blood feels and believes and says, is always true. The intellect is only a bit and a bridle.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The cloister and the observatory saint
Take comfort in about the same complaint.
So science and religion really meet.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“... it was religion that saved me. Our ugly church and parochial school provided me with my only aesthetic outlet, in the words of the Mass and the litanies and the old Latin hymns, in the Easter lilies around the altar, rosaries, ornamented prayer books, votive lamps, holy cards stamped in gold and decorated with flower wreaths and a saint’s picture.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)