Can This end the coronavirus pandemic?

photo by Alicia Chen

From Alicia Chen and Lily Kuo, The Washington Post

DONGGANG, Taiwan - The ancient ritual began just before dawn. On a beach in southern Taiwan, thousands gathered as volunteers hoisted a 45-foot boat, lavishly painted in gold and red, on top of a mountain of joss paper. The crowd watched silently as organizers invited the gods aboard. "Prepare to light the firecrackers," a voice intoned over a loudspeaker.

The vessel quickly went up in flames.

The boat-burning ceremony in Donggang - a traditional Taoist festival that honours guardian deities known as Wang Ye - has protected Taiwan for decades, according to residents. Some say the ceremony helped stave off the worst of the SARS virus in 2003, while others say it has helped scare away typhoons. The Wang Ye are believed to patrol the world every three years hunting disease and evil, and taking them back to heaven.

This year, Wang Ye worshipers hope the ceremony - eight days of religious rites that culminated in the burning of a carefully crafted "king boat" on Oct. 31 - can help end the coronavirus pandemic. For Taiwan, which is just emerging from its worst covid-19 outbreak, the festival represented a return to normal life after months of restrictions.

"I hope the lords will curb the pandemic and make it vanish from sight in Taiwan and the whole world," said Chang Jung-hui, a 65-year-old Donggang native who has participated in the ceremony since he was in kindergarten.

Taiwan, home to 24 million people, has fared better than many of its neighbors during the pandemic. The island went 253 days without a new case in 2020 before an outbreak this year led to more than 14,000 infections and 823 deaths between May and October, though officials never enforced a full lockdown. Donggang, a fishing hub of 43,000 people, has recorded just three cases in the past year and none in five months, even as the delta variant spread in surrounding towns. To many, this is evidence that the last boat-burning ceremony, in 2018, worked.

photo by Alicia Chen

"It is a miracle!" said Lin Yi Chen, 35, one of the volunteers in the ceremony, who was delighted that the event was able to go ahead. "It's a sign of the power of the gods."

photo by Alicia Chen

More than 30,000 volunteers and onlookers came to this year's festival, according to police, fewer than in previous years because of crowd limits. Attendees traveled from across Taiwan, including fishermen who returned from months at sea for the festival. Others took time off work to attend.

"It's OK to lose your job, but you cannot miss the ceremony," said Lin Zhi-long, 48, one of the volunteers.