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AmoyMagic--Guide to Xiamen & Fujian
Copyright 2001-7 by Sue Brown & Dr. Bill Help Build an online community for foreigners. Join the Xiamen Guide forumOrder Books Common Talk Xiamen Dailys Weekly English SupplementXiamenguide Forum Guide to Xiamen and Fujian business tourism history culture cuisine entertainment investment Guide to Xiamen hsiamen amoy fuhken fukien
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Fujian Firewalkers!
Tong'an Links Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Tong'an Main PageIllustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Su Song--Tong'an's Renaissance Man Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Tong'an Museum Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Matang Village--Xiamen's #1 Village  Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Philosopher Zhuxi Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Fujian Firewalkers Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Confucius & Confusionism Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Parks & Attractions

T¨®ng ¡¯¨¡n Firewalkers¡ªSoul ¡®n Sole Practitioners claim modern fire-walking in Overseas Chinese communities began right here in T¨®ng ¡¯¨¡n, where it¡¯s practiced on the 15th day of the 3rd Luny month¡ªthe birthday of T¨®ng ¡¯¨¡n¡¯s ¡°God who protects life¡± (B¨£osh¨¥ng D¨¤d¨¬, ±£Éú´óµÛ).

Baosheng Dadi (or, W¨² BenÎâ‰ú) was born in 979 A.D. in T¨®ng ¡¯¨¡n. As a youth, Ben read voraciously, and could recite long passages after reading them but once. He served as an Imperial Censor and then became a hermit in the mountains. During the great famine of 1032, he had rice sent to the starving peoples of Qu¨¢nzh¨­u and Zh¨¡ngzh¨­u, and miraculously cured a great epidemic the following year. Alas, Ben laden with cares, he died four years later at the ripe old age of 58; probably a victim of burnout.

His home village built the ¡°Temple of W¨²¡± (W¨²mi¨¤oÎâÃí) for this ¡°True Man¡± (Zh¨¥nr¨¦n ÕæÈË, Taoist ¡®perfected person¡¯). Almost 400 years later, gentle Ben showed up in disguise and cured Emperor Y¨¯ng L¨¨¡¯s (ÓÀÀÖ) mother of an incurable illness. The grateful Emperor enlarged Ben¡¯s temple to palatial proportions, and gave him the humble title of, ¡°Palace Censor who Ascended to Heaven, True Lord of the Miraculous Way of Compassionate Salvation, and Eternal and Unlimited Lord who Preserves Life.¡± Today, W¨²¡¯s temples are all over the mainland and Taiwan. T¨¢ib¨§i¡¯s ¡°Bao¡¯3¨¡n Gong Preservation of Peace Palace¡±, first built in 1805, is one of the city¡¯s three greatest temples.

On W¨² Ben¡¯s birthday, villagers place small idols of the god in palan-quins¡ªwith great care to insure he is both physically and spiritually secure, for were the god to get heated up over anything it is possible the firewalkers are likely to get the hot foot as well.

Hundreds of pounds of charcoal are burned for an hour or so, and then levelled off to form a path about six feet wide and thirty feet long. A Taoist priest purifies himself, and the firewalking area, and then a procession of men in white, bearing the deity in his palanquin, parade around the fire¡¯s perimeter. The priest then kneels at the south end of the fire, wearing only black shorts, and wielding his divine sword. He performs esoteric gestures, and then shovels rock salt onto the hissing coals.

After the priest sprints across the coals, the procession kicks ash as well while bearing the heavy palanquin and idol. After the ceremony, onlookers scoop up the coals and take them home for good luck.

Firewalkers earn much merit, but not always without a few blisters and burns. Unlike other firewalkers, Tong ¡®An firewalkers are not in trances, and attribute their success to the Taoist priest¡¯s preparations, strict diet, and purity. So they either toe the line or toast their tootsies.
Nowadays, even Westerners are on fire about firewalking¡¯s benefits for sole and soul, with firewalking schools claiming to cure stress and burnout. But I suspect this firewalking fad will fizzle out eventually. Or maybe not...

Physics Professor Walks on Fire
(Adapted with permission. LiveScience, Aug. 14, 2006)
Thanks, Live Science Science Technology Health and Environmental NewsLivescience!  Visit their site (one of my favorites).Prof. Willey of University of Pittsburgh Johnstown

¡°Professor David Willey doesn't use chalk and formulas to spark his students' interest in thermodynamics. He walks on fire.

¡°¡®Nothing gets a student's attention like the possibility that I might kill myself,¡¯ said Willey, this year's winner of the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
¡°The ritual of walking on fire has existed for thousands of years...

¡°Around the world, from Greece to China, cultures set trails ablaze for rites of healing, initiation, and faith.

¡°In the United States, firewalking has become popular as a team spirit-building business for corporations as well as a so-called alternative health remedy...

¡°While no one should try to do this without proper training from an experienced firewalker, any healthy person can walk on fire, as long as it's not too hot, according to Willey. It's a matter of stepping up to the start line with courage and training your brain to get your foot to take the first step.

¡°¡®You could keep on going forever and ever,¡¯ Willey told LiveScience. ¡®It's just a question of how much wood you want to cut.¡¯¡±

Tong'an Links Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Tong'an Main PageIllustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Su Song--Tong'an's Renaissance Man Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Tong'an Museum Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Matang Village--Xiamen's #1 Village  Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Philosopher Zhuxi
Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Fujian Firewalkers Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Confucius & Confusionism Illustrated Canon of Materia Medica” (Bencao Tujing????)Parks & Attractions

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