Carrying incense ashes from Fujian and Guangdong regions, immigrants introduced the Wang Ye belief system to Taiwan during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In some areas, the faithful would let the ritual Wang Ye boat float naturally. Wherever the boat landed, residents would perform the ritual again before sending off the boat. It is a ceremony to prevent the spread of pandemic, which is one of the ways the Wang Ye folk belief system was spread. Due to the wind direction and sea currents, the Wang Ye belief is quite popular in Penghu and the southwestern coastal area, developing local characteristics that reflect the local interactions and relationships with creek and sea currents, and the living conditions.

 

The belief in Wang Ye is wide-spread in Taiwan, and the particular Wang Ye system may vary depending on the location, including the god of plagues, ghost, and heroic spirit. Known as “Wang Ye Gong” or “Thousand-Year Lord”, due to the wet and humid environment and the needs of immigrants, the deity has been localized to serve the function of expelling plagues, protecting the land, and keeping peace for the people. In addition, in some areas, Wang Ye serves as an envoy of the Jade Emperor, relied on by the public to conduct “disease-hunting patrols on behalf of heaven”.

 

The details of the Wang Ye belief is complex, and the ritual date differs in various locations due to different deity characteristics. Most rituals are scheduled on the birthday of the deity. For example, at the Nankunshen Daitian Temple in Tainan, during the deity's birthday, the local deities that originated from Nankunshen all return to the mother temple to pay respect. Another example is Yunlin’s Maming Mountain Zhen-An Temple that is part of the thousand-year Wang Ye quinquennial ritual system, which holds a grand ritual on October 27th in the lunar calendar once every four years to pray for peace. Rituals that welcome the Wang Ye’s hunting patrols on behalf of heaven combines the ceremony to expel plagues and diseases, discrete patrols at night on behalf of heaven, the Wang Ye boat taking an "Earth River Voyage", or incineration of the boat for a "Heavenly River Voyage" to send off Wang Ye, who would escort the plagues and diseases to leave.

The rich and diverse ceremonies welcoming the deity, the Wang Ye boat send-off, ritual preparation, and incense division ceremonies and activities preserve various ritual etiquettes, and drive the development of folk parade performances. In addition, the woodworking and pasted-paper sculpture craftsmanship showcased on the Wang Ye Boat demonstrate the continuance of historical heritage and the vitality of folk customs. The origin and spread of the Wang Ye belief also shows the close relationship between the land and the sea, and people’s imagination about diseases, enabling the public and the society to remain calm and stable when faced with any pandemic. Currently, various folk customs and activities related to the Wang Ye belief, including craftsmanship and the art of parade performances, are already under the protection of the cultural asset system, with a three-year preservation maintenance plan in place.