COVID-19 is affecting every aspect of life in Taiwan, even time-honored seasonal customs. In western Taiwan’s Yunlin County, one such custom has even had to be halted for the first time in many years.
There is an old tradition that water drawn from wells at noon on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival has special properties that drive away evil and ill fortune. There are many ways to get this water’s benefits: you can drink it straight, use it to make tea, or simply use it to wash yourself.
Any well will do—it’s the timing that counts, after all—but some old wells are far more popular spots for getting this special water than others. For instance, there’s a century-old well in western Taiwan’s Yunlin County where long lines form each year during the Dragon Boat Festival.
This probably has to do with the fact that this well sits right next to a venerable old temple, Beigang Chaotian Temple, and people think the gods add their blessings into the water.
This year, the Dragon Boat Festival fell over last weekend, and as usual, people came to this part of Yunlin to take some well water home. They would be disappointed. They arrived to find the well covered and padlocked. The idea was to keep people from gathering in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. The temple next door even asked for, and got special permission, from the revered goddess Matsu to stop the usual distribution of water.
Even the gods seem to agree that water, no matter how magical, is no match for COVID.