Spirit Mediums Practice in Chinese Folk Religion come in 2 forms - 'Civil' (文) or 'Martial'（武):
- 'Civil' spiritual trance for Consultation means when a spirit medium is sitting down in front of the Altar to provide consultation service to the devotees.
- 'Martial' Spiritual Trance means when a spirit medium (while in trance of a deity) is performing body piercing rituals, Swinging Five Treasured Weapons, street procession, and performing exorcism etc.
Tankg-Ki Worship is a way for deities to give consultation directly to human folks who come and seek help on all kinds of problems, such as issues on health, relationship, money etc.
1) Slicing Of Tongues
Slicing of tongues with sharp blades by the Mediums are often seen during the Tangg-Ki Worshiping Event. This act is often performed so that the blood oozing out from the tongue can be used to empower paper or cloth talismans.
2) Extreme Piercing
Extreme Piercing are often performed during important celebration of Taoist Deities. During a birthday celebration of particular deity, other deities will also often be invited to join in the celebration. MORE ==> TAOIST EXTREME PIERCING
Tang-Ki Consultation is usually one or twice per week in most of the Taoist Temples or Home Temples.
It is a sad situation that the originated practice of Taoist Spirit Medium is no longer found in China but can only be seen in South East Asian Countries , such as Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Riau Islands. When the communists came to power in China, religious freedom of all types was severely curtailed. The communist government was particularly hard on Taoism and the Religious Taoist Practices were forced to stop.
Many Southern Chinese brought the knowledge of Tang-Ki Worship with them as they migrated to South East Asia.
In the early 1980s, as overseas Chinese returned to China for worship activities more frequently, folk beliefs began to revive in various parts of Southern China. However, parades and daily temple worship activities were not fully restored until the late 1990s.
Nowadays (2000s onwards), there is full revival of Spirit Mediums Practice for Consultation and also Spiritual Trance for Street Procession during Religious Festivals in the villages in Southern China, such as among the Fujian (Hokkien) Folks in Fujian Area , Chao Zhou (Teochews) Folks of Guang Dong area and the Hainese Folks in Hainan Island.
Oversea Chinese Folks in South East Asia still preserve their Folk Spiritual Practices for hundred of years and even until now.
Read More: The dilemma of Taoist Spirit Mediums