Deity birthdays, known as shendan (神誕) or, in Taiwanese usage, simply as a deity's sheng (生), as in Tiangong Sheng or Mazu Sheng, are set by the lunar calendar. Their Gregorian dates therefore shift from year to year, sometimes by close to a month, and temples differ on whether to hold a second celebration in a leap month. This list also includes seasonal worship days such as welcoming and sending off the household gods and the Weiya year-end feast.
The same deity does not always have the same birthday everywhere. Different founding temples, different lineages of incense, and the practice of also marking a deity's enlightenment, ascension or ordination all produce variation. Guan Gong, the Third Prince and the Earth God, for example, have additional festival days in some regions, and Buddha's Birthday is observed on Vesak in much of Southeast Asia. The local temple's own announcement is the best guide to the actual date.
On a deity's birthday, worshippers commonly visit the temple to offer incense and gifts as a birthday tribute, while the temple may hold scripture recitations, rituals, opera performances for the gods, or divination to choose the next year's host (luzhu). Larger temples stage processions in which the deity's palanquin tours its territory, accompanied by performance troupes and firecrackers, with households setting up incense tables along the route. Many families also set out a simple offering table at home.
Dates follow the most common tradition; individual temples, sects and regions may celebrate on other days, so check with the local temple for actual events. Leap months are not repeated.
1st month
Birthday of Maitreya Buddha
1st day of the 1st month · Tue, Feb 17, 2026, Sat, Feb 6, 2027
Maitreya (Mile Fo, 彌勒佛) is regarded in Buddhism as the Buddha of the future. Chinese temples usually portray him as the laughing, pot-bellied monk with a cloth sack, a figure of tolerance and good cheer. Chinese Buddhism marks his birthday on the first day of the lunar year, so many people begin the new year with a temple visit, a vegetarian meal and New Year prayer services.
Welcoming the Gods Back
4th day of the 1st month · Fri, Feb 20, 2026, Tue, Feb 9, 2027
Folk belief holds that the Kitchen God and other household deities, sent off to report to Heaven on the 24th of the twelfth month, return on the fourth day of the new year. Families welcome them back (jieshen, 接神) with incense, candles, offerings and joss paper. A Taiwanese saying advises sending the gods off early and welcoming them late, so the welcome is usually held in the afternoon or evening.
Welcoming the God of Wealth (Powu)
5th day of the 1st month · Sat, Feb 21, 2026, Wed, Feb 10, 2027
The fifth day of the new year, called Powu (破五, breaking the fifth), traditionally lifts many New Year taboos. Shops often reopen on or around this day and worship the God of Wealth (Caishen, 財神) for good business. In northern China people eat dumplings on Powu, while in Taiwan businesses commonly hold a reopening worship with firecrackers. Some regions welcome the God of Wealth on the second or fourth day instead.
Birthday of the Patriarch of Qingshui
6th day of the 1st month · Sun, Feb 22, 2026, Thu, Feb 11, 2027
The Patriarch of Qingshui (Qingshui Zushi, 清水祖師) is said to have been a Song dynasty monk from Anxi in Fujian who meditated at Qingshui Cliff, prayed for rain, built bridges and gave out medicine. He became the guardian deity of Anxi emigrants. In Taiwan the best-known temples are in Sanxia, Wanhua (Mengjia) and Tamsui, where birthday rites and processions are held.
Birthday of the Jade Emperor (Tiangong Sheng)
9th day of the 1st month · Wed, Feb 25, 2026, Sun, Feb 14, 2027
The Jade Emperor (Yuhuang Dadi, 玉皇大帝), called Tiangong (天公, Lord of Heaven), is the highest deity in folk religion. In Taiwan and southern Fujian the main rites take place around midnight between the eighth and ninth days. Families set up a two-tier altar with vegetarian food, tea and noodles above and meat offerings below, burn special joss paper, and often tie whole sugarcane stalks to the table. Temples are crowded all night.
Birthday of the Heavenly Official
15th day of the 1st month · Tue, Mar 3, 2026, Sat, Feb 20, 2027
Taoism honours the Three Officials (Sanguan Dadi, 三官大帝) of Heaven, Earth and Water. The Shangyuan festival on the fifteenth of the first month, the same day as the Lantern Festival, is the birthday of the Heavenly Official, who is said to bestow blessings. Temples to the Three Officials hold birthday and blessing rituals, and many households offer glutinous rice balls.
2nd month
Birthday of the Earth God (Tudigong Sheng)
2nd day of the 2nd month · Fri, Mar 20, 2026, Tue, Mar 9, 2027
The Earth God (Tudigong, 土地公, formally Fude Zhengshen 福德正神) protects neighbourhoods, fields and businesses, and his shrines range from roadside niches to large temples. The second of the second month is his birthday and also Touya (頭牙), the first of the year's twice-monthly business offerings, marked with meat, peach buns and joss paper. Some parts of Taiwan hold an autumn thanksgiving to him on 8-15.
Birthday of Wenchang Dijun
3rd day of the 2nd month · Sat, Mar 21, 2026, Wed, Mar 10, 2027
Wenchang Dijun (文昌帝君) governs literary fortune and examination success. His cult combines a local deity of Zitong in Sichuan with the Wenchang star group. Taiwanese students often visit before exams, leaving copies of their admission tickets and offering scallions, celery, radish and buns or rice dumplings, whose names pun on cleverness, diligence, good luck and passing.
Birthday of Taishang Laojun
15th day of the 2nd month · Thu, Apr 2, 2026, Mon, Mar 22, 2027
Taishang Laojun (太上老君) is the deified Laozi, honoured as the Celestial Worthy of the Way and Its Virtue, one of the Three Pure Ones of Taoism. Taoist temples hold birthday rituals and scripture recitations on this day. Traditionally some trades that work with fire, such as blacksmiths, metalworkers and kiln operators, also revere him as their patron.
Birthday of Guanyin
19th day of the 2nd month · Mon, Apr 6, 2026, Fri, Mar 26, 2027
Guanyin (觀世音菩薩), the bodhisattva of compassion who hears the cries of the world, is among the most widely venerated figures in Chinese society, found in both Buddhist and folk temples. Chinese tradition marks her birthday on 2-19, with her enlightenment on 6-19 and her renunciation on 9-19. Devotees often eat vegetarian food, chant sutras and offer flowers and fruit.
3rd month
Birthday of Xuantian Shangdi
3rd day of the 3rd month · Sun, Apr 19, 2026, Fri, Apr 9, 2027
Xuantian Shangdi (玄天上帝), also called Zhenwu, the Perfected Warrior, and in Taiwan Shangdi Gong, guards the north. He is shown with loose hair and bare feet, treading on a turtle and a snake. Mount Wudang in Hubei is his great centre. In Taiwan, Shoutian Temple at Songboling in Nantou is especially popular, and branch temples often make pilgrimages there around his birthday.
Birthday of Baosheng Dadi
15th day of the 3rd month · Fri, May 1, 2026, Wed, Apr 21, 2027
Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝), popularly Dadao Gong, is held to have been Wu Tao (吳夲), a Song dynasty physician from the Tong'an area of Fujian who was deified as a god of medicine. Well-known Taiwanese temples include Bao'an Temple in Taipei's Dalongdong, which holds a cultural festival around his birthday, and Ciji Temple in Xuejia, Tainan, known for its ancestral homage ceremony.
Birthday of the Sun God
19th day of the 3rd month · Tue, May 5, 2026, Sun, Apr 25, 2027
The Sun God (Taiyang Xingjun, 太陽星君), popularly Taiyang Gong, personifies the sun that lights all things. Custom calls for an offering table facing east in the early morning. A folk explanation current in Fujian and Taiwan links the date to the death of the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, saying Ming loyalists honoured the sun to remember the fallen dynasty; this is best treated as legend.
Birthday of Zhusheng Niangniang
20th day of the 3rd month · Wed, May 6, 2026, Mon, Apr 26, 2027
Zhusheng Niangniang (註生娘娘), the Lady Who Registers Births, oversees conception and childbirth. She is often enshrined in side halls of Mazu or Guanyin temples, accompanied by twelve midwife attendants. Couples hoping for a child pray to her and return to give thanks after a birth, offering oily glutinous rice, sesame-oil chicken, flowers and cosmetics. Families also pray for newborns on her birthday.
Birthday of Mazu
23rd day of the 3rd month · Sat, May 9, 2026, Thu, Apr 29, 2027
Mazu (媽祖), honoured as Tianshang Shengmu and in Hong Kong and Macau as Tin Hau (天后), is said to have been a woman surnamed Lin from Meizhou in Song dynasty Fujian who rescued people at sea. She is a central deity in Taiwan, coastal southern China and Southeast Asia. The third month is pilgrimage season in Taiwan, when the Dajia and Baishatun Mazu processions draw huge crowds of walking devotees.
4th month
Buddha's Birthday (Bathing the Buddha)
8th day of the 4th month · Sun, May 24, 2026, Thu, May 13, 2027
This day celebrates the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha (釋迦牟尼佛). Legend says nine dragons sprayed water to bathe the newborn, so temples pour fragrant water over a statue of the infant Buddha. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea use 4-8 of the lunar calendar, and some Taiwanese Buddhist groups combine it with Mother's Day. Malaysia and Singapore celebrate Vesak instead, while Japan holds its flower festival on 8 April.
Birthday of Lü Dongbin
14th day of the 4th month · Sat, May 30, 2026, Wed, May 19, 2027
Lü Dongbin (呂洞賓), one of the Eight Immortals, is revered as Fuyou Dijun and in Taiwan as Xiangong, and is one of the deities in the Enzhugong (恩主公) tradition. Zhinan Temple in Taipei's Muzha is a well-known site. A popular joke says couples who visit together will break up, a notion temples generally reject. Birthday rituals are held on this day.
Birthday of Shennong
26th day of the 4th month · Thu, Jun 11, 2026, Mon, May 31, 2027
Shennong (神農), the Divine Farmer, is said to have taught people agriculture and tasted plants to discover medicines, so he is honoured as the patron of farming and herbal medicine, also called the King of the Five Grains. Farmers pray to him for good harvests and traditional pharmacists also revere him. Taiwan has many temples to him, which hold birthday rites and opera performances.
6th month
Guanyin's Enlightenment Day
19th day of the 6th month · Sat, Aug 1, 2026, Thu, Jul 22, 2027
Chinese folk tradition marks 6-19 as the day Guanyin (觀世音菩薩) attained enlightenment, one of her three annual festivals. Buddhist and Guanyin temples hold services and chant the Universal Gate chapter or the Great Compassion Mantra, and devotees often keep a vegetarian fast. Temples where Guanyin is the main deity, such as Longshan Temple in Taipei, see larger crowds.
Birthday of Guan Gong
24th day of the 6th month · Thu, Aug 6, 2026, Tue, Jul 27, 2027
Guan Gong (關公), the Three Kingdoms general Guan Yu, embodies loyalty and righteousness. Revered as the Martial Sage, he is also a patron of trustworthy business and a main deity of Taiwan's Enzhugong tradition, as at Xingtian Temple in Taipei. Taiwan generally marks his birthday on 6-24, while some places also observe days such as 1-13 or 5-13.
7th month
Birthday of Qiniangma
7th day of the 7th month · Wed, Aug 19, 2026, Sun, Aug 8, 2027
Qiniangma (七娘媽), the Seven Ladies or Seven Star Maidens, are protectors of children in Taiwan and southern Fujian, and Qixi is their birthday. Families with children under sixteen offer cosmetics, flowers, oily rice and sesame-oil chicken, and burn a paper pavilion for the goddesses. In Tainan, sixteen-year-olds go through a coming-of-age ceremony known as Zuo Shiliusui (做十六歲).
Birthday of the Earthly Official (Zhongyuan)
15th day of the 7th month · Thu, Aug 27, 2026, Mon, Aug 16, 2027
Taoism marks 7-15 as the birthday of the Earthly Official (Diguan Dadi, 地官大帝), who pardons sins; the same day is the Buddhist Ullambana festival. Communities hold the Pudu (普渡) feast for wandering spirits and also honour ancestors. Taiwan's observances are large, notably the Keelung Ghost Festival and the pole-climbing contest (qianggu, 搶孤) in Toucheng, Yilan.
Birthday of the Queen Mother of the West
18th day of the 7th month · Sun, Aug 30, 2026, Thu, Aug 19, 2027
The Golden Mother of the Jasper Pool (Yaochi Jinmu, 瑤池金母), better known as the Queen Mother of the West (Wangmu Niangniang), lives in myth at Kunlun and keeps the peaches of immortality. In Taiwan her modern cult grew from Hualien, and halls of the Cihui Tang (慈惠堂) network are found island-wide. They hold birthday services with peach buns, flowers and fruit.
Birthday of Ksitigarbha
last day of the 7th month · Thu, Sep 10, 2026, Tue, Aug 31, 2027
Ksitigarbha (Dizang Pusa, 地藏菩薩) is known for vowing not to become a Buddha until the hells are empty, and is invoked for the salvation of the dead. Mount Jiuhua in Anhui is his great pilgrimage site. Chinese tradition places his birthday on the last day of the seventh month, when Taiwanese folk belief also closes the gates of the underworld. Temples chant the Ksitigarbha Sutra for the departed.
8th month
Birthday of the Kitchen God
3rd day of the 8th month · Sun, Sep 13, 2026, Fri, Sep 3, 2027
The Kitchen God (Zaojun, 灶君, also Siming Zhenjun) watches over the household from the stove and, according to legend, records the family's deeds to report to Heaven at year's end. In Taiwan his birthday is commonly marked on 8-3 with a simple offering in the kitchen or family shrine. The year-end send-off is more widely observed than his birthday, and dates for both vary by region.
Birthday of the Moon Goddess
15th day of the 8th month · Fri, Sep 25, 2026, Wed, Sep 15, 2027
The Moon Goddess (Taiyin Niangniang, 太陰娘娘), called Yueniang (月娘) in Taiwan, personifies the moon, and her birthday falls on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Traditionally families set an offering table in the courtyard or on a balcony with mooncakes, pomelos and fruit, a rite once led mainly by women, praying for family reunion. Some places in Taiwan also worship the Earth God that day.
Birthday of Guangze Zunwang
22nd day of the 8th month · Fri, Oct 2, 2026, Wed, Sep 22, 2027
Guangze Zunwang (廣澤尊王), popularly Guo Shengwang, is said to have been a filial youth surnamed Guo from Nan'an in Fujian during the Five Dynasties period, who passed away in meditation while young and was then worshipped locally. His founding temple is Fengshan Temple at Shishan, Nan'an, and the cult spread with Quanzhou emigrants to Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Temples hold birthday rites on this day.
9th month
Birthday of the Third Prince (Nezha)
9th day of the 9th month · Sun, Oct 18, 2026, Fri, Oct 8, 2027
Marshal of the Central Altar (Zhongtan Yuanshuai, 中壇元帥) is Nezha, the Third Prince (Santaizi, 三太子), a boy warrior who commands the spirit armies of the five camps. He is seen as a protector of children, and some parents have their child become his godchild. Giant Third Prince puppets, including the dancing Techno Third Prince, are a familiar sight at Taiwanese festivals. Most temples celebrate on 9-9, others on different dates.
Guanyin's Renunciation Day
19th day of the 9th month · Wed, Oct 28, 2026, Mon, Oct 18, 2027
Chinese folk tradition marks 9-19 as the day Guanyin (觀世音菩薩) left home to pursue the religious life, the last of her three annual festivals. The idea is tied to the legend of Princess Miaoshan, who left the palace to practise. Temples hold services and repentance rites, while devotees eat vegetarian food, recite the Buddha's name and do acts of charity.
10th month
Birthday of the Water Official (Xiayuan)
15th day of the 10th month · Mon, Nov 23, 2026, Fri, Nov 12, 2027
The Xiayuan festival on 10-15 is the birthday of the Water Official (Shuiguan Dadi, 水官大帝), last of the Three Officials, who is believed to dispel misfortune. Taoist and Three Officials temples hold birthday and misfortune-removing rituals. Traditionally it was also a time of post-harvest thanksgiving, though in Taiwan today it is far quieter than the Shangyuan and Zhongyuan festivals.
11th month
Birthday of Amitabha Buddha
17th day of the 11th month · Mon, Jan 5, 2026, Tue, Dec 14, 2027
Amitabha (Amituofo, 阿彌陀佛) presides over the Western Pure Land, and reciting his name is the core practice of Pure Land Buddhism, highly influential in Chinese Buddhism. The 11-17 date is generally traced to the birthday of the Chan master Yongming Yanshou, later regarded as Amitabha's manifestation. Temples hold Amitabha services or multi-day recitation retreats.
12th month
Buddha's Enlightenment Day
8th day of the 12th month · Mon, Jan 26, 2026, Fri, Jan 15, 2027
Chinese Buddhism marks the eighth of the twelfth month, the Laba Festival, as the day Shakyamuni (釋迦牟尼) attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree. Since the Buddha is said to have received a bowl of milk porridge from a herdswoman before his awakening, temples cook Laba porridge to offer and share with the public, one of the explanations given for eating porridge on Laba.
Weiya (Year-end Feast)
16th day of the 12th month · Tue, Feb 3, 2026, Sat, Jan 23, 2027
Businesses traditionally make offerings to the Earth God on the 2nd and 16th of each lunar month, called zuoya (做牙). The 16th of the twelfth month is the last of these, Weiya (尾牙). After the offering, employers host a feast to thank staff, and in Taiwan people eat gua bao (刈包), whose shape is likened to a purse. Modern company Weiya banquets feature lucky draws and shows, and may be held on other days.
Sending Off the Gods
24th day of the 12th month · Wed, Feb 11, 2026, Sun, Jan 31, 2027
Legend says the Kitchen God and other household deities return to Heaven at year's end to report on the family. People offer sweet rice balls, candy and maltose so the gods will speak kindly, and burn paper horses and joss paper to carry them. Taiwan and southern Fujian send the gods off on 12-24, while much of northern China honours the Kitchen God on 12-23, known as Xiaonian (小年). A thorough spring cleaning usually follows.
Common customs for temple visits and offerings
Traditionally visitors enter on the dragon side (the right as you face the temple) and leave on the tiger side (the left). Many temples have you start at the Jade Emperor censer in the forecourt before moving to the main and side deities; the order and number of incense sticks vary, so follow the temple's signs.
Offerings depend on the deity. Buddhas and bodhisattvas usually receive only fruit, flowers and vegetarian food, while Taoist and folk deities may receive meat offerings (shengli, 牲禮), often a set of three or five. For the Jade Emperor's birthday the custom is a vegetarian upper table with tea and noodles, and a lower table with meat for his attendant deities.
Birthday offerings often include peach-shaped buns (shoutao, 壽桃), longevity noodles, red turtle cakes or steamed rising cakes, symbolising long life and prosperity. Food is usually taken home afterwards and shared as a blessing.
Joss paper differs by recipient: Tian jin (天金) for the Jade Emperor and other high deities, shou jin (壽金) for most deities, gua jin (刈金) or fu jin (福金) for the Earth God and similar figures, and silver paper (銀紙) for ancestors and wandering spirits. Names and combinations vary considerably between northern and southern Taiwan, so shops and temples can advise.
In recent years Taiwan's environmental authorities and many temples have encouraged burning less incense and joss paper, merging censers, donating to charity instead of burning paper, or using centralised burning. Some temples have removed incense burners and no longer accept food offerings, and visitors simply pray with joined palms.
When consulting the deity with moon blocks (jiaobei, 筊杯), one flat side up and one round side up is a yes; two flat sides up is a laughing answer and two round sides up a no, after which people usually rephrase or ask another day. Rules on how many throws are needed differ between temples.