The Soul Guiding Array, also known as “khan-bông kua-tīn” in Taiwanese, is a form of parade formations unique in Taiwan, commonly performed during funeral ceremonies.
The first one suggests it originated from China; the second posits it evolved from storytelling, traditional opera, or folk performance to funeral rituals in local Taiwan.
[1]: 12 There are scholars that combined these theories and evidence to propose that the formation of Soul Guiding Array was the result of the fusion of folk beliefs, religious funeral practices, and partially the Fujian-originated “séance song.” Combined with the forms of storytelling, Taiwanese opera, and Che Ku music and Conducted through the religious ceremony of soul-redeeming, this amalgamation has become the funeral ritual known as the Soul Guiding Array.
[4]: 24 [5]: 35 While commonly performed at funerals, there were claims that the Soul Guiding Array could take place at temple fairs and on the wedding eves.
Its main purpose is to guide the departed souls through the underworld to the Western Pure Land through the divine guidance.