According to the Chinese folk tradition, the ninth day of the New Year is celebrated as the birthday of the Heaven. The Heaven is honored as the ruler of the universe and the leader of all the Deva Lords. Therefore, the Heavenly Offering conducted on this particular day is popularized in Taiwan. Buddhists do not take refuge in the heavenly beings. Why is the Heavenly Offering held in the Buddhist temple in Taiwan as well? The Heavenly Offering cannot be found in any Indian Buddhist texts. It appeared in Chinese Buddhism until Chih-yi, the Patriarch of Tian-Tai School, composed the Golden Light Repentance wherein the seats for the specific Deva Lords were set up. The Golden Light Repentance was revised by increasing more Deva Lords in the Song dynasty. Later on the Buddha and Heavenly Offering became one of the ceremonies conducted for the New Year in the Buddhist monastery during the Yuan dynasty. The Buddha and Heavenly Offering usually starts from 11:00pm and ends at the next noon after sending all the sages off. This ceremony takes a long time and used to be held in the midnight. Why does it still attract Chinese Buddhists? Is it significant and valuable for the function of therapy and education? The paper covers six chapters. Chapter one is preface. Chapter two defines the keywords and discusses the ignificance of the Buddha and Heavenly offering. Chapter three explores the origin and development of the Heavenly Offering. This Heavenly Offering is conducted based on the Suvarnaprabhāsottama-sūtra (the Golden Light Sūtra) and the Twenty-four Deva Lords invited are those who attended the Assembly of the Golden Light and pledged to protect all practitioners of the Dharma. Chapter four elucidates the content and procedure of the Buddha and Heavenly Offering. Chapter five explores the implicit function of therapy and education of the Buddha and Heavenly Offering. And Chapter six concludes all the preceding chapters.
