Taiwanese celebrate festivals so
passionately and devotedly. The Chinese New Year, the Dragon Boat Festival, and
the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival are Taiwan's three major annual traditional
holidays. Others include Lantern Festival, Ghost Festival, and so on.
Ø 新年Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year is celebrated from the
first to the fifth day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is
considered the most important Chinese holiday of the year.
There are a number of related customs and
traditions that go along with the festival. Families gather together for a New
Year’s Eve dinner and adults give the younger members of the family red
envelopes with cash inside. This monetary gift is thought to bring peace and
good fortune to the recipients. Firecrackers are the must play to welcome the
arrival of the New Year.
Ø
元宵節Lantern Festival
The 15th of the first month in
lunar calendar is Lantern Festival. Discovery Channel recommended the Taiwan
Lantern Festival as one of the best holiday celebration events!
People guess riddles in front of the
temple. Firecrackers and colorful fireworks are set off and hand-held lanterns
or torches are lit. Besides, almost every Chinese festival has
a must-eat food; in this case, we must eat sticky rice ball. The more you eat,
the older you will be.
During the event, we also release the
lanterns up to the sky like shooting stars. We write our wishes on the lanterns
and let them fly to the God. Tradition has it that the “sky lantern” was
invented to transmit military information. People release “sky lanterns” into
the air as a prayer for the coming year. Sky lanterns were released to follow
the wind, rising up to the ancestors to report that all was well and to pray
for blessings. The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival was voted
by the Discovery Channel as the second biggest New Year’s Eve celebration in
the world.
The Yanshui Beehive Rocket Festival in
Tainan County is another major event during the Lantern Festival. It is ranked
as the third largest folk celebration in the world and is one of the most
representative religious events in all of Taiwan. With hundreds of thousands of firecrackers
all going off at the same time, it is a cacophony like hundreds of thousands of
bees streaming out of their hives.
More than a century ago, there used to be a
terrible disease in Yenshui and many people died. In desperation, the local
residents called for their gods. Guan Gon, God of brotherhood and justice told
these people to set off firecrackers to make the deadly disease go away.
Nowadays, people believe the “baptism of fireworks” gets rid of calamity and
troubles, sweeps away noxious influences and brings increasing good fortune.
Ø
端午節Dragon Boat
Festival
The 5th of the 5th
month in lunar calendar is the Dragon Boat Festival. The most common customs
are holding dragon boat races and eating rice dumplings called zongzi. It is
closely related to the remembrance of Qu Yuan, a poet who lived during the
Warring States Period. Legend has it that when Qu Yuan jumped to his death in
the Miluo River in order to show his loyalty, the local people rowed their
boats to search for him.
The practice of
making zongzi came from the people who tried to save Qu Yuan from
being eaten by fish by stuffing rice into bamboo sections and throwing them
into the river to feed the fish. Rice dumpling is wrapped in bamboo leave,
and inside are rice, mushroom, egg yolk and meat.
Ø
中元節Zhongyuan Festival
The seventh month of the Chinese lunar
calendar is Ghost Month. Traditionally, it starts from the first day of the
month, when the gates of the netherworld open, and ends on the 29th day of the
month, when the gates close. During the Ghost Month, we have a series of
activities. On the 15th day, every household has to prepare meat, fruit,
fresh flowers, and other sacrificial items such as praying cash and incense,
which they offer to the “hungry ghosts”.
Taiwanese people burn praying cash and
place food by the grave. We believe our ancients need those cash and food in
hell. Some ghost are not that lucky, most of them didn’t have family when they
were alive, don’ t even mention about food or money, that is why we prepare
food for them.
The launching of water lanterns is to help
light the way for the lost souls in the water, call the souls to come on land
to enjoy the offerings prepared for them, and pray for the early reincarnation
of these souls. It is also said that the further a lantern floats on the water,
the better the fortune that the clan it represents will enjoy in the coming
year.
Qianggu, Grappling with the Ghosts, is a
pole-climbing competitions held during the Ghost Month. In the early days,
people migrating to Yilan from China were beset by natural disasters, accidents
and diseases, and many of them died. Because they became afraid that nobody was
going to be left to make offerings after they were gone, and that their souls
would have nowhere to go, every year during this festival they held
pole-climbing ceremonies to remember those who had passed away.
Another saying is that this is to scare
away lingering spirits and people seize sacrificial goods after the Ghost
Festival is over. The tower consists of pillars made of China fir, 11 meters
tall and 8 meters wide, with 7 or 8 meter bamboo trestlework on top. Squid,
rice dumplings, rice noodles, meat, fish, and other foods are tied to the
trestlework. Team members must climb on top of each other to reach the top of
the trestlework and pillars, which are covered in oil. Reaching the top, they
cut down the food and throw it to the frame below, where it is taken by
spectators. Whoever claims the wind banner at the top is declared the winner.
Ø
中秋節Mid-Autumn
Festival
The 15th of the ninth month is
the Mid-Autumn Festival, also called the Moon Festival, which is the holiday
with the most romantic atmosphere. We will have BBQ party and family reunion.
When watching the biggest and the roundest moon on this day, people can see
there is something on the moon! Long time ago, a woman named Chang-e ate a kind
of medicine too much that will keep people young forever so she was sent to the
moon. Besides Chang-e, there’s a rabbit because God was angry about Chang-e so
he changed her into a rabbit to make more medicine!
Important activities at this time include
eating moon cakes, which symbolize unity and togetherness; strolling under the
full moon; and eating pomelos, since the Chinese term for pomelo sounds like
"care and protection".
Ø
豐年祭Harvest Festival
of the Amis tribe
The Harvest Festival is the largest
festival of the Amis tribe, one of the indigenous people to thank the spirits
for blessing them the plentiful harvest. Different
villages hold separate festivals during July and August; the festival has three
stages, including welcoming the spirits, feasting the spirits, and sending the
spirits off.
Ø
媽祖遶境Mazu
Procession Festival
Mazu is the most preeminent folk deity in
Taiwan. She was born to a fishing family in the year 960. As a baby who never
cried, her parents named her Lin Mo-niang (林默娘), which
means "silent maiden". It turned out that she was not ordinary girl
but one with superpowers to heal the sick, predict the weather, and dispel
evil. Once when her father and brother went fishing and were trapped by a
raging typhoon, Lin wielded her superpowers to save them and other fishermen.At
the age of 28, she climbed to the top of her hometown's highest mountain,
ascended to the sky, and became the Empress of Heaven. Since then, fishermen
reported that Lin would appear to guide them when they got lost in the ocean.
Initially, Mazu just blessed the sea for
fishermen. But as time went by, people would pray to her for health, career,
farming, relationship, and all sorts of concerns. She has become a guardian
angel for Taiwanese people. Mazu’s birthday falls on March 23rd of the Chinese
lunar calendar, and celebrations dedicated to her are held in temples.
The Mazu Procession is for her to check on
her people, spread her blessings, and repel evil for them. It is one of the
most important and largest folk culture events in Taiwan. The actual date and
time for offering incense to Buddha during the Taichung Dajia District
Pilgrimage is not fixed but is determined by casting moon-shaped divination
blocks during the Lantern Festival. In accordance with tradition, during the
8-day, 7-night pilgrimage there are eight primary ceremonies: prayers for
peace, mounting the palanquins, the departure of the procession, the arrival of
the procession, prayers for prosperity, wishes for longevity, the return of the
procession, and the safe reinstallation of the statues. The complex and
creative Mazu-worshipping ceremonies and activities have been listed by
Discovery Channel as one of three major religious festivals in the world.
Pioneering the procession, there is usually
a group of people wearing ritual costumes and performing exaggerated gestures. Worshipers
on foot usually have their backpacks transported by worshipers who drive
through the way. Those who feel too tired from walking could rest in the cars
as well. Kindness is shared, friendships are built between strangers.
During the procession, people get in line
to crouch under Mazu's palanquin so that it passes over them. Such ritual
represents believers' dedication to her, and their belief that they will be protected
by Mazu in the years to come. For Mazu worshipers, participating in the
procession is a must in their lives. To be part of the entourage is a practice
with which followers show their faith for Mazu.
Ø
東港燒王船Taiwan’s boat burning festival
The burning of the plague god boat is a
folk ritual to get rid of the disease. Began during China’s Song Dynasty (960
to 1276), the festivals have long died out in China but remain vibrant in many
southern Taiwanese communities. Held once every three years, around the ninth
month of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Donggang boat-burning celebration runs
for eight days and seven nights.
The festival begins with a beachside
ceremony to invite the plague-protecting gods (known as the Wang Yeh, or Royal
Lords) back to Earth. First, Wang Yeh bearers walk over fire to purify
themselves before entering the Donglong Temple. During the festival, the
boat is pulled around town to absorb the disease and misfortune of the local
communities. The boat is then loaded with goods such as rice and money for its
journey back to heaven and the temple guardians hold a sublime final feast for
the Royal Lords.
People write their hopes and fears on paper
that will later be burned with the boat. On the last day of the festival, the
boat is hauled to the beach and set atop a mound of ghost paper (special paper
burned as offerings to gods and ancestors). The boat is then set ablaze at
dawn.
The original purpose of this ritual was to
send the Plague God out to the sea, taking disease and pestilence along with
him. Today, it has become an activity to solicit peace and good fortune.
Ø
八佾舞The Eight-row Dance
Temples to Confucius are a concrete symbol
of Chinese Confucian culture. The Taipei
Confucius Temple is the only place in the world that still preserves the “Eight-row
Dance” to celebrate the Confucius’ birthday. As its name implies, the eight-row
dance consists of eight columns of eight dancers each. Originally this was only
performed exclusively for the emperor, but Confucius has been allowed the
imperial honor of the eight-row dance since he was posthumously conferred the
noble title of King Wen Yi.
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