Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage Procession
Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea, migrated to Taiwan with the people of Fujian Province in the 17th century to become one of the most revered deities on the island, where today about 870 temples are dedicated to her worship. Mazu's birthday falls in the third lunar month; during this time, temples around the island, including Taichung County Dajia Zhenlan Temple, Changhua County Lugang Tianhou Temple, Yunlin County's Chaotian Temple, Tainan City's Datianhou Temple, and Chiayi County's Fengtian Temple, hold ceremonies, with incense burning, tours by the deities around their domains and other festivities. Among these temples, Zhenlan Temple in Dajia, Taichung County has the largest celebration and also the oldest.

The pilgrimage from Dajia's Zhenlan Temple takes place during the third lunar month. All sorts of festive activities are arranged at this time, including puppets and theater performances, displays of embroidered banners, float parades, dragon and lion dances, and other events as the procession passes through Changhua and Yunlin counties, and proceeds to Fengtian Temple in Xingang, Chiayi County. Many devotees walk the whole trip, which lasts eight days and seven nights.

The Mazu image which the pilgrims carry along with them is warmly welcomed at Fengtian Temple. The devotees prepare meat, fruits, and vegetables as offerings; firecrackers are discharged and incense is burned. Another high point of the activities occurs when Mazu returns home to Dajia in her palanquin; along the route, one can see hundreds of thousands of devotees holding parties for friends, relatives, and the returning pilgrims.

 

Origins of the Songjiang Battle Array
1. Some people trace the origins of the battle array to Songjiang, a fictional bandit in the Song novel the Water Margin. According to this view, Songjiang developed this type of martial with an focus on formation and lesser emphasis on individual fighting to train his followers for combat. The battle array is said to be formed of 36 Tiangang star gods and 72 Disha star gods.

2. Another version is that the battle array is a boxing branch of the Shaolin school of martial arts handed down from the period of the Shaolin Shantao boxing, lion formation, and sword lion formation.

3. Some people believe that the Songjiang Battle Array in Taiwan was a type of training used by Cheng Chung-kung to prepare his troops to defend the coastal areas of Taiwan during the late Ming period. At that time, Song Jiang had a deep influence on popular respect for morally courageous revolutionaries. In their campaign to overthrown the Qing government and restore the Ming dynasty, Cheng Cheng-kung and his army from Fujian were compared to the heroes of the Liangshan Marsh. The martial arts used by the army therefore became the prototype of the Songjiang Battle Array.

Composition of the Songjiang Battle Array: The original Songjiang Battle Array was composed of 108 heroes said to be transformed from the 36 Tiangang star gods and 72 Disha star gods. Today, most Songjiang Battle Arrays are composed of 36 members. The reduced size is due both to social changes in Taiwan and the belief among the array martial arts masters that l08 is an inauspicious number. In Taiwan, the tradition of the Songjiang Battle Array is most active in Kaohsiung County in the south. There are an especially large number of battle array groups in the county's Dashu Township and Neimen Township, but in terms of related temple activities Neimen Township occupies a central place in Taiwan's Songjiang Battle Array world. Originally known as "Luohanmen," Neimen has a population of less than 30,000, yet the township is home to no fewer than 15 Songjiang Battle Array groups. This owes largely to the dedication of the temple committees of Neimen Zizhu Temple and Nanhai Zizhu Temple in Neimen to keep this colorful tradition alive and bring it to the international stage.

 

Donggang King Boat Ritual
The burning of the King Boat is one of the folk rituals of the seafaring people in southwestern Taiwan. The original purpose of this ritual was to send the Plague God of out to the sea, and diseases along with him; today it is an activity held to pray for peace and good fortune. The festival is held once every three years, around the ninth lunar month, at Donglong Temple in Donggang. The boats are burned in the middle of the fourth month at Qing-an Temple in Xigang, Tainan County. Generally, the Donggang event is bigger. These celebrations include large-scale temple activities, which climax with the burning of the plague god boat on the last day.

 

The Donggang boat-burning celebrations run for eight days and seven nights. According to custom, before the boat is set fire by devotees and other participants prepare goods for the symbolic trip. Then a big fire is made (this is to force any bad spirits and the Plague God to go aboard), and the boat is burned while the people pray for peace.

The Tourism Bureau has been holding the Taiwan Lantern Festival for 20 years to attract visitors and raise the international profile of the cultural charms of Taiwan. Traditionally, the festival has been celebrated by carrying hand lanterns. The Taiwan Lantern Festival adds a high-tech to this traditional custom and brings the event to the international stage. From to the theme lantern displays to folk arts and performances, the festival has become a perennial favorite of locals and foreign visitors alike.

Taipei & Kaohsiung Lantern Festival
Colorful and lanterns of all sizes and shapes have always been main attractions of the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated with a grand national festival and major festival in Taipei and Kaohsiung.

The Taipei Lantern Festival is held for several days at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, reaching its peak on the day of the Lantern Festival itself. There is a gigantic lantern depicting this year's Chinese zodiac animal, which is the centerpiece of the festival. There are also many traditional lanterns, electromechanical lantern displays, and large themed lantern floats designed by different companies.

The Kaohsiung Lantern Festival is held on the Love River. During the festival period, both sides of the river as well as Wufu Rd., Heping Rd., Guangzhou St., and other thoroughfares have lantern exhibitions. There are also musical performances helping to out the whole city is in a festive mood.

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival
The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival is one of the most colorful activities of the Lantern Festival. Pingxi is a remote hillside town. In former times, those who worked or farmed in the mountains faced the risks of being robbed or killed; so the people used lanterns to tell their families they were safe. The lanterns have lost their function as a warning signal, and today they are a symbol of peace and good fortune

 

Bombing of Master Han Dan
The Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month with a series of activities throughout Taiwan. Among the highlight events at this time is the inspection tour of the deity Master Han Dan in Taitung City. As guardian of the celestial treasury, Han Dan is revered today as a god of wealth, but people believe that he was once a real person named Chao Kung-ming. When the god makes his annual inspection tour of the earthly world, crowds turn out to pray for his blessing and good fortune. On the day of the festival, Han Dan is also joined by other gods of the temples in various townships and Taitung on tours of the community. Households in these areas prepare offerings of fresh flowers and fruit and light strings of firecrackers to welcome the Han Dan. The person representing the god on the tour wears only a headscarf, mask and pair of red shorts. He stands courageously amidst the fusillade of firecrackers protected only by a tree branch. There are several stories as to why the people throw firecrackers at Han Dan. In one version, it is because Han Dan is the god of hooligans and his power grows with the loudness of the explosions. A less widely accepted explanation is that Han Dan is afraid of the cold, so the people throw firecrackers at the god during his tour to keep him warm and win his blessing.

Chinese New Year
The Spring Festival, of Chinese New Year, is celebrated from the first day to the fifth day of the first lunar month. People refer to this festival as "passing the year," which means shooing out the old and welcoming in the new; 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. Normally, on the 23rd or 24th day of the last month, people sacrifice to the Hearth God and send him off on his annual journey to Heaven; this signals the start of the Chinese New Year holidays.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, families complete their spring cleaning signifying the sweeping away of misfortunes of the previous year. After the spring cleaning, a New Year's cake is made (the cake is a symbol of "reaching new heights"). The 29th day of the final lunar month is when families stick up spring couplets and New Year prints on their doors and windows to bring good luck. On the 30th day of the last month, families gather together for a New Year's meal, called the "Gathering Around the Stove." Adults then give the younger members of the family, particularly children, red envelopes with cash inside. This monetary gift is thought to bring peace and good fortune to the recipient. Then there is the "Keeping of the Year," which is seeing the old year out and the New Year in by staying up on New Year's Eve. This starts after the family has finished eating the New Year's Eve dinner. Once the clock strikes midnight, firecrackers are exploded to welcome the arrival of the New Year.

Chinese New Year also includes the practice of going around to friends and relatives to offer New Year greetings on the 1st day of the year, going to the home of the wife's family on the 2nd, welcoming the God of Wealth on the 4th, and reopening business on the 5th.

Lantern Festival
The Lantern festival is also known as the "little-New Year." Aside from the usual worship of the gods, the occasion involves guessing lantern riddles, eating rice-flour dumplings, and releasing lanterns into the sky in Pingxi Township. The Yanshui Beehive Rocket Festival in Tainan County is another major event during the Lantern Festival. Colorful and lanterns of all sizes and shapes have always been main attractions of the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated with a grand national festival and major festival in Taipei and Kaohsiung.

The Taipei Lantern Festival is held for several days at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, reaching its peak on the day of the Lantern Festival itself. There is a gigantic lantern depicting this year's Chinese zodiac animal, which is the centerpiece of the festival. There are also many traditional lanterns, electromechanical lantern displays, and large themed lantern floats designed by different companies.

The Kaohsiung Lantern Festival is held on the Love River. During the festival period, both sides of the river as well as Wufu Rd., Heping Rd., Guangzhou St., and other thoroughfares have lantern exhibitions. There are also musical performances, helping to out the whole city is in a festive mood.

Dragon Boat Festival
Together with Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival is one of Taiwan's three major annual holidays. Because of its origins and customs, it is closely related to the remembrance of Cyuyuan, a poet who lived during the Warring States Period; that is why, from ancient times, people have also referred to the Dragon Boat Festival as the" Poet's Festival."

At the time of the Dragon Boat Festival, the most common customs are holding dragon boat races and eating glutinous rice dumplings called zongzi. Legend has it that when the poet Quyuan jumped to his death into the Miluo River, the local people rowed their boats to and fro in search of him; later, this slowly evolved into the dragon boat races. Today, dragon boat races are a popular activity famous both in Taiwan and abroad; most local areas of the island hold their own races. Each year, there is an international dragon boat race with teams from Taiwan and abroad competing.

The practice of making zongzi came from the people who were to save Quyuan from the fate of being eaten by the fish. The people stuffed rice into bamboo sections and threw them into the river to feed the fish; today, the dumplings are wrapped in leaves and eaten by people.

Zhongyuan Festival
The seventh month on the lunar calendar is the Chinese Ghost Month. Traditionally, it starts from dawn on the first day, when the gates of the netherworld open, and ends on the 29th day of the month, when the gates close. People holt rituals to petition for salvation from disasters and misfortune during the celebration, which reaches a peak on the 15th day.

Zhongyuan General Salvation Ceremonies
In folk tradition, on the day of Zhongyuan Festival every household has to prepare meat, fruits, fresh flowers, and other sacrificial items; they then offer these to the hungry ghosts at a temple, or on a temporary altar table set up in front of their homes. They also ask monks to say prayers for their deceased loved ones as well as those lost souls who have no living descendants left on earth. This is known as Zhongyuan Pudu, or General Salvation.
The ceremonies take place in temple and on streets. On the afternoon of the Pudu, local residents prepare offerings and carry them to the main altar at a temple to join in the ceremonies there. For the street festivities, local residents prepare chicken, duck, and fish for offerings in front of their homes in a ceremony known as doorway worship.

Launching of the Water Lanterns
The launching of water lanterns is a longstanding custom. Its most important purpose is to help light the way for the lost souls in the water, call the souls to come on land to enjoy the offerings, and pray for the early reincarnation of these souls. It is also said that the farther a lanterns floats, the better the fortune that the clan it represents will enjoy in the coming year.

Grappling with the Ghosts
Grappling with the Ghosts is a pole-climbing competitions held during the Ghost Month. In Taiwan today, it is carried out only in Toucheng, Yilan County and Hengchun, Pingtung County. Of these two locales, Toucheng, has the bigger celebration.

In the early days, people migrating to Yilan from Guangdong and Fujian provinces 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. Since Toucheng was the first city in the Yilan area to be developed, residents of its eight major districts jointly hold the general salvation ceremony. They also chose the last day of the month-the day when the gates of the netherworld close-to hold a major pole-climbing competition.

Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Moon Festival, and it is a holiday with a most romantic atmosphere. Because this holiday occurs during the autumn, at a time when harvest season is over, people in earlier days chose this day to make offerings and thank the gods for the bounty of the year. This became a time for families to get together. The most familiar myth concerning this festival is that of Chang-er flying to the moon after secretly drinking her husband's elixir of life. Aside from this, there are also tales of the Jade Rabbit and "Wu chopping down the cinnamon tree."

Because most of the activities held during this holiday are related to the moon, it has come to be known as moon day. Important activities at this time include the eating of 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." As for the barbecues that are held on this holiday, the custom is a recent one in which families and friends get together and enjoy a meal.