Cheung Chau Bun Festival: Difference between revisions
Itsnotvalid (talk | contribs) m →Parade of floats / Parade-in-the-air: Revision of the chinese counterpart |
Itsnotvalid (talk | contribs) →Bun scrambling: More information on the new ways of bun scrambling races |
||
| Line 40: | Line 40: | ||
[[Image:Bun festival bun.jpg|frame|Steamed buns for the "Bun Mountain", being stamped the crimson characters of the respective district (北社) on the island.]] |
[[Image:Bun festival bun.jpg|frame|Steamed buns for the "Bun Mountain", being stamped the crimson characters of the respective district (北社) on the island.]] |
||
The centrepiece of the festival are the "Bun Mountains" or "Bun Towers"(包山), three giant 60-feet [[bamboo]] [[tower]]s covered with [[bun]]s. It is these bun-covered towers that give the festival its name. Historically, young men would race up the tower to get hold of the buns; the higher the bun, the better fortune it was supposed to bring to the holder's family; the race was known as "Bun-snatching" (搶包山). However, during a race in [[1978]] one of the towers collapsed, injuring more than 100 people. In subsequent years the buns were handed out to anyone who joined the queue. In 2005 the tower climbing event was revived with extra safety precautions. |
The centrepiece of the festival are the "Bun Mountains" or "Bun Towers"(包山), three giant 60-feet [[bamboo]] [[tower]]s covered with [[bun]]s. It is these bun-covered towers that give the festival its name. Historically, young men would race up the tower to get hold of the buns; the higher the bun, the better fortune it was supposed to bring to the holder's family; the race was known as "Bun-snatching" (搶包山). Usually, the event is hold at the midnight of Lunar year 9<sup>th</sup> of "April". However, during a race in [[1978]] one of the towers collapsed, injuring more than 100 people. In subsequent years the buns were handed out to anyone who joined the queue. In 2005 the tower climbing event was revived as a race with extra safety precautions, including proper mountain-climbing tools and tutorials for players. A teamwork version of the event was added in [[2006]]. |
||
The "Bun Mountains" are placed on the area in front of the Pak Tai temple. |
The "Bun Mountains" are placed on the area in front of the Pak Tai temple. |
||
Revision as of 15:03, 6 May 2006
Cheung Chau Bun Festival or Cheung Chau Da Jiu Festival (包山節 or 長洲太平清醮 in Chinese, "醮" being a Taoist sacrificial ceremony) is a traditional Chinese festival in Hong Kong. It is held by several (mostly rural) communities, either annually or once every few years.
By far the most famous Da Jiu Festival is the one at Cheung Chau, which draws tens of thousands of local and overseas tourists every year. The festival is staged every year on the island of Cheung Chau to mark the Eighth day of the Fourth Moon, in the Chinese calendar (usually in early May). It thus coincides with the local celebration of Buddha's Birthday.
The Cheung Chau Bun Festival began as a ritual for fishing communities to pray for safety from pirates. Today this religious origin has largely been forgotten, and the festival has become a showcase of traditional Chinese culture above all else.
History
One of the reputed origins of this festival is that in the 18th Century, the island of Cheung Chau was devastated by a plague and infiltrated by pirates — until local fishermen brought an image of the god Pak Tai to the island. Paraded through the village lanes, the deity drove away evil spirits. Villagers too disguised themselves as different deities and walked around the island to drive away the evil spirits responsible for the plague.
Activities
Vegetarian
Every year on the 8th day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, the islanders organise a week-long thanksgiving, the Cheung Chau Bun Festival (usually in April or May). The festival lasts for seven days. On three of these days the entire island goes vegetarian; even the island's famous seafood restaurants have to abide by this tradition, and the local McDonald's restaurant has to sell veggie burgers made from mushrooms.
Parade of floats / Parade-in-the-air
No Chinese festival is complete without lion dances and dragon dances, but this island's quirk is the children dressed as legendary and modern heroes suspended above the crowds on the tips of swords and paper fans. They form the parade-in-the-air (飄色會景巡遊) and are all safely secured within steel frames, though they appear to glide through the air. The "airborne children" can be seen to budge slightly in the steel cages. Their eyes can be partly closed during hot weather.
Though such treatment of children may be unsettling to a Western mindset, it is such a unique festival that anthropologists are haggard to it every year and parents consider it a great honour for their offspring to be part of the parade.
This fascinating procession is accompanied by the bedlam of musicians loudly beating gongs and drums to scare away evil spirits. It is led by a spectacular image of Pak Tai, the God of Water and Spirit of the North, to whom the island's Temple of the Jade Vacuity is dedicated.
Deities
Here are some divinities Cheung Chau people would celebrate in the festival:
Pak Tai
Since Cheung Chau is traditionally an island of fisherfolk, Pak Tai is its most revered divinity, since it is believed that he has the power to confer smooth sailing for the fishing boats and good catches for their crews. Pious believers recognise him as "Pei Fang Chen Wu Hsuan T'ien Shang Ti" (True Soldier and Superior Divinity of the Deep Heaven of the North).
Tin Hau
The second of the significant deities whose images add a supplementary splatter of Oriental holiness to the pageant is the much-revered Tin Hau (Goddess of the Seas and protector of all fishermen and boat people). Celebrated for providing warnings of imminent storms and saving countless lives from wreckage, she is in many ways Pak Tai's competitor for the fondness of the fisherfolk.
Other god and goddess
Two more Gods complete the celestial divinities taking part in the parade: Kuan Yin (the Goddess of Mercy with her tranquil and ever compassionate smile) and Hung Hsing (the terrifying God of the South with his menacing head-dress, unkind face, bushy black beard, and stave at the ready to chastise all enemies).
Bun scrambling
The centrepiece of the festival are the "Bun Mountains" or "Bun Towers"(包山), three giant 60-feet bamboo towers covered with buns. It is these bun-covered towers that give the festival its name. Historically, young men would race up the tower to get hold of the buns; the higher the bun, the better fortune it was supposed to bring to the holder's family; the race was known as "Bun-snatching" (搶包山). Usually, the event is hold at the midnight of Lunar year 9th of "April". However, during a race in 1978 one of the towers collapsed, injuring more than 100 people. In subsequent years the buns were handed out to anyone who joined the queue. In 2005 the tower climbing event was revived as a race with extra safety precautions, including proper mountain-climbing tools and tutorials for players. A teamwork version of the event was added in 2006.
The "Bun Mountains" are placed on the area in front of the Pak Tai temple.
During the festival, Chinese operas, lion dances, and religious services take place on the island.
Burning of paper effigies
At a quarter to midnight a paper effigy of the King of the Ghosts is set ablaze, enormous incense sticks are lit and the buns are harvested and distributed to the villagers, who, pleased to be sharing in this propitious good fortune, rejoice late into the night.
Return of bun-snatching
As aforementioned, the bun-snatching ritual was abandoned by the government due to the 1978 tragedy. Still, a large portion of Cheung Chau villagers regard this as part and parcel of their daily life, and the precious culture of Hong Kong to boot. In addition to the villagers' immense urge to resume the ritual, a local cartoon movie My life as McDull recalled the forlorn ceremony, giving a tinge of nostalgia to its audience. As such, the long-awaited ritual was reintroduced on May 15, 2005. Safety measures were greatly improved: only 12 well-trained athletes selected from preliminary competitions were permitted to climb on one single "Bun Mountain"; instead of bamboo, the framework of the "Bun Mountains" was made up of steel.
More about My life as McDull and bun-snatching
My life as McDull was a sizable hit in Christmas 2001. This Hong Kong animated feature was primarily targeted at children. Aside from the cute character designs, however, My Life as McDull had also shown many renowned qualities of Hong Kong people — hard-working, carefree, and never giving up. The "Hong Kong dream" depicted in the film has charmed much of its audience. The animation is aided by computer-generated backgrounds, but it retains a delightful hand-drawn look that is pleasing to the movie-goers. In a part of the film, McDull decides to train to be an Olympic-level athlete like Hong Kong Olympian Lee Lai-shan. However, the trade he learns is Cheung Chau bun-snatching. Realising that bun-snatching is not a formal sporting event in the Olympic games, McDull’s mother writes a letter to the chairman of International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ask him/her to sanctify the so-called sports event with her limited proficiency of English.
Some people think that the Hong Kong Tourism Board began to promote the forlorn ritual thanks to the unanticipated box-office success. It spawned a laughing stock, though, when the Secretary for Home Affair, Patrick Ho Chi-ping, said he might contact IOC later on in order to formalise the "sports". He even told to the public that the bun-snatching ceremony can be varied into many other events, like cake-snatching ceremony, doll-snatching ceremony, etc..
