Qingming Festival
01 · Historical Records
The Maoshan Boat Gathering has continued for more than 800 years to the present day. Its principal objects of sacrifice are the fallen of the "Battle of Desheng Lake" — the battle in which Zhang Rong's righteous army from Liangshan, Shandong, resisted the Jin during the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song — Zhang Shicheng's uprising during the Zhizheng era of the Yuan dynasty, the "Battle of Shentong Pass" in the struggles against the wokou pirates during the Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty, and the foreign and ownerless spirits who fell in this region during the War of Resistance against Japan and the War of Liberation in modern times. In the first year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song (1131), Zhang Rong's troops of the Liangshan righteous army of Shandong fought their way through the Jiang-Huai region, and at Shuatou Lake (later renamed "Desheng Lake," the Lake of Victory) they heavily defeated the forces of Wanyan Liang and recovered the Jiang-Huai region.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Maoshan Boat Gathering is a traditional festival folk activity whose main content is collectively poling boats to old grave clusters and ancient battlefields to scatter wheat rice and pour libations of wine in folk sacrifice; it shares the same origin as the Qintong Boat Gathering but differs from it in content. The Maoshan Boat Gathering is centered on Maoshan Town, Xinghua City, Jiangsu Province, radiating to numerous surrounding townships, with its influence reaching north and south of the great river. Xinghua is crisscrossed by waterways and its folkways are honest and simple. Ten days before Qingming each year, the villages spontaneously form gathering boats by kinship or by village group, each boat carrying twenty or thirty able-bodied men, and in recent years women have also taken part; they raise funds themselves, buy poles and prepare the boats, and after the pole-holding (pole-purchasing) ritual, laying out the boat, raising the flags and the colorful decoration (fortune-bringing), they launch the boats for a trial on the water. During this period the villages erect decorated archways at main road junctions and stage sheds in open spaces; each household purchases sacrificial supplies and prepares to feast relatives and friends and to hold the household Qingming sacrifice. At dawn on the day of Qingming, the gathering boats set out in the third watch of the night and perform the sacrifice in the fifth watch. Under the direction of gong beats, the pole-men row in perfect unison toward the high ground of Tanggang River, the jumbled burial mounds and other such places, their calls sounding ceaselessly along the way. The manner of sacrifice is "scattering wheat rice, pouring libations of wine, burning spirit money, and all kowtowing." After landing collectively, the leaders carry offerings such as pig heads, roosters and decorated fish in their hands; they fill in the earth, burn incense, set off firecrackers and kowtow together, then pour out libations of wine and scatter wheat rice (now rice soaked in water). After full daylight, between the si and wu hours (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.), the gathering boats enter the West Big River of Maoshan, poling the boats to display the water battles of former years — a spectacular scene. At noon each household inserts willow and cole flowers at the door, sets up an incense table for the household sacrifice, and feasts its guests. The pole-men go ashore to the ancient Maoshan monastery Jingde Chan Temple to worship the Buddha, after which they return to their villages to drink, dine together and share the blessing. That evening each village sets up monk and Taoist altars in open spaces to release the souls of the dead, and each household kneels there collectively to burn spirit money. That evening Maoshan and the larger villages open the gongs and stage operas to entertain the spirits of gods and men. The fallen officers and soldiers are buried on the banks of Tanggang River (at the sacrificial site), and Jingde Chan Temple sets up an altar to offer prayers for their release. Thereafter each year at Qingming the people poled boats here to offer sacrifice, and over time it became a folk custom. The Maoshan Boat Gathering demonstrates the spirit of the people of Maoshan in rallying together to defend their homes and country in the successive struggles against the Jin, the wokou pirates and the bandits, and it carries profound historical significance. The layout and decoration of the boat decks, the presentation of the sacrificial offerings, the attire of the participants, and the participation of tribute boats, flower boats and dragon boats enrich the connotations of the gathering as a sacrifice of agrarian culture, embodying a rich cultural foundation and accumulation; it has also become a platform for the practical display of Maoshan's many traditional crafts, fine arts and performing arts.
Hiring poles, decking the boats and dressing them
Villages raise money for poles and boats, then deck them, hang flags and perform the rite of colouring and blessing before any trial run.
Setting out in the third watch
Boats push off in the third watch and sacrifice at the fifth; the pole men answer the gong and keep up the songs all the way.
Offering wheat rice and wine
The leader carries pig’s head, rooster and fish, the crowd burns incense and kowtows, then wine and wheat rice are poured on the ground.
A pageant of old water battle
At mid-morning the fleet enters the great river and re-enacts an old water battle, after which households set out willow and feast their guests.
Paying respects at the temple and the night office
The crews pay respects at Jingde Temple, then hold a night office for the dead with monks and Taoists and the burning of paper money.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The distribution of the Maoshan Boat Gathering centers on Maoshan Town, Xinghua, with the surrounding villages each forming teams by kinship or village group; the denser the waterways, the more boat teams there are. This organization by village group rather than by household is the norm in the polder-water country of Lixiahe: a boat must be poled jointly, funds pooled and the sacrifice conducted in common, so a single boat binds together several or even dozens of households. In recent years women have also become able-bodied members, adding women's hands to poling, launching and displaying the water battles; between villages the competition is mostly about formation rather than boat speed. Jingde Chan Temple is the ritual center of the whole town: the pole-men go ashore there to worship the Buddha, and the rites for the dead are set up there as well; the temple and the river landing are separated by a single stretch of water, and in the twilight the incense, gong sounds and boat songs answer one another.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Qingming Festival · Qingming Festival · Qingming Festival.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Inheritors have learned the arts of the boat gathering from childhood and play a mentoring and passing-on role in its transmission. Today many people in the villages of Maoshan Town have mastered the arts of the boat gathering; the whole town rallies together, letting the Maoshan Boat Gathering advance with the times and develop innovatively in the course of its transmission.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。