Nongliershisijieqi
01 · Historical Records
The written records of the Sending of the Great Heat Boat go back at the latest to the Qing dynasty. The scholar Yu Yue described the process in detail in the Notes of the Right Terrace Immortal's Hall, recording the sending of the Great Heat boat at Linhai (Jiaojiang then belonged to Linhai): 'Several days before the Great Heat, a great ritual arena is set up.'
02 · Core Techniques & Process
'Sending the Great Heat Boat' is a comprehensive folk activity of collective transmission, centered on the fishing villages of the Jiazhi Subdistrict area of Jiaojiang District, combining the ritual of sending off the Five Sages with folk artistic performances. The hub of the activity is a group of five temples with the Five Sages Temple at their core, involving such villages as Xingguang, Xingming, and Wuzhou; it runs from the fourth lunar month to the day of the Great Heat, a span of three months, with more than one hundred thousand person-times of participation, and besides the local people of Taizhou, those from as far north as Ningbo and as far south as Wenzhou also come. Jiaojiang District of Taizhou City lies in the eastern part of Zhejiang Province; Jiazhi Subdistrict is on the southern bank of Taizhou Bay, on the alluvial plain at the mouth of the Jiaojiang River, where agriculture is well developed; the area belongs to the central subtropical monsoon zone, with four distinct seasons, abundant rainfall, ample heat, and rain and heat arriving in the same season. The record continues: 'On the day of the Great Heat, [the images] are sent out to sea, left to go where they will, and this is commonly called the Great Heat boat.' The largest activities are mainly held at the lunar Great Heat solar term. Under the direction of several highly respected elders of Xingguang Village, several dozen strong young villagers carry the finished Great Heat boat out of the Five Sages Temple and take it to the riverside mudflat. The procession sending off the heat parades along the streets, carrying the images and spirit tablets of the 'Five Sages' and of the local gods in decorated sedan chairs and performing traditional folk programs along the way, such as dragon and lion dances, sugar-peddling acts, raised pavilions (taige), swinging lake boats, and ground opera; tens of thousands of believers and pilgrims pray along the route for 'safety in the sending off of the heat'. After an altar is set up and worship performed on the riverbank, the images of the Five Sages are placed in the shrine aboard the Great Heat boat; when the appointed hour comes, the boat is towed by a fishing vessel to the mouth of the Jiaojiang River and burned on the sea.
Welcoming the five saints at Minor Heat
A preliminary rite that invites the five saints before the main day, while fishing still continues.
Offering wine
Wine is poured both for the deities and for those who handle the boat, binding gods and people.
Building the great-heat boat
Elders direct the making of the boat, which dozens of strong villagers carry from temple to shore.
The street procession for farewell to heat
The procession carries the divine images through streets strewn with performances while tens of thousands pray for safety.
Rite at the bank and burning at sea
After the riverside rite a trawler tows the boat to the estuary and burns it, sending the heat away for the year.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Between July and September typhoons frequently make landfall, and waterlogging and wind damage occur often; during this period the local residents hold the Sending of the Great Heat Boat activity in order to pray for safety in the sending off of the heat. The specific contents of the Sending of the Great Heat Boat are divided into such steps as building the Great Heat boat, welcoming the sages at the Lesser Heat, the invitation feast, and sending the boat at the Great Heat. It is organized spontaneously by the local people, who take part of their own accord; it demonstrates the distinctive charm and wisdom of the local folk arts and handicrafts, embodies the common people's wish to 'drive away evil and pray for peace', and reflects their hope to accord with nature, revere nature, and live in harmony with it. It is a living, concentrated presentation of the local folk culture of Taizhou Bay; it not only has a profound regional folk cultural setting and broad popular participation and reach, but also practical significance in binding the community together and enriching the spiritual life of the people.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Sending of the Great Heat Boat activity is a vehicle for the symbiotic evolution of the farming civilization of the twenty-four solar terms and the local (maritime) culture of the Jiaojiang region, and it is powerful evidence of the transmission of the custom of the twenty-four solar terms among the people.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Xingya 05-3004
- Wu Haishen 05-3005
- Feng Wanming 05-3006
- Feng Wu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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