Temple Fair

Ⅹ-84Folk CustomsJinyun, ZhejiangBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Zhangshanzhai Qiqijie (Seventh-Seventh Fair) began in the early years of the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty. The Zhangshanzhai Qiqijie has its roots in the mountain beliefs of the border region between southern Zhejiang and northern Fujian. The festival date was set on the Qixi Festival of the lunar calendar because, according to folk legend, that day is the birthday of the Fourteenth Lady Chen; the Xianshan Temple in the stockade enshrines this local deity widely revered in southern Zhejiang and Fujian, linking the incense offerings of a small rural stockade with the belief system of Mazu and the Lady of Linshui along the entire southeast coast. The custom fixed in the early Wanli years of the Ming dynasty was thereafter borne in turn by the host villages, forming an established set of rules that could be followed: which family serves as the yearly head, which family provides the sedan chair, and which family prepares the offerings — all as in former years, uninterrupted by changes in personnel. The reason this set of regulations could survive for several centuries lies in its handing both organizational and ritual authority over to the villages. The Ming-dynasty system of village-point rotating stewardship divided the temple fair into several rotating duties; every village had taken its turn, and therefore every village felt it had a share, so that there were always people to arrange the altar cases, the procession, and the night vigil. In modern times, although the rites have been modified in many ways, the framework of rotating stewardship has not fallen apart, becoming the most resilient mechanism of transmission in the locality.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Zhangshanzhai Qiqijie is a folk belief custom held at Zhangshanzhai, Zhaoxu Village, Huyuan Township, Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province, on the Qixi Festival of the lunar calendar. Legend has it that the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the birthday of the Fourteenth Lady Chen; every year on this day local people come here to hold the grand Zhangshanzhai Qiqijie. The Zhangshanzhai Qiqijie follows the custom established in the early Wanli years of the Ming dynasty, and its forms and procedures consist of: setting up the "altar platform," going up to the stockade to welcome the sedan chair, holding a procession to pray for blessings, presenting operas, keeping vigil in the stockade, performing at the altar cases, and returning the deity to its place after worship. During the festival, ancient folk performances of various unique styles compete to display their arts here, and spectators come in tides. The Zhangshanzhai Qiqijie has flourished for a long time because of the people's belief in the Fourteenth Lady Chen. The organization of the activities follows the rotating stewardship management system of host villages established in the Ming dynasty, that is, the village on duty presides over the affairs of the activities.

Raising the altar

The festival opens by erecting the altar, arranging incense table, canopy and offerings so open ground becomes a formal ritual site.

Receiving the palanquin at the stockade

The palanquin leaves the shrine to gong and drum while officials and musicians lead, the moment the ritual and the crowd meet.

The blessing procession

The procession moves along the stockade and mountain path while worshippers light incense and set tables, delivering blessings house by house.

Offering opera

A theatre troupe is engaged to play for the god, mixing southern Zhejiang repertoire with gongs and drums.

Night watch and the community displays

A night watch keeps the incense unbroken while each village displays its finest skill, so the meeting place stays awake through the night.

Final worship and return to the shrine

After the displays the deity is returned to the shrine and worshipped afresh, the feast ending with the same precision it began with.

The rotating village headship

A Ming-era rule assigns each village a turn to head the feast, so every village knows the whole procedure and the festival never collapses.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Xianshan Temple of Zhangshanzhai enshrines the Fourteenth Lady Chen, a local deity widely believed in and quite influential in southern Zhejiang and Fujian. Besides local people, devotees come from Zhejiang, Fujian, and Taiwan provinces.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

This project's activities cover the fields of belief, folk custom, and folk arts; it is of important significance for carrying on the fine traditions of the Chinese nation, strengthening the cohesion of the Chinese nation, and promoting the reunification of the motherland, and it also has folkloristic value for the study of traditional festival culture. Hu Wenxiang (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): male, Han, born in June 1931, from Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province. He has participated in the folk activities of the Zhangshanzhai Qiqijie since childhood. He presided over the temple fair activities for more than thirty years, taught over 150 apprentices in traditional performing arts, and has long been devoted to the transmission and protection of the folk activities and folk performing arts related to the Zhangshanzhai Qiqijie. He is a representative inheritor of the Temple Fair (Zhangshanzhai Qiqijie), a project of the fourth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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