Folk Beliefs and Customs

Ⅹ-85Folk CustomsFuyang, ZhejiangBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Filial Son Sacrifice is a folk cultural activity worshipping Zhou Xiong, the great filial son of the Southern Song. Zhou Xiong (1188-1211), courtesy name Zhongwei, was a native of Xindeng County, Zhejiang, in the Southern Song period (today part of Fuyang City). He was supremely filial and received eleven imperial conferrals from six emperors of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and he was highly influential in the four southeastern provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Fujian. On the one hand, it fit the feudal mainstream tradition after the Song dynasty; on the other hand, it also embodied the plain values of the common people.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

According to legend, besides his filial conduct, Zhou Xiong also distinguished himself in curing illness, controlling locusts, resisting violence, providing disaster relief, capturing tigers, and eliminating evil. He often did good works along the Qiantang River, the Qu River, and elsewhere, and in the end died accidentally by falling into the water. The people believed that after death he could still protect the peace of the land and waters, so they honored him as the river "water god", called him "Zhou Xianling Wang" (King Zhou, Manifest of Numinous Power), and built temples for his worship at many places along the Qiantang River. Fuyang, as his hometown, has had its people admire his filial devotion; sacrificial activities have never been interrupted to this day, and have gradually formed a folk custom of far-reaching influence. The Zhou Xiong Filial Son Sacrifice custom relies on the temple fair of the "Taitai Hall" (also called the "Zhou King Temple"), which is held on a grand scale. It is said that every year on the third day of the third lunar month and the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, spring and autumn temple fairs are held, at which the true-body statue and spirit image of the filial son Zhou Xiong are carried on a circuit through the villages, and they spend one night at Langjia Village at the foot of Baizhang Mountain, where his maternal grandmother's family lived. The circuit procession proceeds in a solemn and grand atmosphere: at the very front are gongs clearing the way, followed in order by the true-body statue of Zhou Xiong, the ceremonial guard team, the high-banner team, the bronze gong team, the hucha (wooden clapper) team, the spirit image of Zhou Xiong, the flower-basket team, and the shifan (ten-instrument) music team; all of these teams are organized spontaneously by the various villages. Along the route folk artists also perform, drawing large crowds of onlookers. After the circuit ends, the Filial Son Sacrifice is held; the sacrificial rite includes playing music and burning incense, offering the three-animal sacrifice, grain and rice ears, and fruits, vegetables, and flowers, then respectfully reading the sacrificial text, with the leading lineage head and village head performing three kneelings and nine kowtows; after the rites are complete, firecrackers are set off, and finally various folk performances are offered to entertain the god. The Filial Son Sacrifice has a history of nearly one thousand years; it is a product of the combination of elite tradition and folk lineage culture, and it preserves an ancient philosophy of life. The Filial Son Sacrifice and the Taitai Hall temple fair are interdependent, expressing esteem for the ethics of the social order and the supreme sentiment of filial devotion. The Zhou Xiong Filial Son Sacrifice custom has a long history and wide influence; through the activity it advocates an ethical culture of respecting elders and being filial to parents, and to this day it still has positive practical significance in promoting harmony among neighbors, carrying forward a culture of harmony, gathering fellow-townsmen's affection, advancing community cultural development, and enriching the cultural life of the masses.

The spring and autumn fairs

Two fairs a year, before spring ploughing and after the autumn harvest, when the image of the filial son is carried out to each village.

Opening the procession with gongs

Gongs lead, followed by the true likeness, honour guard, tall lanterns, brass gongs, clappers, the divine image, flower baskets and the music band.

The overnight stay at Langjia village

The procession always stays overnight at Langjia village beneath Mount Baizhang, re-sacrificing through the night before setting out again.

From music and incense to nine prostrations

After the return: music, incense, three kinds of sacrifice, grain, flowers, the address, nine prostrations by the clan leaders, gunpowder and entertainment.

The river deity's title

Treated after death as a river spirit who guarded the local waters, he is addressed both as a filial son and as a numinous power.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The sacrificial range of the Filial Son Sacrifice centers on the Xindeng area of Fuyang, spreading out in patches along the townships of the upper Qiantang River; every village with a Zhou King Temple holds its fairs in spring and autumn, and the circuit route follows the old roads between villages, covering dozens of li in a single night. The shifan music team, the bronze gong team, and the hucha team are not full-time troupes but teams temporarily assembled by the villages; the gongs are strung in a row on wooden poles and their sound rolls on unbroken when struck, while the hucha is a wooden noisemaker used to signal the procession's turns and halts. The Taitai Hall, also called the Zhou King Temple, has its fair head jointly held by the lineage head and the village head; the sacrificial text, the offerings, and the arrangement of the firecracker-shooters are all decided the night before departure. Each branch of the lineage contributes according to its adult males, and clansmen living in other places remit money home to help cover the expenses of incense, candles, and ceremonial regalia.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Filial Son Sacrifice merges the official commendations of the post-Song era with the shrine sacrifices of the Jiangnan lineages: the imperial conferrals gave status, and the lineage sacrifices gave daily substance, so the Zhou King Temple is both a spirit shrine and a place for lineage gatherings. In recent years the old practice of setting off firecrackers to entertain the god has mostly been cut back out of concern for safety and noise, being moved inside the ancestral hall, but the circuit route through the villages and the old rule of spending one night at Langjia Village at the foot of Baizhang Mountain, the home of his maternal grandmother's family, are still preserved intact — the one link in this belief that is least willing to change.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

Wu Jishan 05-3019
Xu Shunwei 05-3020
Huang Guanghui 05-3021
Chen Jikun 05-3022
Sinapinchu 05-3023
Liu Shimei 05-3024
Zhang Qingming 05-3025
Zheng Quanguang 05-3026
Ye Da 05-3027
Li Yaohui
Luo Shengzong

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Folk Beliefs and Customs (Fuyang, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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