Folk Beliefs and Customs

Ⅹ-85Folk CustomsDingan, HainanBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the Ming dynasty, the officials and people of Ding'an elevated the consciousness of "borrowing the god's power to pacify the state" into a conviction; inheriting the gathering format of Central Plains temple fairs, they used "divine power" to manifest their own strength, and gradually formed Junpo activities centered on deity worship, dispatching the troops, parading the troops, and displaying divine might. This folk custom reached its peak in the Qing dynasty.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The large folk activity worshipping Lady Xian in Ding'an County, Hainan Province, and its surrounding areas is called the "Junpo Festival", held each spring. It takes the jing and dong (district and settlement units) as its units; each jing and dong has a fixed activity date, with the dates staggered from one another. Activities run from the first third of the first lunar month to the beginning of the third lunar month, with the peak period falling in the nearly one month from the 6th day of the second lunar month to the 3rd day of the third lunar month. Lady Xian rendered outstanding service to harmonious coexistence among ethnic groups and ascended to the divine pantheon as early as the Sui and Tang dynasties. Her strategy of pacifying the Li people was deeply welcomed by the common people. The Qiongzhou Prefecture Gazetteer records: "In the second month they welcome the Southern Fire-Thunder — the second lady, the princess of Gaoliang; troops are mustered with a retinue, and it goes on for three days." The Ding'an Junpo Festival emphasizes such segments as socializing, mustering the troops, revelry, and displaying "merit" and "divine might", praying for peace and pursuing a joyful state of spirit. During the festival, the Li, Han, and other ethnic peoples jointly take part in deity worship, dispatching the troops, and parading the troops; everyone joins together without distinction, offering blessings to Lady Xian and sharing the festive joy. This shared participation and experience helps eliminate barriers and misunderstandings among ethnic groups, deepens mutual understanding and trust, and promotes ethnic integration and unity. The Junpo Festival integrates deity worship, dispatching the troops, parading the troops, folk performances, and other elements, forming a rich folk-cultural landscape. The organizational form based on the jing and dong units has enabled each community to form close bonds around the Junpo Festival; through shared effort and contribution, it has strengthened the people's sense of belonging and identity, and possesses social and cultural value that cannot be underestimated.

Scheduling by village unit

Each village unit has its own fixed date, staggered from its neighbours so that the busy season spreads across a month.

Three days of the mock army parade

The parade lasts three days as recorded in the Qiongzhou gazetteer: muster, combat and dismissal in turn.

Displaying prowess and divine power

Dagger and staff displays in the open ground carry the day's purpose: to show prowess and divine power in a spirit of rejoicing.

Shared worship of Li and Han villagers

Men and women of several communities worship and parade together, crossing the boundaries between groups for the sake of shared celebration.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The region where the Junpo Festival prevails covers several dozen jing and dong in five towns of southern Ding'an County, adjoining Tunchang County and Qionghai City — the convergence of Hainan Island's mountainous region and the north-central plain, and the "mountain gateway" to the northeast of the Wuzhi Mountains and the Limu Range.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

What makes the Ding'an Junpo Festival precious is that it takes the jing and dong as its smallest units of worship and social interaction; the dates are staggered among the dong, spreading the one-month peak into continuous festivity and keeping deity worship, troop dispatch, and mustering from losing order through overcrowding. The saber troops, cudgel soldiers, and sparring bouts of the "mustering the troops" segment are the most riveting: young men deploy their everyday martial training under the banner of their own dong; winning or losing is secondary — what matters is that the momentum must hold the ground. The dong elders and family heads settle the parade route and the village entrances where it will stop; visiting believers are received as guests, served guotiao (rice noodles) and sour-melon tea, and after the festival season, marriages and credit dealings between the two dong grow closer. The jing and dong of Tunchang and Qionghai join the same round of Junpo; the Central Plains temple-fair gathering format has been transformed, at the mountain passes of northern Qiong, into a scene shared in joy by Li and Han alike.

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 (Dingan, Hainan) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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