Folk Beliefs and Customs

Ⅹ-85Folk CustomsMacao, ChinaBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the twenty-fourth year of the Guangxu reign (1898), believers donated funds for its renovation, built a rain-and-wind pavilion outside the shrine, and formally named it the 'Nezha Ancient Temple.'

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Macau Nezha beliefs take as their core meaning the honoring and praise of the martial valor of Prince Nezha of the Thirty-three Heavens and his power to expel evil and epidemics to keep the peace; their main venues are the Nezha Ancient Temple in Shishan and the St. Paul's Nezha Temple. Apart from the year-round daily sacrificial activities, every year on the eighteenth day of the fifth lunar month the two Nezha temples jointly hold a series of activities to celebrate the birthday of Prince Nezha, including the seal-opening ceremony, the jiao offering ritual to pray for blessings, and the procession of Prince Nezha riding in a ceremonial palanquin (luanyu). The ancient temple at Shishan in Macau has Prince Nezha as its principal deity and is now more than three hundred years old. One day, the child suddenly said goodbye to the village children, after which villagers at the foot of the hill and a Portuguese woman all saw him depart with his feet on wind-and-fire wheels. Everyone believed this to be a manifestation of Prince Nezha's divinity, so they built a temple on the stone where he had stood to worship him; this is the origin of the Nezha Ancient Temple at Shishan. The temple is located on Nezha Temple Lane in Macau; it is a small shrine built on granite, and the granite stone on which Prince Nezha stood when he manifested his divinity has been named the 'Stone of Manifestation' (Xianling Stone) in commemoration. Macau Nezha beliefs take rich forms, with the sacrificial activities of the two Nezha temples being the most typical. The sacrificial activities of the Nezha Ancient Temple in Shishan are grand; at the zi hour (11 p.m.-1 a.m.) of the eighteenth day of the fifth lunar month, the Daoist master holds the seal-opening ceremony to unleash protective power. On the birthday itself, believers invite Nezha out of the hall to offer incense, after which eight people carry the statue in procession through the central urban area of Macau, with boys dressed as Nezha joining the procession, while a jiao ritual of universal peace is held to pray for blessings. The St. Paul's Nezha Temple begins its jiao offering prayers for blessings from the sixteenth day of the fifth lunar month, with shengong opera (ritual opera performed to thank the gods) staged in front of the temple to entertain the people. On the seventeenth day of the fifth month, a piaose (floating-figure) parade is held in the Historic Centre of Macau. On the eighteenth day, the birthday of Nezha, the statue is carried in a ceremonial palanquin in procession, praying to dispel plague and epidemics and to protect the land and keep the people at peace. Macau suffered repeated plagues; folklore has it that Prince Nezha manifested his power to quell the epidemics and keep the people safe, so the poor masses came to believe in Nezha, initially praying to dispel plague and epidemics and for blessings and the removal of disasters, and later extending this to reverence for his ethics of utmost firmness, utmost courage, and utmost filial piety. This belief has been passed down from generation to generation in Macau for more than three hundred years, promoting family harmony and social harmony, and has a certain following at home and abroad. In the past dozen years or so, the two Nezha temples in Macau have frequently exchanged with temples in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and various places in Southeast Asia, jointly working to promote Nezha beliefs.

Opening the seals at midnight

In the small hours of the eighteenth the ritual master strikes the seals to announce the temple's protection for the year.

The image carried by eight men

Eight bearers carry the image through central Macao while boys dressed as Nezha walk alongside it.

The Great Peace rite and divine merit theatre

The Great Peace rite runs from the sixteenth with overnight theatre for the god and a float parade in the historic quarter.

The palanquin procession and floats

The image is carried on the birthday and floats process the day before, invoking protection against plague and war.

The two temples acting together

The two temples coordinate opening rites, blessings and the procession, and maintain exchanges with shrines across the region and abroad.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Legend has it that at the time, the village children of the Shishan area of Macau often played with a strange child, who wore a belly-band (dudou) and had his hair in two small tufts. Although the local hillsides were steep, no accidents ever occurred during their play.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

In the Macau Special Administrative Region, believers revere Prince Nezha's power to expel evil and epidemics and to remove disasters and keep the peace, passing the related beliefs down from generation to generation and integrating them into the daily life of the neighborhood communities. Zheng Quanguang (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1950, a native of the Macau Special Administrative Region. He has lived in Shishan since childhood, participated in birthday celebration activities, and holds deep reverence for Prince Nezha. In 1996 he reorganized the Board of the Nezha Ancient Temple in Shishan, Macau, and served as its executive chairman. He is responsible for planning and coordinating the processions of Prince Nezha of the Nezha Ancient Temple in Shishan, and has worked to promote the application of Macau Nezha beliefs for listing as a national-level intangible cultural heritage representative project. In terms of transmission and dissemination, he has frequently engaged in exchanges and communication with Nezha prince temples in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and various places abroad, in order to jointly promote Nezha belief culture. Representative inheritor of Folk Beliefs (Macau Nezha Beliefs), an item of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. He has actively cultivated successors, making the birthday celebration activities of the Nezha Ancient Temple in Shishan, Macau increasingly prosperous, and has had considerable influence on the transmission of Nezha beliefs in Macau. Ye Da (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in February 1948, a native of the Macau Special Administrative Region. He grew up in Cilin Lane, where the St. Paul's Nezha Temple is located, and began participating in the birthday celebration activities held at the temple at the age of seven. Since 1989 he has been responsible for the affairs of the St. Paul's Nezha Temple, including its revival and restoration and the resumption of its birthday celebration activities. In 1992 he became president of the Board of the St. Paul's Nezha Temple, reformulating strategies for the cultural transmission and exchange visits of the St. Paul's Nezha belief, encouraging neighborhood believers to participate together, and strengthening ties with other community organizations. He has promoted Nezha beliefs through attending events, giving lectures, and television publicity. Representative inheritor of Folk Beliefs (Macau Nezha Beliefs), an item of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. He has led several dozen children and grandchildren to participate in Nezha belief activities, and through running Nezha belief transmission training classes has cultivated more inheritors for these activities.

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

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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