Yingge Dance, Dragon Dance, Lion Dance, and Chaozhou Big Drum performance – a series of exciting intangible cultural her…
Yingge Dance, Dragon Dance, Lion Dance, and Chaozhou Big Drum performance – a series of exciting intangible cultural heritage displays that form part of the largest folk cultural event in Chaozhou, South China’s Guangdong Province: the Qinglong Temple Fair. The grand folk culture feast held on Monday drew nearly a thousand participants and more than 60 performance groups from overseas.
Local people and visitors from out of town gathered along the street for the parade. Some of them arrived extremely early in the morning just to secure a spot with a good view.
“If Chaozhou people punch in for work that starts at 8 am, it’s okay. But if they want to see the Qinglong Temple, they will get there at 5 am,” commented a blogger half-jokingly and half-seriously, who was livestreaming the event. The livestreaming started around 7 am and also attracted tens of thousands of viewers, with many Chaozhou people living overseas commenting on how much they missed their home.
For the people of Chaozhou, the significance of the Qinglong Temple is unique. The Qinglong Temple Fair is an integral part of Chaozhou's traditional culture and serves as an important link connecting Chaozhou communities both domestic and overseas.
The Qinglong Ancient Temple was believed to be founded during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and named after the frequently seen green snakes wandering near the temple without doing harm to people. The temple is also known as the Anji King Temple and venerates the Anji King, his spouses, and other deities.
Historically, the Qinglong Temple Fair was held annually from the 13th to the 28th day of the first lunar month. It is an indispensable jewel of Lingnan folk culture and the most solemn folk event in the entire Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province. The festival involves parading the wooden deity statues, known as Laoye, through the streets in a celebratory activity. The whole town would come out eagerly to witness the parade, praying for favorable weather, family safety, business success, and prosperity in the coming year. This custom has been passed down to the present day.
Following tradition, “dragon incenses” were offered to the deities to pay homage. The “dragon incense” comes in different sizes, weighing over a hundred kilograms to about 200 kilograms. The making of the dragon incense involves applying incense paste onto a bamboo pole, then compressing it manually with specialized tools. It needs to be left to dry naturally for at least two or three months before being painted and decorated with dragon and phoenix designs.
The parade featured a variety of intangible cultural heritage folk customs, not limited to Chaozhou but also included those from other cities, like Jieyang, allowing visitors to experience the charm of the diverse cultural heritage of the region up close.
The parade, with a total length of 1500 meters and nearly 1,000 participants, started from Qinglong Ancient Temple and passed through various tourist spots and major streets in the city, returning to Qinglong Ancient Temple.
The parade is precious folk culture that has been passed down through generations among the people of Chaozhou. It has become an important symbol of cultural identity in the region and serves as a cultural vessel with strong cohesion and influence among Chaozhou people at home and abroad.
The temple fair this year embodied the supports and participation from Chaoshan chambers of commerce and overseas Chinese around the world. The parade drew participants from over 60 associations both within China and abroad, such as the Hong Kong Chaozhou Community Association, Hong Kong Chaoshan Associations, Macau Chaoshan Associations, the Thai-Asia General Chamber of Commerce, the Malaysia Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Singapore Teo Ann Association, the American Eastern Cultural Association, the Sweden Chaoshan Association, the France Chaoshan Association, the Norway Chaoshan Business Association, the Belgium Chaoshan Association, and the Cambodia Overseas Chaoshan Association.
