Yuecheng “Longmu’s Birthday” Temple Fair

115.Yuecheng “Longmu’s Birthday” Temple Fair

Nominating Unit: City of Zhaoqing

The Yuecheng “Longmu’s (dragon’s mother) Birthday” Temple Fair was initiated in Deqing County, Guangdong Province more than two thousand years ago. It was derived from the worshipping of Longmu, the Goddess of the Xining river. The main activities are held on annually, including the Birthday of Dragon’s Mother (from May 1st to May 8th of the lunar calendar) and the Immortal Day of Dragon’s Mother (from Aug. 1st to Aug. 8th of the lunar calendar).

Celebrations related to the birthday of Longmu have been existing ever since ancient times. During the Qing Dynasty both folk and official celebrations were held. According to Zhang Xueju’s Preface of the Record of Rebuilding the Longmu Temple, in the past on “Longmu’s Birthday” “a lot of official and commercial ships sailed to the temple, respectfully presenting the sacrifices and piously worshipping Longmu for safe sailing of the whole year.” It is also written in Local Customs of the Nation that “during the celebration, sacrificial ceremony was staged and traditional operas were performed, which was extremely hilarious. Charity activities were often held. The celebration lasted for several days before pilgrims left.” Nowadays, there’re both official rituals held by the temple and folk worshipping activities initiated by believers, which includes the “Birthday Greeting by Ten Thousand Pilgrims”, “Bathing of Longmu”, “Longmu Changing Dresses”, “Dragon Sons’ Worshipping of Longmu”, “Relieving and Releasing” and so on. In the long historical development, the Longmu Temple Fair also involved folk activities of dragon dances, lion dances, gods entertaining performances, scrambling for fireworks and so on. Besides, some rituals are also followed. Such as “touching dragon’s bed”, “drinking holly water”, “dosing incense ashes”, “eating the golden pig”, “stamping Longmu’s seal”, “burning the Longmu incense”, “putting on the Longmu amulet”, “donating for the temple” and so on. During the temple fair, people eat zongzi (traditional Chinese rice-pudding) and dragon boat cakes. However, there’re some tabus that people must pay attentions to within the days of celebration. For example, people shouldn’t eat carp and must show respect to the Green Dragon. Through the activities of various forms for entertaining gods, people have expressed their worship and beliefs of Longmu.

There is a large number of pilgrims coming for “Birthday Greeting” during the Birthday of Longmu, and the number reaches its peak on May. 8th of the lunar calendar. From May. 1st to May. 8th of the lunar calendar, the “Birthday Greeting Group” from the upstream of the Xining river (places of Baise, Shuangzhou etc.) sailed downstream and gathered near the Yuecheng river, forming a fl eet which is ten feet long and more than 80 meters wide, connecting to the groups on land. The music played by the “Bayin Band” on boats can be heard even miles away. All the boats and ships sailing in the Xijiang river enshrine and worship the statue of Longmu on board. When they sail to the water three to four miles off the Longmu Temple, sailors start to blow flutes or hit drums, Firecrackers are set off , incense are burnt and candles are lit , all the sailors worship the Longmu temple and pray for luck. During the Birthday of Longmu, people not only greet and worship Longmu, but also organize business “Birthday Greeting”, which results in the formation of a temporary market, making it a large-scale fair. Thus, there is a local saying which reads: “The profitability of the Longmu’s Birthday is enough for one year’s expenditure.”(https://www.daowen.com)

Since Qin Shi Huang’s first granting, Yuecheng Longmu had been subject to the emperor’s granting from the Han dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, which was formulated in the feudal state worshipping system. Therefore its orthodoxy as a faith was established. Due to the official advocacy, beliefs in Longmu was increasingly popular among people, which turned out to make it a unique and traditional way to hold celebration activities together by both the government and people. Besides, spirits and virtues derived from beliefs in Longmu , as well as the religious beliefs and daily life customs of the people living around the Xining river, have been the vivid carriers of the Xining Longmu culture. It is of great value on the study of ethnology, folklore, sociology and so on.

However, due to various reasons, the traditional “Longmu’s Birthday” Temple Fair has been gradually losing the rich and modest primitivism. Besides, people who preside over the temple fair are getting old, and artists proficient in Taoist ritual singing have become fewer and fewer, while the younger generation have little interests in it. Lack of new blood, it is urgent to take effective measures for the protection and support of the Longmu’s Birthday Temple Fair.