Yunfire Inferno - Five Year Millennium Fest Cultural Festival

Five Year Millennium Fest Cultural Festival

In addition to the "Five-Year Grand Examinations" held to welcome the Five-Year Deity, Zhuan'an Temple in Baozhong Township, Magongshan, is known for another prominent and unique religious custom called "the Rice Bucket Parade" ("吃飯擔" in Mandarin). Every year on the 15th day of the first lunar month, which coincides with the Lantern Festival, the main deity of Zhuan'an Temple leads a procession through the villages and tribal communities.

After the Five-Year Deity completes the tour, the village teams, each representing a different rotation, embark on separate processions through their designated routes. At noon, all teams converge at the village of the rotating stock to share a meal. This tradition, spanning Baozhong Township and Dongshi Township, has roots dating back to the mid-Qing Dynasty. It originated during a time of calamity and plague, when people sought the intervention of the Five-Year Deity to rid them of the epidemic.

Once peace was restored to the villages, in gratitude for the deity's protection and the efforts of those involved in the procession, the tradition evolved into an annual event held on the Lantern Festival, with each village taking turns to organize it. The rotating village must bear the responsibility of providing all the participants, officials, and pilgrims with lunch. In the early agricultural society, people would carry food in baskets and bamboo containers on shoulder poles, and they would share the prepared food in open spaces or harvested rice fields, hence the name "Rice Bucket Parade" ("吃飯擔" in Mandarin). This tradition of expressing gratitude to the deity and rewarding the officials and participants with a meal has continued to attract many participants over the years. As a result, the "Rice Bucket Parade" has gradually become a significant temple fair activity on the Lantern Festival, alongside other famous events like the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival and the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival.

Yunfire Inferno

YunFire Inferno Dance Troupe is honored to be invited to perform at this unique religious custom. In response to the profound significance of this tradition, we are proud to present our piece "Prayers to the Sky," which prominently features fire as a symbol of gratitude towards the divine blessings.

Performance Info:

Date: 2024/2/24

Time: 13:00-13:40pm

Place: San' an Temple Luchuo Dongshi

Content: Fire Dance