The "Tai Ping Ching Chiu" festival is an old tradition that has still been passed on today.
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Felling trees and slaughtering of livestock is then strictly prohibited.
All the villagers purify themselves by fasting and bathing.
They thank the gods and placate the roaming spirits.
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| Huge billboards |
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Those traditional decorative billboards are also called "Pai Lau".
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All the Gods known to the villagers are invited to enter a temporary temple, so that
the villagers can worship them all.
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| Temporary temple |
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Every day processions are headed by the Taoist priests. Groups of elders are visiting and are
accompanied by lion and unicorn dances. Hundreds of people are visiting, worshipping and
watching the Cantonese opera.
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| Festival main entrance |
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This procession is called "Hang Heung". The Taoist Priests, elders and villagers visit all the villages taking part to "Tai Ping Ching Chiu" festival in order to bring peace and purity to all participating homes.
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During the "Tai Ping Ching Chiu" festival, an entrance fee must be paid
to be able to enjoy the Cantonese Opera. Pictures taking is forbidden due to
copyright issues.
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| Opera entrance |
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During the Hungry Ghost festival, there is no fee for Chinese Opera.
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Cantonese opera is publicly performed to please both the human and the deity. The purpose
is to wish for favorable weather and peace in the whole area.
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| Cantonese Opera backstage |
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A "Tai Ping Ching Chiu" festival is very expensive, i.e. a few million dollars. Only a few places can afford to hold one every year such as the Bun festival at Cheung Chau, which is a yearly "Tai Ping Ching Chiu" festival.
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During "Tai Ping Ching Chiu" festival, participants can enjoy episodes of puppet shows
and Chinese opera performances.
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| Puppet show |
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The villagers hire Taoist priests to hold a long series of rituals in order to
placate the ghosts of all the men and animals who have been killed since the previous
"Tai Ping Ching Chiu" festival, and
also in order to cleanse the area from all malevolent spirits.
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| Taai Si Wong |
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Taoist priests are chanting at the Great Offering to the Ghosts.
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A "Tai Ping Ching Chiu" festival is huge scale as it implies a
temporary temple for all the gods, a temporary temple for the Taoist priests,
stalls selling good-luck tokens, offices for the organizers, paper statues
of the Gods of Wealth and the Underworld, a huge matshed for Chinese opera.
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| Taoist priests |
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Those villages jointly celebrating the "Tai Ping Ching Chiu" festival recognize each other as brothers. Anyone can take part in the rituals but only the villagers can take a ritual role.
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Every village sends a group of elders to worship all the gods on behalf of the
village every day of the "Tai Ping Ching Tsiu" festival. Every family does
the same. So the area is brought back into a good and mutually satisfactory
relationship with all the deities.
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| Taoist ceremony |
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Taoist Priests arer wearing their pink-and-blue robes.
The Ritual Representatives are wearing yellow silk robes.
The village elders are wearing blue and brown robes.
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| Ritual Representative |
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The procession starts in the evening. The Taai Si Wong effigy is carried by young men down the main streets of the village. Old traditions warn that women are allowed to follow the effigy or at least not to see it face to face.
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On the last day, around 8pm, the Clan people start the Ghost King parade.
This parade lasts for around 1 hour.
Many male villagers bring the 20 feet high paper-made Ghost King
to run around the village. They believe all ghosts also follow the Ghost King during this parade.
They aren't allowed to call each other names, otherwise the ghosts will be able to go to their home.
Besides, women aren't allowed to join the parade as it shall bring bad luck to their families.
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| Ghost King Parade |
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The concluding rite known as Great Offering to Ghosts starts at night time. The priests chant and sing. The final burning is supervised by the priests.
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Around 11pm, the King Ghost is burned and sent back to the underworld. The
festival is over.
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| Set ablaze |
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At the end of the festival, priests read aloud the names of every person who lives in the area. Then they attach the list of names to the paper King of Ghost and set it aflame, letting the names rise to heaven.
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