Jumping into the fire is one of the customs in Chaoshan. It is said that only brave people can jump. How can such a dangerous activity continue to this day?

The activity of jumping fire is mainly in Puning, Jieyang, Chaoshan area, and "jumping fire" is a local holy day to commemorate Master Guandi. At the same time, it is also combined with other folk activities and comes down in one continuous line with various blessing activities in the New Year.

Fire jumping activities are not only found in Chaoshan area, but also in Meizhou and Minnan area of Hakka, and these three types of people have one thing in common: the Central Plains moved south, not aborigines. It can be inferred that the activity of jumping fire is inherited from the Central Plains, and the traditional worship and cognition of fire in the Central Plains may be the original meaning of this activity.

On the day of the event, every household arranged various offerings in front of their own houses, waiting for the arrival of the "sage". Wherever the palanquin of the "saint" goes to the door, firecrackers will be set off to worship, and then the straw pile prepared at the door will be lit, so that the team of the "saint" can jump out of the fire. The British masters are all young and strong men, who will carry the martial arts sedan chair of "Guan Zhu" and jump out of the fires of various households, and sometimes sparks will fly, and the scene will be hot!

Hakka's "jumping into the fire" activity also includes "meeting the host", and there is no difference in basic ceremony. The only difference is that the "master" is different. Four teenagers dressed in mighty costumes are carrying the "king of the three mountains". In southern Fujian, everyone dances and recites folk songs, such as: "Jump in and make a fortune in the New Year; Jump out, carefree, carefree; Skip the east, food can't be eaten empty; Skip the west, the money is full "and so on.

In the traditional concept of China people, fire has always been a tool to exorcise evil spirits. Setting off fireworks on New Year's Eve means using fire and sound to drive away the monster "Nian". In fact, it is the mastery of fire that greatly improves the ability of human beings to conquer nature, and finally makes human beings the spirit of all things.

Therefore, the ritual of exorcism with fire has been handed down from ancient times. Just like the bride in the north has to go through a stove when she enters the door, jumping on the fire is also a special ceremony to drive away evil spirits and get rid of the bad luck of the old year, and deliberately letting the fire spark symbolizes that life in the new year will be booming.