Nezha Beliefs with Unique Traditional Characteristics

Nezha is a young hero in Chinese mythology, and I'm sure many people are familiar with his heroic deeds. The belief in Na Cha has been passed down for more than 300 years, and in Macau there is an annual day of worship at the Na Tcha Temple. The following Macau Culture brings you more about the belief of Nezha, take a look.

Ne Zha is a character in the classic novels Journey to the West and The Enchantment of the Gods of the Ming Dynasty, a mythological hero who stood up to the heavens and the earth. According to legend, Nezha was the third son of Li Jing, the King of Heaven, and one of the disciples of Taiyi Zhenzhen. When Nezha was born, there was the character "Na" in his left palm, and "Zha" in his right palm, which is why he was named Nezha.

At the age of three, Ne Zha went to the sea and caused a great deal of trouble, knocking down the Crystal Palace and capturing the dragon to extract its tendons and scales. Because he is the reincarnation of Nuwa's spirit beads, after the sea of bones and flesh to return to his parents after the master of the transformation into a lotus incarnation of the courageous generals, to help Jiang Ziya to help Zhou to fight the war in the repeated successes of the heavenly Palace of the immortals, in the Journey to the West, he was with his father, the Monkey King, and then in the path of the scriptures to help the Monkey King to fight the demons, he is a young hero that people like.

Nezha's beliefs thrive in Taoism and Han Chinese folk beliefs. In Taoism, his titles are Zhongtan Yuanshu, Tongtian Taishi, Wei Lingxiejie, San Tan Haihui Da Shen, and so on, and he is commonly known as the Prince, the Third Prince. His role is recorded in the Yuan Dynasty's "The Complete Book of the Three Religions and the Search for Gods" and he is active in a number of literary works, including the classical novels of the Ming Dynasty, such as "Journey to the West" and "The Enchantment of the Gods" (commonly referred to as "The List of the Enchanted Gods"). Nezha is said to have originated from India and Buddhism, and from ancient Persia.

The beliefs of A-Ma and Na Tcha were successfully inscribed on the Fourth National Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In September 2013, the Ministry of Culture launched the nomination process for the fourth batch of representative items of national intangible cultural heritage. With the support and assistance of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (ICM), the nominating organizations of the two faiths completed the nomination texts and submitted the nomination documents to the Ministry of Culture at the end of November last year. The two successful nominations are important traditional cultures of Macao, which are representative of folk festivals and events.

The "Na Tcha Faith of Macau" is a distinctive local folk belief that has been passed down for over 300 years. Every year, on the 18th day of the 5th lunar month, Na Cha celebrates his birthday with a ceremony of opening the seal of the deity, building a jiao-festival to pray for blessings, making a tour of the temple, performing magic plays, and asking for the seal of Nezha to celebrate his birthday, for the sake of safety and security, and for the sake of harmony in the community.

This folk belief is not only recognized by the community, but also serves to unite the community and promote traditional culture, and has important cultural values and local characteristics. The two Nezha temples, under the national policy of protecting intangible cultural heritage, are to be commended for their joint nomination, which demonstrates their harmony and contribution to the preservation of local traditional culture.