Folklore of Taiwan

Defined by Taiwan's Cultural Assets Protection Act, folklore refers to clothing, food, housing, transportation, ancestor worship, beliefs, annual festivals, entertainment and other customs related to the lives of residents. Taiwan's living customs are basically the same as those of the motherland, especially in the southern region, and retain more of the ancient customs of Fujian and Guangdong. The traditional festivals of Taiwanese folklore are much the same as those of the mainland. The most important festivals are, in order, the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Ching Ming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Tanabata Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chung Yeung Festival, Winter Solstice, Sending Stove, and New Year's Eve. The forms of festivals are also similar to those on the mainland, such as the Spring Festival with the custom of visiting relatives and friends to pay respect to the New Year, the Lantern Festival with the eating of lanterns, lantern races, and riddles; the Dragon Boat Festival with the eating of zongzi (rice dumplings) and dragon boat races; the Mid-Autumn Festival with the enjoyment of the moon and the eating of mooncakes; the Chung Yeung Festival with the ascending of heights and the taking of hikes; the New Year's Eve with the whole family. Among them, the most well-known Taiwanese folklore in the landscape of Tainan Yanshui Township "bee cannon", Pingxi very village of the "release of the sky cannon" and Penghu "begging turtles" and so on.

Tainan Yanshui Township in the Lantern Festival is best known for the "Bee Cannon", i.e., by tens of thousands of firecrackers made of skyrockets, each of which is linked together by the core of the cannon, a cannon is lit, and 10,000 cannons are fired in succession, with sparks shooting out in all directions, and the sound and light making a deafening, spectacular sight. The "Bee Cannon" has become a tourist attraction in Taiwan.

The sky lanterns are set on fire in the lower part of the papier-maché lamp-shaped sphere, and are sent up into the night sky by using the principle of rising hot air. It is also known as the "Kongming lantern" because it is shaped like a Kongming hat. It is rumored to have a history of more than 200 years in Taiwan. An important function of the lanterns in the early days was to signal each other's safety, but now they have become a kind of entertainment and blessing activity.

The "Begging Turtle" custom of Penghu Lantern Festival is interesting and mysterious. Every year when the Lantern Festival arrives, all kinds of "turtles" are placed on the offering table of large and small temples in Penghu, there are "Fangchip Turtle" which is made of sugar and glutinous rice powder to pray for peace, and "Long-life Turtle" which is made of thread. There are also the "Noodle Thread Turtle" made of thread and noodles, which means "longevity"; the "Egg Cake Turtle" made of flour and eggs; and the "Golden Turtle" made of gold. Golden Turtle" and so on. People have come to worship, "begging turtle", that is, by praying for life to obtain the acquiescence of the gods, "begging turtle" people to the temple deacon to report, incense, ask for the begging of the "turtle", in order to seek the blessings and gifts of the gods. The "Turtle Begging" people report to the deacon of the temple and insert incense to ask for the "Turtle" they begged for, in order to seek the blessing and favor of the gods.

Taiwan's wedding and funeral customs are similar to those on the mainland, and many traditional customs remain in Taiwan today, especially in rural areas. The practice of not marrying someone with the same surname is still popular in Taiwan, and the three surnames of "Zhou, Su, Lian," "Chen, Hu, Yao," "Xu, She, Tu," and the three surnames of "Hsiao, Ye," and "Hsu," "Hsu," and "Hsu," are still popular in Taiwan. The three surnames of Zhou, Su, Lian, Chen, Hu, Yao, Xu, She and Tu, as well as the two surnames of Hsiao, Ye and Hsu and Ke are considered to be of the same ancestry and do not intermarry with each other. Although wedding ceremonies have changed and diversified, they still emphasize traditional Chinese weddings. Folk funeral customs are cumbersome and full of superstitions, from the dying, mourning, coffin, mourning to the funeral, burial and a set of traditional practices. To this day, earth burials are still popular among Taiwanese people, and the selection of cemeteries emphasizes feng shui. Taiwan folk also "pick up the bones" of the custom, that is, commonly known as "pick up feng shui", also known as the "second burial", that is, in the first funeral is relatively simple, do not formally set up a tombstone, to be five to seven years and then The tomb is opened on an auspicious day, and the bones are picked up and formally buried again. On the southwest coast of Taiwan, "bone picking" is a specialized profession. Therefore, there is a saying in Taiwan that "nine burials and nine removals, ten burials and ten thousand years", that is, the more times a person is reburied, the better. But nowadays, Taiwan's wedding and funeral is more popular modern "float dance".

There are also many local festivals in Taiwan. The more grandiose ones, such as the sixth day of the first month of the festival "Qing Shui Ancestor" (the main temple in Taipei Wanhua Qing Shui Rock, this day Taiwan has a grand and solemn ceremony, in the past will be staged for 20 consecutive days of the big show), around March 23rd is a large-scale "A-Ma Zu Festival", the whole month of July The "Yu Lan Festival" (the Pudu Festival) is held around March 23rd, and the whole month of July.

And then some:

Taiwan's cultural events

When you first arrive in Taiwan, you'll be amazed by what you see, because the rich and diverse historical background has created a colorful and varied Taiwanese culture. Taiwan's development process includes the aboriginal people, the early Chinese Minnan, Hakka immigrants, the Dutch, the Spanish, the Japanese and the recent Chinese immigrants, and the people of this place pay much attention to the preservation of the traditional culture, but also gradually developed a new culture, and at the same time, in Taiwan, you can see the aboriginal, native and Chinese cultures, and also can appreciate the historical monuments left behind by the Dutch and the Japanese.

Taiwan is the center of traditional Chinese culture and art. In addition to the National Palace Museum, which has preserved Chinese cultural relics through the ages, you can also take a peek at the following aspects:

Temples and architecture

Taiwan's traditional architecture is a compendium of folk art, and the decorations are particularly exquisite, with colorful paintings, calligraphy, wood carvings, stone carvings, clay sculptures, ceramics, and clay cut-outs as the constituent elements of architecture. All of these elements are part of the architecture, from which we can gain a deep insight into the rich connotation of Taiwan's culture. In addition, besides the traditional Chinese architecture inherited from the early immigrants from Minnan and Hakka in mainland China (e.g., the Lin Family Garden in Banqiao), Chinese temple architecture can also be seen everywhere, including the Longshan Temple in Lugang, the Tianhou Temple, and the Chautian Temple in Beigang, which are among the most well-known and long-established temples in Taiwan and are of high artistic value.

Folk Culture and Art

Taiwan's important festivals include the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Tanabata Festival, and Chinese New Year's Day ......; while the Songpaoling Xuantian God Ceremony, the Dajia A-Ma Zu Incense Festival, the Beigang A-Ma Zu Outing, Taipei's welcoming of the City God, the Donggang Wangboat Ceremony, the crossing of fire by Wang Gong in Ejie, and the Aboriginal Festival are also important local festivals in Taiwan. ...... are also important local folklore events in Taiwan. In addition, Taiwan has not only inherited the traditional Chinese opera art, but has also developed Taiwan's own unique opera and burlesque, which is a performing art that combines various local operas, ditties, and music; and burlesque, which has recently combined sound and light effects, and is widely popular among young people.

Taiwanese film and performance groups have also been making their mark on the international stage in recent years, once again demonstrating the legacy and innovation of Chinese tradition and Taiwan's local culture.

Full year festivals, ancestral spirit festivals, hunting festivals, totems, snake motifs..., the mysterious cultural colors of Taiwan's aboriginal people have infused Taiwan's culture with a different kind of vitality. Taiwan's aboriginal people belong to the South Island language family, which is the northernmost part of the distribution of the South Island language family, and ethnically belong to the Malay people. Taiwan's aboriginal people are mostly settled in mountainous areas and are divided into ten ethnic groups: Saisiyas, Taiyas, Amis, Bununs, Bunan, Rukai, Paiwan, Yami, Tsao, and Shao, with their own languages, customs, and tribal structures, but are currently facing the problems of assimilation and cultural preservation. Among them, the Yamei of Orchid Island, the outer island of Taiwan, are the last to come into contact with the Han Chinese due to their geographical isolation, and thus have preserved the most complete aboriginal culture.