Qingshan King: Centuries-Old Festival Kept Alive in Modern Taipei

TaiwanPlus News

To keep a centuries-old tradition alive, residents of Taipei's Wanhua District head into the streets to drive away evil spirits. They set off firecrackers and play bugles as night patrols mark the Qingshan King’s birthday — nearly two centuries after the deity was brought from Fujian to Taiwan.

Transcript

00:00Fireworks paved the way as a god sets out on patrol.

00:11The Qingshan king and his entourage are making sure that Taipei's Wanhua district remains free of evil spirits.

00:19It's a centuries-old tradition marking the god's birthday.

00:23It's very early to have this activity.

00:26Every year, on the 10th of January,

00:30three days of evening,

00:33two days of evening,

00:35and one day of evening.

00:39For the An Fang, or Night Patrol,

00:41eight generals march alongside buglers,

00:44announcing the king's arrival upon a palanquin

00:47shouldered by faithful volunteers.

00:50We were growing up in the temple,

00:53so we would take care of ourselves,

00:55and take care of ourselves.

00:58Every year, we would participate.

01:00We didn't have a decision.

01:02From childhood,

01:04this activity in Wanhua is a year.

01:07It's like our new year,

01:09a little year.

01:10The eight generals,

01:13their faces painted red or green,

01:15marched to capture,

01:17torture,

01:18and scare off any evil spirits haunting the neighborhood.

01:21They wield weapons like ones from ancient China.

01:27The festival still looks much like it did in the 1850s,

01:31when immigrants from Fujian brought the Qingshan king to the area.

01:34But the streets, the god patrols,

01:37look very different now.

01:39Known variously as Wanhua, Mongka, or Bangka,

01:43the neighborhood used to be a small settlement in northern Taiwan.

01:47It later joined with neighboring Dadaocheng

01:50to become part of Taipei Prefecture,

01:53what eventually became the modern capital city.

01:56For almost two centuries,

01:58the festival has seen the city grow around it,

02:01sprawling far beyond its original borders

02:04and filling the surrounding basin.

02:07The tradition has survived pandemics,

02:09two world wars,

02:11and multiple governments.

02:13This ceremony is from 1970 years ago

02:18that we had this ceremony.

02:20In the past,

02:23in the past,

02:25in the past,

02:26in the past,

02:27we would invite everyone to eat food.

02:30This is the tradition.

02:34Today,

02:35the crowds are bigger than ever.

02:37The festival has gone from a neighborhood ritual

02:40to a national spectacle.

02:42And you wouldn't know it,

02:43but that actually means fewer fireworks.

02:46Now,

02:47the people have come out of the world.

02:49We have to put some firepower in the world.

02:52At the age of the age of the world,

02:53we have to put some firepower in the world.

02:57These firepower,

02:59the firepower and firepower,

03:00which caused some of the houses to burn out.

03:03So,

03:04the place is only a firepower in the world.

03:06We have to put a firepower in the world.

03:07We have to put some firepower in the world.

03:09Backed by more volunteers joining each year,

03:12the Qing Shang Kung Festival looks set to remain

03:15a defining part of Wanhua,

03:17even as Taipei continues to transform and evolve.

03:21Justin Wu,

03:22Bryn Thomas,

03:23and Zalane Chata for Taiwan Plus.

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