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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