Yuejin Hong Kong Lantern Festival｜How to celebrate the New Year for common people when the epidemic and depression hit

Tainan Yanshui is a well-known ancient town in Taiwan. During the Qing Dynasty, it developed into a famous port area in Taiwan during the Yongzheng and Qianlong years by virtue of the windy inland sea and the rapid river transportation. Because of its slightly curved terrain, it looks like a crescent moon, so it has the elegant name of "Yuejin", together with Fucheng (now Tainan's Central and Western District and Anping District), Changhua Lugang, Taipei Mengka, and also known as Taiwan's four major ports, leaving "one". The memory of the era of Fu Erlu, San Mengka, April and Jin” outlines the development trajectory of the ancestors’ reclamation of Taiwan.

This month, although the port of Tianjin is no longer responsible for the transportation function, the historical splendor of the ancient town is still vivid. From January to March every year, the New Year and Lantern Festivals are held here, attracting a large number of people from Taiwan to the town of Yanshui. "Yuejin Hong Kong Lantern Festival" is the only Lantern Festival brand that was shortlisted for the German Red Dot Design Award and won the Red Dot Award for the Exhibition Design Group among many Lantern Festivals in Taiwan. On the New Year's Eve in 2022, "Multidimensional News" visited the scene of the Lantern Festival on the spot and recorded the various conditions of the common people in the busy city. This is the second in a series of two interviews.

The epidemic hits the livelihood of ordinary people

Affected by the new crown epidemic in 2021, the Yuejin Hong Kong Lantern Festival, which lasted for 8 years, was forced to be suspended for one session, followed by the outbreak of the epidemic in May, and the epidemic prevention alert in Taiwan was raised to level three. As a result, they closed down and laid off workers, and food stalls were forced to go without food for several months.

The Lantern Festival will finally resume in 2022, but on the eve of Chinese New Year, the epidemic in Taiwan has resurfaced. Taoyuan and Kaohsiung have opened their doors, and both the north and the south of Taiwan have been occupied. Although Tainan has not suffered a serious epidemic, it is not a small risk due to its proximity to Kaohsiung. However, Yanshui could no longer bear the escalating economic setback. Tainan Mayor Huang Weizhe announced on January 24 that the Yuejin Hong Kong Lantern Festival would be held as usual, "unless the epidemic situation turns sharply, or the Epidemic Epidemic Command Center announces stricter epidemic prevention measures. "

But even though the city government gave the green light, the epidemic still dampened the enthusiasm of the people to participate to a certain extent. "Duowei News" visited the site and found that the Qiaonan Old Street in Yanshui is full of food stalls, and there are no law enforcement officers to persuade or impose fines on violations such as "take off the mask and eat", but the crowd is sparser than in the past, and people's willingness to buy snacks is also It has been greatly reduced, and many stall vendors can only sit and slide their phones or close their eyes.

But despite this, as representatives of the common people's economy, many vendors are still taking the risk of contracting the epidemic to win business. Although the income is not as good as expected, the burden of livelihood still drives him to keep going and keep fighting.

Yuejin Port Lantern Festival Market: (click to enlarge)

The cannon will still sound

The saltwater event, which is equally famous as the Lantern Festival, is the famous "saltwater bee cannon" in Taiwan, and its roots are closely related to the epidemic.

In the early Qing Dynasty, the Jishui River had not yet swelled and silted up, and Saltwater was still a prosperous port, and its residents depended on trade and offshore fisheries. However, during the Xianfeng years, a plague broke out in Saltwater. Under the panic that medical means could not stop the epidemic, residents flocked to the local "Guan Shengdijun" (Guan Gong) Temple to seek a solution. According to the results of the request, a night detour was held during the Lantern Festival. Nangong's "Zhou Cang Ye" was the pioneer of the road and the "Guan Shengdijun" behind the palace, and set off a large number of firecrackers along the way. After the border crossing, the epidemic gradually subsided, and people believed that "burning cannons to drive away the epidemic" played a role, so they followed it every year during the Lantern Festival, forming today's "salt water bee cannon" tradition.

To study the production process of "bee cannon", traditionally, a large bracket is made of wooden sticks, and then thousands of cannons are lined up to fill the whole frame, so that the hearts of the cannons are connected to form a cannon city (or turret), and colored paper is pasted on the exterior. to decorate. Nowadays, there are more new equipment such as electronic fuzes, LEDs and lasers. The structure of the gun city also has new materials such as steel and stainless steel, and it will be equipped with wheels for easy movement. Before the start of the detour, each family has prepared the cannon city, and it will not be launched until the mikoshi arrives in front of the door. Then the owner will pull the red cloth and tear off the cannon city. The red paper with the words "Thank you", burns and prays together with the golden paper in front of the shrine, and then officially ignites his own cannon city for the gods around the border to collect the bee cannons. During the detour, various firecrackers rose and fell one after another, and the whole city sounded like a swarm of bees, so it was called "bee cannon".

Saltwater's Bee Cannon Tradition and Guan Shengdijun's Belief: (click to enlarge)

Similar to the Yuejin Port Lantern Festival, the Saltwater Bee Cannon is also a well-known tourist activity, attracting many people to participate and bringing a large amount of income to the local area. Although the organizers strongly urged the public to pay attention to protection and wear safety helmets, thick scarves, gun-proof jackets, trousers with cuffs, covered shoes and other equipment, there were still occasional incidents of people being injured by cannonballs.

In 2021, the epidemic swept across Taiwan. The Tainan City Government originally planned to suspend the operation of bee cannons, but after the epidemic gradually eased, it received a strong request for "resumption" of the local government. Many netizens poured into Mayor Huang Weizhe's Facebook and wrote " Give me back the salt water bee gun" and other messages. In the end, after negotiation between the city government and the Yanyan Wu Temple (enshrining Guan Shengdijun), the Yanshan Bee Cannon was resumed. However, in order to take into account the epidemic prevention, the scale could only be reduced. The artillery city is concentrated in the square in front of the Wumiao Temple, and the public is not allowed to enter the venue. This plan will be continued in 2022.

From the Yuejin Hong Kong Lantern Festival Market to the Bee Cannon Event, this saltwater New Year is not as vigilant as the whole city in the past, but it is equally vigilant against the spread of the epidemic. But just as the bee cannons are banned, the common people's survival must continue.

The original text was published on 2022/2/3 " Multidimensional News "