【Lantern Festival English】Must learn "4 major activities" Lantern Festival, Pingxi Sky Lantern, Tainan Saltwater Bee Cannon, Taitung Fried Handan, how do you say it in English?

Today is the Lantern Festival. There are various events in Taiwan such as Lantern Festival, Pingxi Sky Lantern, Tainan Saltwater Bee Cannon, Taitung Fried Handan and other celebration ceremonies. How much do you know in English? Hurry up and take a look at the "4 major activities" that must be learned in [Lantern Festival English], and learn how to introduce the origin, activity characteristics and English word sentences of the festival activities in English!

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Taiwan Lantern Festival Activities

There are many activities all over Taiwan during Taiwan Lantern Festival.

1. Taiwan Lantern Festival

The Taiwan Lantern Festival is an annual event hosted by the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taiwan, and the theme is based on the zodiac animal of that year.

The Taiwan Lantern Festival is an annual Lantern Festival held in Taiwan since 1990. It is sponsored by the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Communications and takes the zodiac as the theme every year.

Key word finishing
annual event
hosted by
zodiac animal

2. Pingxi (Pingsi) Sky Lantern Festival

The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival is one of the most colorful activities of the Lantern Festival. During the Taiwan Lantern Festival, thousands of sky lanterns light over Pingxi in Taiwan. During this period, thousands of sky lanterns illuminate the night sky in Pingxi.

As Pingxi is located in a remote area outside of Taipei, the Pingxi sky lanterns were released originally to let others know that the town was safe.
Tracing the origin of the sky lanterns in Pingxi, the main reason is that the Pingxi area was remote, and the pioneers who entered the mountain in the early years were often killed and robbed. In order to facilitate communication, people reported safety to each other by releasing sky lanterns.

Nowadays, the lanterns do not function as signals anymore but are now used as symbols of peace and good fortune. These lanterns are decorated with wishes and images relating to the owner.
So far, the sky lanterns in Pingxi no longer have the function of exchanging information, but have evolved into a sightseeing activity on the Lantern Festival night.

Key word finishing
sky lantern, releasing sky lanterns releasing sky lanterns
be located in
remote area
signal signal
as symbol of

3. Yanshui Fireworks Festival (Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival)

The fireworks display at the God of War Temple in Yanshui, Tainan City, is one of the most popular and anticipated events of the Lantern Festival. Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival is listed as one of the world's three major folk festivals , and is also one of the most significant religious events in Taiwan.
In addition to the sky lanterns on Lantern Festival, the bee cannons at the Wu Temple in Yanshui District, Tainan City are also famous at home and abroad. "Salt Bee Cannon" ranks among the three largest folk festivals in the world and is one of the most representative religious activities in Taiwan.

Legend has it that the fireworks originated during the Qing Dynasty as the plague raged in the streets of Yanshui. Victims of the disease multiplied daily, and the locals prayed to Guan Di, the god of war, to save them. Thus on Lantern Festival evening , the Guan Di's palanquin paraded through the streets with multitudes of followers setting off firecrackers behind the deity's holy sedan chair along the road until the break of dawn, and the plague was ended.
According to legend, it originated in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, when a plague of salt water was common, and the number of dead was increasing, so I prayed to Emperor Guan for relief. Guan Shengdijun instructed that on the Lantern Festival night, believers should set off firecrackers along with the mikoshi, and circle the streets and alleys until dawn to sweep away the plague.

So the later generations followed this custom, asking Guan Di to patrol the streets on the evening of the Lantern Festival each year.
In order to appreciate the divine power of Emperor Guan, the people clearly set off fireworks on the day of the Lantern Festival every year, and held the "Emperor Guan".

On Lantern Festival night, the holy sedan chair will depart from Emperor Guan Temple and parade through the streets of Yanshui. Followers along the way will set off firework racks (also called "gun deck" or "gun wall") in front of their doorways .
The saltwater bee cannon activity began to ignite on the eve of the Lantern Festival. The mikoshi set off from the Wu Temple to circumnavigate the salt water. Along the way, believers will cast their own bee cannons at their doorsteps.

The "gun deck" consists of thousands of bottle rockets that ignite all at the same time, creating a deafening, bee-like sound as if hundreds of thousands of bees streaming out of their hives.
The "bee cannon" is made of tens of thousands of cannons. As long as one of the cannons is ignited, it will drive the other cannons nearby to bombard. Once the cannons are ignited, multiple cannons are fired continuously, making a deafening sound, as if thousands of Thousands of bees fly out of the hive.

People believe that after running through the flying fireworks, you can get rid of calamity and troubles, and have a prosperous and wonderful new year.
People believe that rushing into the bee cannon array can eliminate disasters and pray for good luck.

Key word finishing
beehive firecrackers (beehive beehive), set off beehive firecrackers
popular
anticipate expectation, hope
is listed as
folk festival
religious event
plague
rage raging
palanquin, sedan chair
deity
patrol; patrol
bottle rocket
ignite
get rid of
disaster

4. Bombing of Master Han Dan in Taitung

The main activity in Taitung during the Lantern Festival every year is the Bombing of Master Han Dan . Master Han Dan is a guardian of the celestial treasury and is revered today as a God of Wealth.
The unique custom of Taitung during the Lantern Festival every year is to fry Handan. Lord Handan is the God of Wealth, the God of Wealth in charge of the Tianku in the Fengshen List. To people, he is the God of Wealth. According to legend, he is naturally afraid of cold, so he is also called "Han Dan Ye".

When Master Han Dan makes his tour of the earthly world, people along the route of the divine procession prepare offerings of fresh flowers and fruit, and light strings of firecrackers to welcome Master Han Dan and pray for his blessing and for good fortune. The person representing Master Han Dan on the tour shows braveness by only holding a tree branch and wearing a headscarf, mask and pair of red shorts amid the fusillade of firecrackers.
When "Master Han Dan" went out to patrol the border, firecrackers rang out, and every household threw flowers, fruits and a string of firecrackers on him. Everyone rushed to greet him and prayed for good luck at the beginning of the year. The person pretending to be "Master Han Dan", in order to show his brave and mighty spirit, only held a twig in his hand for a little cover. He was naked, wearing a headscarf and covering his face, wearing only red shorts, and was bombarded by firecrackers from the public.

Why the people throw firecrackers at Master Han Dan? In one version, Master Han Dan is the God of Rogue and his power grows with the loudness of the firecrackers. It also symbolizes the vent of dissatisfaction ; another version is that legend says Master Han Dan is afraid of the cold, so the people throw firecrackers at him to keep him warm and win his blessing.
Why bombard "Master Han Dan" with firecrackers? There are two theories. One is that Lord Handan is a "rogue god". The more the sound of firecrackers shakes one's body, the more spirited they are, and it also symbolizes the venting of dissatisfaction. He expelled the cold in order to obtain the blessing of the God of Wealth.

Key word finishing
bombing of Master Han Dan
celestial celestial; earthly earthly, worldly
revere
divine procession
fusillade volley
rogue
vent of dissatisfaction

English word summary of the Lantern Festival

Now let's summarize the words we learned today related to the Lantern Festival:

Taiwan Lantern Festival Activities

1. Taiwan Lantern Festival
annual event
hosted by
zodiac animal

2. Pingxi (Pingsi) Sky Lantern Festival
sky lantern, releasing sky lanterns releasing sky lanterns
be located in
remote area
signal signal
as symbol of

3. Yanshui Fireworks Festival (Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival)
beehive firecrackers (beehive beehive), set off beehive firecrackers
popular
anticipate expectation, hope
is listed as
folk festival
religious event
plague
rage rages
palanquin, sedan chair
deity
bottle rocket
ignite
get rid of
disaster

4. Bombing of Master Han Dan in Taitung
celestial celestial; earthly earthly, worldly
revere
divine procession
fusillade volley
rogue
vent of dissatisfaction

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