Year of the Goat lights up the night at CKS

If you find yourself unable to sit through class or concentrate on work after the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, as if the New Year were still going on, it's only natural. After all, the Lunar New Year would never be complete without the Lantern Festival celebration.

Coming into a new year means that we have survived the savage attack of the mythical monster named Nian (年), whose name literally means "year." Similarly, the Lantern Festival (元宵節) derives from another mythical occasion when the whole human race was almost wiped out.

So the story goes that a divine bird was slain with an arrow from a hunter's bow. Enraged by the killing, the Heavenly Emperor was bent on destroying all of humanity. He sent his heavenly soldiers to carry out the destruction by fire. The apocalypse was set for Jan. 15 on the lunar calendar. Upon hearing of the plan, the clever humans had an idea. They hung lanterns and lit firecrackers to create an airborne sea of fire. Just before the heavenly host was ready to burn the earth to an crisp, they saw the lanterns and firecrackers and were tricked into thinking that the earth was already consumed by fire.

A custom particular to Taiwan is the auspicious theft of things belonging to other people, especially for single people. According to this custom, unmarried women were encouraged to steal vegetables. The Taiwanese saying goes, "steal scallions and you can get a good marriage; steal vegetables and you can get a good husband (偷得蔥，嫁好 　；偷得菜，嫁好婿). Young men have to steal old bricks from the walls of other people's gardens, because if you steal an old stone, you can have a nice wife (偷老古，得好婦). However, this interesting activity is rarely performed nowadays.

A custom that remains is the ceremony honoring the Taiwanese folk deity Hantan Yeh (寒單爺). The military officer-turned business guru was much revered for his ability to grant people affluence. However, he is extremely afraid of cold weather. To keep him warm when the winter is at its worst, worshippers throw firecrackers on him, believing that this will warm the deity into helping them make more money. A variant of the practice has become Taiwan's famous Yenshui firecracker festival.

Another prevalent ceremony is begging for turtles. Temples make the auspicious animal with dough at their entrances. On the day of Lantern Festival, worshippers divine the will of the gods to see if they are allowed to take home a turtle "for well-being." Those lucky enough to be granted turtles will have to come back next year and donate a larger turtle to the temple.

As on Lunar New Year's Eve, when families get together for dinner, the custom is to make sweet dumplings during Lantern Festival. However, this family function has long been replaced by the more relaxing activity of family shopping. Sweet dumplings are easily available from traditional markets to upscale restaurants.

For this occasion, Taipei and Kaohsiung are going to hold large-scale lantern festivals tomorrow. These government-hosted galas may prove to be very popular as in previous years. In Taipei, the Taipei Lantern Festival will kick off tomorrow at 7pm at CKS Memorial Hall and last until Feb. 23. The roads surrounding the venue will be turned into "lantern tunnels." On Aiguo E. Rd., or the "Famous all over the World Lantern Area," are 26 large lanterns sponsored by businesses, government agencies and religious organizations. Apart from more traditional designs like Lung Yen Life Service's "Fortune Brought by a Dragon and a Phoenix," there are also lanterns depicting modern aspects of life, like "A Cosmopolitan Cybercity" by the Taipei City Government Information Management Center. As it's the Year of the Goat, this year's main lantern, placed at the center of the memorial hall plaza, is designed as a pair of giant horns. Visitors can ascend through the horn's interior to its summit.