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Year of the Goat lights up the night at CKS

By Vico Lee
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Feb 14, 2003, Page 17

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.

Lantern festival program for CKS Memorial Hall Plaza: Tomorrow's program opens with a performance by the Navy Marching Band at 2pm. The lantern-lighting ceremony begins at 7pm, and will be followed by several ethnic dance and music shows. Taipei Municipal First Girls' Senior High School Dance Club (北一女舞蹈社) will perform at 4pm Sunday. Other dance groups will perform for the remainder of the day, with Cuadro Flamenco Fuego Fantastico (迷火) performing at 8:35pm. Festivities from Monday through Friday start at 7:05pm. Taiwanese rocker Ah Hsiang (阿翔) will perform at 8:35pm on Monday. Taipei Folk Dance Theater (台北民族舞團) will give a performance of Aboriginal dance at 8:35pm on Tuesday. Taiwan National Normal University's Wind Orchestra (師大管樂團) will perform at 8:35pm on Wednesday. And a group from National Taiwan Junior College of Performing Arts will perform at 8:35pm on Thursday. And next Friday, pop singers Huang Lian-li (黃連熤) and Yang Teng-you (楊騰佑) will give a concert at 8:05pm. On Saturday and Sunday of next week, the program starts at 3pm, with New Formosa Band (新寶島康樂隊) performing at 8:35pm Saturday and Hong Sheng Lion Dance Group (鴻勝醒獅團) closing the festival with their show at 9pm Sunday.

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.

On the other side of the memorial hall on Hsinyi Rd. are the Group Lantern Competition Area and Citizen Lantern Competition Area. Winners of various annual lantern contests are displayed here. You are likely to find many marvelous works among them.

Exotic Folk Art Street is a new version of the folk art street of years past, where you can find traditional Taiwanese snacks and toys from all over the island. This year, this part of the festival attempts to be exotic by including not just local specialties but traditional foreign food and handicrafts. For those more enthusiastic about shopping and eating, this is the area to spend a nice couple of hours.

The Lantern Riddle Stage will be near the concert hall, where 2,300 contestants will take home small trophies.

Lastly, to keep your memory of the festival always fresh, there's a portrait section behind the main lantern set where photographers will take your picture and have it printed in a cartoon frame -- for free!

The Kaohsiung Lantern Festival kicks off this evening with an unprecedented range of activities. In a bid to raise the city's tourism profile, the festivities there will coincide with the annual International Flag and Drum Festival.

The series of activities starts today at 6:30pm with a fireworks show and water dance in the Ai river. The shows will repeat every evening till they close on Feb. 23. Every evening lanterns made by artists and students will be on display along the river and in Ren-ai Park.

The highlight of the festival will be tomorrow's lantern march. Starting at 7pm, banner and drums teams from high schools in southern Taiwan will lead a procession of lanterns through downtown Kaohsiung.

On Piers 20 and 21 of Kaohsiung Harbor, flag and drum teams from abroad will be performing. An accompanying folk art street and agricultural products fair will provide something to nibble on as you enjoy the show.

As for the traffic, sightseeing boats will go along Kaohsiung harbor every evening. The "Dodo" mini train, going between the harbor and downtown, created a sensation among festival-goers with its debut two years ago.

Before leaving the festival, you may want to try the city government's newly-launched "flags and drums cake" and "flags and drums wine" which come in special-packages. These would make good souvenirs.

Activities at major temples around Taiwan:

TAIPEI

Taipei's Confucious Temple (孔廟) will hold an evening of traditional Taiwanese opera and nan-kuan music performances at 7:30pm tomorrow. There will also be a lantern riddle contest.

Pao-an Temple (保安宮), next to the Confucious Temple, will hold a festival in which visitors can assemble a giant ram lantern starting at 1pm. The temple will also give away free mini-lanterns.

TAITUNG

Hsuan Wu Tang (玄武堂) will hold the annual ritual of bombing Hantan Yeh (寒單爺) with firecrackers in five locations tomorrow starting at 1pm. For a detailed schedule, go to http://www.taitungcity.gov.tw.

TAINAN

Luerhmen Tian Ho Temple (鹿耳門天后宮) will perform the annual lighting of the lantern of the Empress of Heaven ceremony at 7:30pm tomorrow. There will also be a lantern riddle contest and a game of stealing scallions at the temple.

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