The Ministry of Culture refused to grant official recognition to Taitung County’s Lantern Festival parade events and the Bombing of Master Han Dan (炸寒單爺) ceremony as “significant folk customs and relics” status, saying the activities were “over commercialized,” “lacked cultural sophistication” and “produced noise pollution from firecrackers.”
The county’s annual Lantern Festival, a two-day affair dating back decades that is organized by the Tian Ho Temple (天后宮) in conjunction with more than 70 other temples in the region, is the county’s largest religious event, and features religious iconography, palanquins and lots of firecrackers.
The annual Bombing of Master Han Dan is held during the Lantern Festival and features firecrackers thrown at men representing the mythical figure Han Dan.
Photo: CNA
However, the ministry turned down the application for the events to be considered national cultural heritage, the Taitung Department of Cultural Affairs said.
According to the department, members of the ministry’s evaluation committee sent observers to visit Taitung during this year’s Lantern Festival, and after deliberations concluded that the events did not meet ministry standards for significant folk customs and relics.
County officials quoted the evaluation committee as saying that participation in the Lantern Festival parade has dropped in recent years, and the Bombing of Master Han Dan has also suffered from declining interest after being separated from the parade.
In addition, the organizers’ over-commercialization, a low level of cultural sophistication, the repetitiveness of displays by participants, and a general failure to demonstrate the uniqueness of Taitung County’s culture had hurt the events, the committee said.
Several committee members told county officials that both ceremonies’ processions were poorly organized, and that planners had tried to pander to the audience with pole dancers and other vulgar performances, which discouraged participation by area residents and reduced the events’ cultural depth.
They also criticized what they said was extensive noise pollution from firecrackers.
One Taitung resident said “the events have no clear direction or leadership, and people are bored with seeing the same thing every year. It is about time for them to do some thinking and make some changes to improve the events.”
Taitung Department of Cultural Affairs Deputy Director Lu Yu-ling (魯玉玲) said that the department would work with the temples to improve the quality of the Lantern Festival parade and the bombing event before resubmitting its applications for recognition to the ministry.
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