The Lanyang Museum in Yilan County’s Toucheng Township (頭城) is building equipment for its first qiang gu (搶孤) event and has opened the process to the public to help pass on traditional techniques used in the pole-climbing festival.
However, due to the likely participation of women in the work, the structure will only be for display in the museum, not used at the event.
The construction process cannot be written down and is mostly preserved in the memory of masters, museum assistant researcher Lin Cheng-fang (林正芳) said, adding that this is why the museum sought help from professionals so the process could be handed down to the next generation.
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Taipei Times
The qiang gu event involves communities placing offerings that have been prayed over and “offered to the spirits” on platforms supported by poles, with participants challenged to climb the oil-coated structure to claim the goods.
About 50 local residents had applied to help in the construction of the structure, Lin said, adding that while tradition says that women are not allowed to participate in the work, the museum would keep up with the times, welcoming all participants.
Many of the volunteers in the construction process are students at the Lan Yang Institute of Technology, Lin said.
The most famous qiang gu events are held in Toucheng and Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春), with the events in Yilan planned for Tuesday and Wednesday next week, Lin said.
A student at the institute’s Department of Architecture named Hsieh Yi-hsiao (謝宜孝) said that many of the masters who know about building the structures are old.
Hopefully, by participating in the construction, students would help preserve the techniques involved in the construction, Hsieh said.
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