Lantern Parade to Welcome Lantern Festival to Return on Feb. 23 in Huatan, Changhua

By MOOK Travel Life Network Chen Guanxin, compiled and reported

 

The “2013 Baishakeng Lantern Parade Cultural Festival,” jointly organized by the Changhua County Cultural Affairs Bureau, Huatan Township Office, and the Wen De Temple Management Committee, will be held from February 23 to 24 at Wen De Temple in Huatan Township and other venues. On the evening of February 24, the Lantern Festival, at 7:00 PM, a lantern-lighting ceremony will take place at Wen De Temple, launching the lantern parade through the streets—a cultural event that has been passed down since the Qing Dynasty.

This year’s event includes creative lantern parade competitions and exhibitions, a sea of lights art area, DIY life crafts, street performers and community talent shows, charity sales and local agricultural product fairs, a thousand-lantern street walk, a lantern-lighting ceremony, prayers for blessings from the God of Fortune, the lantern parade, and a Lantern Festival riddle party. On the evening of February 24, the Lantern Festival, at 7:00 PM, a lantern-lighting ceremony will be held at Wen De Temple to kick off the lantern parade. Fortune money from the God of Fortune will be distributed on-site, along with a blessing bag activity where the public can throw divining blocks to make wishes. Additionally, starting at 5:30 PM that afternoon, Huatan Township Office will offer free small lanterns for the public to take and join the lantern walk.

The origin of the Huatan Wen De Temple Lantern Parade dates back to the 25th year of the Daoguang Emperor’s reign during the Qing Dynasty (1845), during the Lantern Festival. Zeng Weizhen, a Hanlin scholar who helped open Taiwan, accompanied Emperor Daoguang on a visit to the Heavenly Street to view lantern displays. Moved by the scene, the scholar lamented that his uncle and aunt back home would not have the chance to enjoy such splendor, and considered resigning from his post to return home to care for them. To honor Zeng’s filial piety, Emperor Daoguang issued an edict allowing Baishakeng to hold an annual lantern parade centered around the Hanlin official deity, imitating the grand lantern displays of the capital, to entertain Zeng’s relatives.

Lin Tianfu, Deputy Magistrate of Changhua County, pointed out that the “Huatan Wen De Temple Baishakeng Lantern Parade” has two major features: first, it boasts the longest history of any lantern parade in Taiwan, having continued for 168 years. It preserves the traditional style inherited from the Qing Dynasty while also incorporating new creative elements each year. Second, Wen De Temple in Huatan enshrines the founding God of Fortune, whose statue is uniquely wearing an official black gauze cap—an extremely rare sight and the only officially titled “land god” in Taiwan, enjoying thriving worship.

 

 

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