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Miaohui (), literally temple gatherings or translated as temple fairs, also called yíngshén sàihuì ( "collective rituals to greet the gods"), are
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...
religious Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
gatherings held by Miao shrines for the worship of the
Chinese gods and immortals Chinese traditional religion is polytheistic; many deities are worshipped in a pantheistic view where divinity is inherent in the world. The gods are energies or principles revealing, imitating and propagating the way of Heaven (''Tian'' ), whi ...
. Large-scale ''miaohui'' are usually held around the time of the
Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () as t ...
, or in specific temples at the birthday of the god enshrined in the temple itself. Since the development of society with importation of different cultures, the characteristic of miaohui for each Dynasty also vary from time to time. For instance, in the Han Dynasty, as Buddhism and Taoism has gradually formed, temple fair became a way to attract more newcomers to their community by adding performances. Activities usually include rituals celebrated in the temple,
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...
on a stage facing the temple, processions of the gods' images on carts throughout villages and cities, performance of musical and ritual troupes (of Taoists,
sects A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that b ...
and
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...
ritualists), blessing of offerings brought to the temple by families, and various
economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...
activities. Besides, various foods and snacks selling in the miaohui also an attractive part for people, especially for children to join in. Geography and local customs lead to great differences in the nature of festivals dedicated to the gods. In
northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...
, ''miaohui'' are usually week-long, with ceremonies held in large temples, and attended by tens of thousands of people; while in
southern China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...
, they are a much more local practice, organized by village temples or clusters of temples of different villages. In worldwide, not only China has miaohui but also other places such as
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malay ...
has such temple fair with similar forms and activities.


Gallery

File:Sport and science on the Sino-Mongolian frontier (1918) (14799419183).jpg, Fair in 1918 File:HK Central Temple Fair 421 au.jpg, People at a temple fair in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
File:Temple of Earth performer 2.jpg, Performers for the temple fair at the
Temple of Earth The Temple of the Earth (traditional Chinese: 地壇; simplified Chinese: 地坛; pinyin: Dìtán) in Beijing, China, is located in the northern part of central Beijing, around the Andingmen area and just outside Beijing's second ring road. It ...
in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
File:Beijing spring book fair.jpg, People at a temple fair to buy books File:Temple of Earth fan pic.jpg, Typical decorations for a temple fair


Date

In the ancient time, the dates of temple fair were various that some would be held on the first day of the
lunar new year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a calendar year whose months are moon cycles, based on the lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar. The Lunar New Year as a celebration is observed by numerous cultures. It is also named "Chinese New Year" becaus ...
, some temples hold the temple fair every month at the fixed date. For example, during the end of the
Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
, LongFu temple had a temple fair on the first, second, ninth, and tenth day every month. The ancestor tended to schedule the temple fair as well as the "birth date" of gods during the period that farmers were not busy after harvesting, such as between spring and summer, or at the beginning of the year, or the end of the year. This is because making a celebration at that time is not only for ensuring people have leisure time to pray for gods, but also convenient for farmers and people to do the trades with each other. However, recently, along the society the date is comparatively fixed to Spring festival and
Lantern Festival The Lantern Festival ( zh, t=元宵節, s=元宵节, first=t, hp=Yuánxiāo jié), also called Shangyuan Festival ( zh, t=上元節, s=上元节, first=t, hp=Shàngyuán jié), is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth d ...
.


History


Ancient times

Ancestors started to hold the sacrificial rite nearby the temple in order to seek the blessing of gods. The main purpose of forming Miaohui at that time is to bring spiritual sustenance to people and benefit for social stability by exchanging mutual senses between gods and human beings. This is because people would treated god as their resident guardian and the god would protect them well if residents reciprocate by worshipping the god.李永菊. "庙会的文化功能分析." 湖北省社会主义学院学报 6:44-46. Meanwhile, people would render the atmosphere by singing and dancing. Thus, at that period, Miaohui was called "Shexi".


Han dynasty

During the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a wa ...
, as while
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
has been transported to China,
Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...
, a fundamental Chineses religious which emphasizes living in harmony with
Dao Dao, Dão or DAO may refer to: * Tao (Chinese: "The Way" 道), a philosophical concept * Dao (Chinese sword) (刀), a type of Chinese sword * Dao (Naga sword), a weapon and a tool of Naga people People and language * Yao people, a minority ethni ...
, also gradually built and formed. Increasing number of people started to value and realize the importance of sacrificial rites and Miaohui. The phenomenon that appeared during the time of two religious co-existing was the competition between Buddhism and Taoism had been raised, which compete for the number of temples each religious had, the more temple they built, the more powerful they were. Thus, the increasing number of temples had been constructed, and meanwhile, more and more temple fairs had been held by each temple. Also, temple fairs would attract the masses to get more believers. Then, in its religious ceremony, the entertainment content of the audience has been added, such as dance, drama, parade, etc. In this way, not only believers would enjoy visiting temple fairs, but also many ordinary people, who were targeted as "candidates" for the religion, were willing to join for fun. Furthermore, in order to attract more people, Buddhism and Taoism even expand their influence by going out of the temple to hold the temple fair.


Tang dynasty

In the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingd ...
, it was the openest period of China since different kinds of cultures, especially Hu people's culture, had swarmed into China massively. The purpose of Miaohui had gradually transformed from entirely sacrificing to entertainment. At the same time, Buddhist culture has an unprecedented great influence, and even becomes the most important factor in the ruling class' culture and political life, both in the South and the North.牛晓丹. 唐宋时期庙会研究. Diss. 河南大学, 2012. With the prevalence of Buddhism, the worship of Buddhism has become the mainstream of folk beliefs, and Buddhism has infiltrated into the temple fair, making the temple fair culture shows with more religious characteristics. Besides, in the Tang dynasties, with the rapid economic development, the Central Plains was in the leading position in the country and had a great economic and cultural prosperity. Taoist culture flourished more quickly after the emperor's advocacy. Thus, because of all these factors and developments temple fairs became prosperous.


Ming dynasty

In the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
, the purpose of Miaohui changed dramatically, which more similar to the form of Miaohui nowadays. Promoting business development is the goal of Miaohui in this period of time. Fewer people came for sacrifice, and instead, most of the people were intended to entertain and buy and sell products, mostly were hand-made such as kites, clay figurine, and windmill.丁德超. "民国时期河南百泉庙会市场初探." 平顶山学院学报1(2015):43-47. Besides, the scale of Miaohui had been expanded at that time, and then, Miaohui became more regulated and ruled by specific guilds. The norm at that period separated urban organized temple fair with countryside organized temple fair, even though the Hongwu Emperor (Emperor of Ming dynasty) did not make such rule. Since the most important and the most admired gods only in the urban temples located nearby the royal residences. Then, the orthodox and official sacrifice of the royal family only holds in the urban so that the urban had a higher hierarchy than the temple fair in the countryside.


Activities


Sacrifice ceremony

Each temple may be dedicated to one or more gods. The most traditional and important activity to celebrate a god's birthday during Miaohui is putting statues of the god on floats and parading them around the temple. Another typical type of sacrificial ceremony is to pray for children. Women would take human or monkey-like figures made of clay to the temple to pray. Such emphasis on praying for children came from the importance of having a son to carry on the family name in feudal China.


Folk performance

It includes various categories such as
Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...
, cross talk, and magic show. The purpose of actors for performance is to earn for their living. Since the limited budget and expense of holder of temple fairs, some places would play puppet-show, which is comparatively easy to perform with lower-paying, if a live opera is too expensive for them. During the performance, sitting around the actor, bands would play the music by using various orchestras with the common characteristic that is loud, such as drums, gongs, oboes. The opera is always flourished in China, and the themes changed along with the changing of viewers' tastes.


Market

Pedlar sells small toys and objects for children and adults, and most of the products are exclusive for Miaohui. From the historical record, in the Ming and Qing Dynasty, the market and trade condition was better in the South than the North. Since the prior period of the
Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
, the commercial trade situation of the Southern temple fair was quite common, however, with the development of the commodity economy, the function of the temple fair was gradually weakened and replaced by general commodity market or shop. Besides, in the north, temple fairs in cities and towns are famous for their daily necessities, which are mixed with non-durable consumer goods and luxury goods; the village temple fair has more production and daily necessities and is more practical.


Food

Most of the snacks on the temple fair are food sold on the streets in Beijing. They have local characteristics of Beijing and are suitable for the taste of Beijing people, forming a fixed set. From the late Qing Dynasty to the early days of liberation, there was no change. The main varieties are as follow:


Douzhi

Douzhi is a fermented drink made from ground beans.


Cha Tang

Cha Tang is a gruel of millet flour and sugar, which made by stirring fried broom corn millet, adding brown sugar, and rinsing with boiling water.


Snowballing usury

A snowballing usury is a kind of sticky cake. In the early years, it spread from the country to the city. The method is to steam the yellow sticky rice noodles, spread them out, sprinkle them with cooked bean noodles and brown sugar, then roll them up, like a screw.


Bing Tang Hu Lu (crispy sugar-coated fruits on a stick)

Bing Tang Hu Lu is made by stringing wild fruits with bamboo sticks and dipping them in maltose, which hardens rapidly in the wind. The typical snacks in winter in the north are usually made of hawthorn. They are thin and hard, sour and sweet, and ice.


Fried beanballs

There are two ways to eat fried beanballs. One is to cook it in soup with five flavors and sauce, and add some fried tofu, then adding vinegar, cilantro, and chili oil. The other way is to thicken the stewed meat with soup to make stewed beanballs. People could put some mashed garlic when they are eating.


Outside Chinese mainland


Malaysia

The temple fair in
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malay ...
normally lasts three days. The form is kind of similar to the temple fair in China that has performances, arts, and sacrifices foods and goods to gods. However, the shows in there are more non-traditional and are local-talent variety show, which is largely come from Western models in TV and radio. Moreover, the temple art also changed from woody delicate ornament and prime colors to cement simple decor and pastel colors. In short, the elements in Malaysia temple fair are westernization that is away from Chinese traditional ideas of temple fair. Also, the changes might be caused by people in Malaysia shift their interest in temple fairs and religion from celebration to death and sickness. To be specific, the greatest Chinese festivals that Malaysia cherished the most is the funeral and curing rites. Thus, even though China's temple fair traditions influence Malaysian Chinese a lot, changes present that these tradition is gradually fading away and Malaysian Chinese fused the traditions with westernized ways.


Taiwan

Temple fairs in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a Country, country in East Asia, at the junction of the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) to the n ...
are very prosperous. Temples of all sizes are held on the birthday of the gods and the day of Taoism. There are many praying activities on different scales throughout the year, such as surrounding the territory to temple pilgrimages. In the past, most folk performance in Taiwan was in the form of an array. The actors in the front of the roles were mostly children who sat in the fixed positions; actors in the back can move on the floats with the vehicles during the tour. Moreover, sports performance is the unique activity in the temple fair, such as the human pyramid, dragon and
lion dance F Lion dance () is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. The lion dance is usually performed during the Chinese New ...
, Lift the statue on shoulders. The reason to have such performances and practices in the past is that people intended to deter other regions or tribes from maintaining regional security. Besides, the puppet theater is almost dead since the decreasing revenue caused by the changing tastes of audiences in modern society. Firework is the most attractive activity in Taiwan's Temple fair, while the main reason that draws people's attention to the pollution that temple fair might cause.


Hong Kong

The most famous temple fair in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
is the
Tai Kok Tsui Tai Kok Tsui is an area west of Mong Kok in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The mixed land use of industrial and residential is present in the old area. The Cosmopolitan Dock and oil depots were previously located there. Blocks of high-rise residential ...
Temple Fair. Similar to the temple fair culture in China mainland, Hong Kong has many folk performances, including Shaolin martial arts and Taiji (a kind of traditional Chinese shadow boxing). Also, there are several stalls at the temple fair that selling wooden New Year pictures, sugar paintings, pyrography, clay sculptures, and
kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...
s, which are the cultural heritage of China.


See also

* , the Japanese equivalent


Notes


References


Sources

* * * {{cite book , last = Overmyer , first = Daniel , author-link = Daniel L. Overmyer, year = 2009 , title = Local Religion in North China in the Twentieth Century: The Structure and Organization of Community Rituals and Beliefs , publisher = Brill , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SCewCQAAQBAJ , isbn = 978-9047429364 Public holidays in China Festivals in Chinese folk religion Temples in Chinese folk religion East Asian traditions Miao shrines