Southern Taiwan - Taiwan - page 510

Burning of the Wang Yeh Boats TAOIST FESTIVAL
( www.dbnsa.gov.tw ) This is one of Taiwan's top folk festivals. It involves inviting gods to
earth, feasting them, and then asking them to carry trouble-causing demons and plague
away with them on a boat. In the spectacular conclusion to the festival, the boat is
torched to the ground on the beach.
In Donggang, what makes the festival so highly enjoyable is that everyone around
you, the faithful and the spectators, are so taken in by it. Sublime, dignified, bizarre, en-
tertaining and stirring: the boat burning is all that, and for most people, usually all at
once.
The festival is sponsored every three years by the resplendent Donglong Temple
(Dōnglóng Gōng), established in 1706 and long one of the centres of folk faith in south-
ern Taiwan. The exact dates vary, but the festival always starts on a Saturday and ends on
a Friday night (into Saturday morning). The next boat burning will take place in autumn
2015.
History
The origins of boat-burning festivals go back over 1000 years to the Song dynasty and
are connected with the Wang Yeh, deities once worshipped for their ability to prevent
disease.
The festivals were brought to Taiwan by Fujian immigrants in the 18th and 19th cen-
turies, and have continued into modern times. Many southern temples still hold their own
small boat burnings, but a greater number have simply merged their traditions with Don-
glong Temple.
The meaning of boat burnings has changed considerably today, and they are now held
as prayers for peace and stability. But the dark and solemn plague-expulsion rituals re-
main central to the festival.
Known officially as the Sacrifice of Peace and Tranquillity for Welcoming the
Lords (Dōnggǎng Yíngwáng Píngān Jìdiǎn), the festival runs for eight consecutive days.
Most visitors (and you can expect tens of thousands of them) attend the first and last.
The Ceremony
Day One (Saturday): Inviting the Gods
Around noon a procession leaves Donglong Temple for the beach, where it meets five
Wang Yeh who are returning to earth for this year's festival. At the beach, spirit medi-
ums ( jītóng ) write the names of the quintet in the sand when they sense their arrival.
When the leader of the five Wang Yeh arrives, his surname is written on a large yellow
banner. Usually the procession doesn't get back to the temple till late afternoon.