基隆的中元祭，是因为一百多年前一场械斗

In Keelung, northern Taiwan, every year in the seventh lunar month, there is a large Zhongyuan Festival, one of the liveliest Ghost Month events in all of Taiwan, with a parade of water lanterns.

The origin is like this: In the 1850s, the Zhangzhou and Quanzhou Fujianese in the Keelung area split into factions and fought a large brawl over land and water, killing many people. The one in 1855 was especially severe, with many dead, no one to bury them, lying on the ground. Later, someone collected the unclaimed bones and buried them together, building a temple called "Lao Da Gong Temple".

The following year, they held salvation and universal salvation rites, and every year since then in the seventh lunar month, ancestral associations from over a dozen surnames in Keelung take turns hosting it, passed down to this day, called "Zhu Pu". On the first day of the seventh lunar month every year, the Lao Da Gong Temple opens its "niche doors", said to be the opening of the Ghost Gate, closing again at the end of the month; during this month, the whole city is worshipping.

On the evening of the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month is the time to release water lanterns. Water lanterns are small paper lanterns made in the shape of houses, with candles lit inside, placed into the harbor, drifting far away with the seawater. It is said this is to guide the lost souls in the sea so they can find the offerings on shore.

Such a festival, its starting point is a brawl, two groups of people killing each other.

Today, at the Keelung Zhongyuan Festival, the descendants of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou people hold incense together, facing the same temple, worshipping the same nameless people.

#Folklore #网络转载 #台湾