My connection with Xigang incense is originally through work.
I have been a Buddhist since I was young and I am somewhat unfamiliar with Taoist folk beliefs. In 2015, I participated in Xigang incense for the first time as an audience member due to work, and since then, Xigang incense has held special meaning for me. I also went to the following incense event and will continue to attend this year's event after three years.
In Xigang incense, I mainly focus on watching the parade. Just like Xigang incense itself, I came to know and understand the parade through work, and I developed an emotional connection and identification with it. Especially with Xigang incense's parade.
Xigang incense is designated as a national folk custom, and one of the main reasons is the preciousness of its parade. Not only are there numerous parades, but there is also a wide variety of parade types, including the Golden Lion Parade, White Crane Parade, Five Tiger Pingxi Parade, and other martial parades, as well as the Ox Plowing Song Parade, Water Tribe Parade, Water Buffalo Parade, and other cultural parades. There are also semi-artistic and semi-parade types such as the Centipede Parade and Eight Beauties Parade. Most importantly, almost all of Xigang incense's parades are still organized and trained by local residents from various temples, born for the incense event and preserved because of it.
Therefore, Xigang incense's parades are very fascinating. Their performances are full of energy, just like the scorching sun that often shines on our heads when watching the parade, making us sweat and feel the heat in our chests, with the heat rising to our eyes, ready to burst out.
That is the temperature of blood.
Flowing from ancestors to descendants. Flowing in the arms of the lion brothers of Xing'an Temple's Golden Lion Parade, flowing in the thighs of the boys who repeatedly squat in the drum flower parade of Shuangzhang Temple, flowing in the solemn and solemn faces of the seniors playing Nan Guan in Hailiao Putuo Temple, flowing in the bodies of each little prodigy in the Centipede Parade and Eight Beauties Parade of Gongtong Wan'an Temple and Xipu Liao Anxi Temple.
He Guozhao, who is almost a hundred years old, is still doing splits and punches in the martial parades this year. Zheng Mingyi, who passed away in January, still accompanied the practice of the Ox Plowing Song Parade of Zhubei Qingshan Temple until the end.
I watched them work hard to form the parade, I watched them spend time rehearsing for the parade, and I remember their plain and unpretentious faces.
In Xigang incense, what I see is faith. I believe that faith means recognizing something as true based on one's own heart, without the need for verification. Believing that the gods exist, believing that the parade is indispensable, believing in one's own responsibility, ability, and honor. I believe that faith is equivalent to love.
Xigang incense's parades are beautiful because what we see is a love called faith.
But everything is impermanent, and all actions are transient.
Every three years, the passage of time leaves distinct traces.
The elderly have grown older, and they are still happy to meet again in this incense event, but will we be able to meet in the next event?
The children often change, where did the children from the previous event go? Where will the children from the next event be?
The Water Tribe Parade that I saw that year has not reappeared.
We live in the present, unable to return to the past, and uncertain about the future. But those in the parade are still dancing, singing, and playing, just like they did in every previous event, just like the previous generations who have walked through each event, as if this moment will last forever.
I have a special affection for the Ox Plowing Song Parade. Probably because it is similar to Taiwanese opera.
I really like the thanksgiving songs of the Ox Plowing Song Parade of Zhubei Qingshan Temple and Dongzhulin Bao'an Temple. One is called "Reunion" and the other is "Thanking the Gods".
These two songs can be said to celebrate the same belief.
Returning to the hometown, thanking heaven and earth.
Just like during festivals and holidays, people often tend to gather together. Xigang incense, which takes place every three years, has a longer interval than the meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. I feel that there is a silent sentence that fills the scene - "I hope you are well."
That is the call of unity. It is the longing of Yongkang.
In Xigang incense, what I see is life. Because we are alive, we have memories, emotions, and hopes. We pray for peace and stability, for the seasons to remain the same, and then we thank the gods.
So we form the parade.
I believe that faith is what supports the cultural and martial parades of Xigang incense. The faith I am talking about is the love that comes from life.
It is an internal touch, based on personal experiences, difficult to replicate and transmit. With the deepening of years, it also inevitably ages and fades away.
But there are still people. There are still people who remember.
I went along with the flow.
I went to support the parade.
That is not actually my faith, but love is always the same.
Thank heaven, thank earth, bid farewell and thank the gods.
Everything returns to the hometown. Enjoy the feast for a hundred years.
In Xigang incense, I am in those parades,
Thanking the gods, reuniting in the love called faith.
Because we are alive.
In the Yimwei incense event, I chased the centipede for the first time.
The powerful drum flower parade of Shuangzhang Temple Bao Tian Palace, in the Yimwei incense event.
Yimwei incense event. I always find the golden lion of Xing'an Temple in Xinan Village very cute, it reminds me of Shin-chan. XD
In the Wuxu incense event, the Ox Plowing Song Parade of Zhubei Qingshan Temple is ready to go.
This year, in the Xinchou incense event. The Ox Plowing Song Parade of Dongzhulin Bao'an Temple is back, and the children who used to participate in the parade are performing again.
Xinchou incense event, let's gather together.
"Thank heaven / Thank earth / Farewell and thank the gods" are lyrics from the song "Reunion".
"Everything returns to the hometown" and "Enjoy the feast for a hundred years" are from the song "Thanking the Gods".
I am ultimately just an observer, presumptuously moved.
If there are any mistakes, please kindly correct me and forgive me.