With a history of 560 years, Shizhong Ulambana Festival of Longyan is held on mid-October of years of Rat, Ox and Tiger in Chinese lunar calendar. It comes off every decade, and has been held for 56 times. During this large-scale colorful folk ceremony in commemoration of Xie An——the Holy King of Zhengshun who won military honors in Feishui Battle, people pray for good weather, national stability and happiness of all peoples, ample harvest, and harmony among neighborhood.
During the festival, folk-custom activities of various characteristics are held, such as “Tour of Inspection by the Holy King of Zhengshun”, “Zhu Xi's Introduction of White Cloud Hall built in the Song Dynasty”, molding of models of multicolored outdoor pavilions, fountains of flower garden and pond, lights with various imaginative works, couplets hung on the columns of a hall and horizontal inscribed boards, and Singing Different Tunes by different opera troupes etc. |