천진(天津) 황회(皇會)의 특성과 도시 축제로의 재발견

Abstract

Festival is a community activity which can drive an integration of the whole community in its emotional and social meaning. In China, there are so many festivals based on the folk beliefs and their cults, called ‘Miaohui’. There are two kinds of ‘Miaohui’ festivals related with the folk beliefs. One is the form of ‘Xinghui’ in which the believers and followers go and worship to the temple, the other is the form of ‘Saihui’ in which the god or goddess come out to bring luck to his(her) believers. Both of them have various performances and exhibitions accompanied. The Mazu cult of Tianjin begins in Yuan dynasty, and the festival was held both i Ming and Qing dynasty. It grows bigger and bigger along with the development of the marine transportation and the commercial business of Tianjin port. Even the Emperor Qianrong watched and appreciated the festival, so it got the name of Huanghui. The festival was made up of the rituals in the temple Tianhougong, the trip to MinGuang-huiguan as a subsitution of Mazu’s hometown(actually now it is substituted by qianfu temple) and the street parade to bring luck to the people. The beginning ritual is now performed in Confucian style, but all the other steps are totally based on the sincere folk beliefs. The Huanghui works very well by many voluntary organizations and groups. All the big and small merchants donate money or exibitions. And even the sailors and the porters of the very lowest class participated very voluntarily. They do what they can do to keep good order of the parade and to make the performers to be able to present the best of their ability and skill. All the dedications such as handmade crafts and performances are devoted to Tianhou, the goddess, but also to the people, the spectators and themselves. They are not only express their thanks to god, but also show their prides as good believers and citizens. So that’s why I do the research on the Huanghui as a good model of city festival. It was stopped after 1936, and recovered along with the economic growth and the relationship with the believers of Taiwan Mazu Cult in 1988. From now on, we may observe how it succeed the tradition and recover the good system as a city festival in the very different environment of 21 st century.