Tianfu Festival in Dandian, Tuanfeng

Hubei
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The "Tianfu Holy Meeting" in Dandian, Tuanfeng is a unique folk art activity in Dandian Town, with typical national and regional characteristics. According to legend, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, a master surnamed Feng in Dandian Town was an official in Jiangxi. He resigned and returned home because he was unwilling to abandon the Ming Dynasty and surrender to the Qing Dynasty. When he arrived at Poyang Lake, a sudden strong wind blew, and the ship was in danger of sinking. The master immediately took out incense paper, burned incense and prayed to the sky, chanting something in his mouth. Coincidentally, the wind stopped and the rain stopped, the clouds and fog dissipated, and a golden light flashed in the sky. The six big characters "Tianfu Jinrong Great Emperor" were clearly visible above the lake, and the lake surface immediately returned to calm. After returning to his hometown, Master Feng opened a private school on Dandian Main Street to educate the villagers. On the night of May 11, the master was entrusted in his dream to say that someone had poisoned the well. When he woke up early, the teacher found that the water in the well was indeed different from the past. He suspected that someone had poisoned it, so he stopped people from fetching water to drink. No one believed him. The teacher had to jump into the well to test the poison himself. Two students jumped down to save him and were also buried in the well. When people fished the teacher out, they saw that his body was black and blood was flowing from all seven orifices. In order to commemorate the noble sentiment of the teacher who sacrificed himself to save others, everyone built a temple to worship him and held a temple fair every year on the twelfth day of the fifth lunar month, the day of the teacher's martyrdom. The temple fair lasted for half a month from the second to the seventeenth day of the fifth lunar month. People from neighboring counties such as Luotian, Xishui, Macheng, and Yingshan also came to the fair. The entertainment team included dragon lanterns, blue lions, white elephants, twelve earthly branches, clam spirits, lotus-picking boats, lion dances, and pavilions and towers dressed up in various stories, which were interesting to each other. Since the Qing Dynasty, it has always been the largest event in eastern Hubei until 1948. Since 2004, this activity has re-emerged, with over 10,000 participants each year, making it the top temple fair in Tuanfeng County.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

China tourist attractions related to the heritage