Nanyue Temple Fair, formed no later than the Southern Song Dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, declined in the mid-twenties, flourished after the 1990s, and spread in Xiangchu and all over the country with the worship of the fire god. The Nanyue Temple Fair takes the Nanyue Grand Temple, zhurong Hall, and Tianfu Temple as the main venues; the Spring Festival Temple Fair, the Tianfu Temple Fair, and the "Catching the August" Temple Fair as the main carriers; and the folk activities with praying for blessings and seeking life, driving away evil spirits and eliminating disasters, and social fire carnival as the main contents.
Legend has it that Emperor Tianfu descended on the seventeenth day of the fifth lunar month every year to go to the Hengshan area to collect plague and cure diseases for the people. Nanyue held various religious and folk activities in the first and second half months to celebrate. The whole temple fair kicked off with the "three-star point auspicious" activity, in the first half of the fifteenth month of the lunar calendar, some people dressed up as lucky stars, Lu stars, birthday stars, in the main hall of the temple for children from all directions to point red (that is, three points of vermilion on the forehead), it is said that this can eliminate disasters and difficulties, easy to cultivate people. Various opera groups from inside and outside Hunan Province have successively marched into Nanyue and set up stages to sing opera in the fourth street of the ancient town and in the great temple, without interruption for more than half a month. All kinds of martial arts masters gather in Nanyue, or swing to compete, or practice martial arts.
The Spring Festival temple fair in the Nanyue Temple Fair is carried out from Lapa Ba to the Lantern Festival of the following year, including Lapa Ba Shi Congee, Lantern Offering, Lantern Parade, Dragon and Lion Dance, Stilt Juggling and other activities, which culminate in the 14th Lantern Festival of the first month of the first month to commemorate the planting of fire.
On the fourteenth day of the first month, Nanyue people take lanterns with New Year's wishes written on them, go to Zhu Rongfeng or Nanyue Grand Temple, and take the Changming lanterns to take home. The "Catch the August" temple fair is held from July to September in the lunar calendar. The masses of all nationalities in Shaoyang, Changsha, Huaihua, Yueyang, Loudi, Pingxiang, Jinggangshan, and other places rushed to Nanyue Hengshan with a bumper harvest of food to thank zhu Rong for their protection.
Hundreds of folk artists dressed in various costumes and costumes gathered in street temples to perform various stories with myths and legends, such as stilt walking, dragon and lion dances, dry boats, pilgrimage songs and dances, etc. Let this folk culture activity called "Nanyue Temple Fair Paijie Street" become a joyful "carnival" for tens of thousands of Chinese and foreign tourists and local residents, continue the folk culture inherited by Nanyue Ancient Town for thousands of years, and add a festive and peaceful atmosphere to Nanyue during the Lantern Festival.
In May 2021, the Nanyue Temple Fair was selected into the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects.
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Editor-in-charge: Jia Tingyi