The "King Ship Turning Yoshi" ceremony was held. (Photo by Xi Zhao Boyang).
Wonderful performances at the event. (Photo by Xiamen ** Paike Cuiqin).
At 12:30 p.m. on December 2, with the three voices of the chairman of the Hecuo Community Council, "Prosperity, Prosperity, Hair", the 13th Xiamen Hecuo Sending King Boat Cultural Festival was officially launched on the Shunji Palace Square of Hecuo.
On the square of Shunji Palace, colorful flags flutter and crowds of people. Eight teams, including the Lion Dance Team, the Song River Formation, the Small Exercise Team, the Waist Drum Team, the Thousand Hands Guanyin Team, the West Drum Team, the Big Drum Umbrella Team, and the Dragon Dance Team, have gathered here.
According to reports, these 8 performance teams are all composed of residents of He Cuo. Dressed in traditional costumes, they performed a wonderful performance in turn with the sound of gongs and drums, attracting bursts of applause from the audience.
As the protagonist of the event, the king ship placed on the square is undoubtedly the most eye-catching. According to reports, the beautifully decorated king boat in front of him was made by Shi Dexin, the inheritor of the king boat production in Hecuo community, for more than one month.
After a series of wonderful performances, the procession of the king boat marched along the main street of the community, singing and dancing all the way, attracting a large number of residents and tourists. After more than 1 hour of marching, the procession to send the king ship arrived at the seashore. As night falls, the event ends with fireworks and gongs and drums to the sound of "King Ship Turning Yoshi" (Burning King Boat).
It is understood that the king boat is widely spread in the southern Fujian region of China and the coastal areas of Malacca, Malaysia to pray for the disaster of the folk activities, is the southern Fujian people to express the awe and gratitude of the sea and hold a kind of sacrificial activities, has a history of more than 600 years, through a series of sacrificial ceremonies to pray for "the peace of the country, the people, the wind and the rain". On December 17, 2020, the project "Sending the King Ship – Rituals and Related Practices on the Sustainable Connection between People and the Ocean" jointly submitted by China and Malaysia was approved by the Committee and inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Xiamen ** reporter Fang Shu).