The culture of the Water-Carrying Zhuang Ceremony: A beautiful aspect of traditional culture that has been passed down for centuries
Every year in June of the lunar calendar, the Water-Carrying Zhuang Ceremony (with Zhuang written with a rare character that has a 車 radical on the left and a 藏on the right, pronounced zhuàng) is held in Kouhu Township. This is the most important folklore event in Kouhu Township.
The Wanshan Temple is located near Jinhu Elementary School in Gangdong Village, Kouhu Township, Yunlin County. It was built during the reign of the Qing emperor Xianfeng, to pay tribute to the victims of the 1845 Jinhu Flood. The residents built a shrine at Hanzailiao for their descendants to worship. Today’s Wanshan Temple is an offshoot of the original temple at Hanzailiao. The Wanshan Temple was rebuilt in 1985 at its present location, due to the flooding of the seawater and the widening of the Xibin Highway.
In addition to the victims of the Jinhu Flood, the temple is also dedicated to the “Hero of the Water Battle”, Chen Yingxiong, who was said to have bravely rescued eight children from drowning during the Jinhu Flood, but eventually died himself. Remembering his heroic deeds, a statue was built by later generations, and he is still worshipped to this day.
Nowadays, in the sixth month of the lunar calendar, Kouhu Township still holds a grand Water-Carrying Zhuang Ceremony for the annual Pudu festival for the dead. Locals come from wherever they may be in the world on that day to participate in the ceremony. People of every age and gender shuttle through the rows of water zhuang, symbolizing that the souls of the dead are led from the water to the shore to receive the Pudu.
This tradition has been continued for more than 175 years, and is the most important folk activity in the coastal area of Kouhu Township. It was certified as a National Important Folk Cultural Asset by the Cultural Affairs Commission in 2010.
