Nine Emperor Gods Festival (九皇爷诞) is
an annual festival celebrated by Taoists during the beginning of 9th month according to the lunar calendar. It is observed in many cities in
southern China and South East Asia. My
hometown, Ipoh is one of those cities that are zealous about this festival. Since
I am a Christian, I don’t participate in the religious rituals; however, as an
Ipohan, once in a while I do attend the carnival (庙会) as a
cultural event.
This year, I attended the carnival at Palace of Dou Mu (
斗母宫),
one of the larger Chinese temples in Ipoh. (Dou Mu is a Taoist Goddess.)
As usual, the carnival was packed with believers who were
there to pray and worship, and non-believers who were there for the performance
and the food, or simply to experience the exciting vibe.
The only part I care
about in this festival is the performance. When I was young, the temples always hired professionals to perform Cantonese Opera
(粤剧/广东大戏)
during the carnival. However during recent years, more and more temples are
replacing Cantonese Opera with modern singing and dancing, something cheaper and
more appealing to the younger generation. Heck no! I ain’t going no carnival if
they aren’t showing Cantonese Opera!
On the day I went, the crew was performing a romantic opera
titled “征袍还金粉”,
which loosely translated to “Armor and The Belle”. Okay, I know my translation
sucks.
Anyway, the story is about a pair of pathetic lovebirds who
are separated. The girl is forced to marry to the boy’s elder cousin brother
while the boy goes to war. [
Totally classic plot of Chinese soap opera] When
the boy returns victoriously, he finds out that his sweetheart is already
married. Even though he is in agony, he chooses not to snatch her back because
his mother begs him not to do so. [
Oh well, such a mommy’s boy] Yada yada yada,
a lot of things happen and finally, the mean cousin brother repents and he
returns the girl to the boy. And they live happily ever after. The end.
The female lead.
The mean elder cousin brother.
The male lead.
One of the things I love about Cantonese Opera is the unnecessarily long peacock feathers that characters put on their heads. They will use the feathers very wisely (pull/swing/shake) to help intensify their current emotions.
The male lead's sidekick.
Face wise I think he makes a better male lead don't you think? :p
It's very common in Cantonese Opera for actresses to take on male roles and vice versa.
One of the musicians.
I chatted with him during the intermission and he told me he has been playing musical instruments for Cantonese Opera for more than 50 years. He is 80+ years old now!
Sadly none of his grandchildren are interested in Cantonese Opera so nobody came to support him that night.
The saxophone used by the musician. He has used this for 30 years now.
The name of the theatrical company hired to perform at Palace of Dou Mu.
The female lead in wedding gown.
For most of the people, Nine Emperor Gods Festival is worth
looking forward to because of the food. Specifically, the turtle bun (乌龟包)!
Image taken from bobofoo.com
Turtle bun is a pastry that is available only during this
festival, much like Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte during fall. Traditionally,
turtle bun is bought and presented as a sacrifice to the Gods; however, most
people buy it nowadays just because they want to eat it. I have absolutely no
craving for it, so I don’t really understand why people would endure through
the long queue and buy dozens of turtle buns.
I saw quite some young people at the carnival. A lot of them
were there just to enjoy the atmosphere (like me!); some joined in the
worshipping but it seemed like they just did it because others were doing it.
They were definitely not as fervent as the older generation. According to my
dad, the crowd that was at the carnival on that day was less than 1/10 of the
crowd that attended the festival during his teenage days.
Maybe one day there will
not be any Nine Emperor Gods festival happening in Ipoh anymore. Who knows?
