Thousand-year-old temple fair held in Central China's Henan

Associated Press

14-02-2025

XUN COUNTY, China, Feb. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 6, 2025, the ninth day of the first lunar month, the 17th Central Plains (Hebi) Folk Culture Festival ushered in the Dapishan Temple Fair. The event was a vibrant display of traditional Chinese folk culture, with performances such as stilt-walking, lion dances, and yangko dances captivating the audience. Meanwhile, a large number of netizens tuned in to the live broadcast on Global Times Online (huanqiu.com) to experience the authentic charm of 'Celebrating Spring Festival in Xun County, Hometown Henan.'
Shehuo, a traditional Chinese folk performance with a history spanning centuries, is predominantly celebrated in rural areas. On this day, more than a dozen performance troupes gathered, marching from the ancient city of Xun County to Dapishan. They moved in an orderly fashion to the beat of drums, performing as they walked and turning the one-mile-long street into a grand stage. At the main venue, performances such as stilt-walking, yangko, dragon dances, lion dances, and drumming took turns to showcase their unique skills, highlighting the artistic appeal of these traditions.
A notable feature of this year's temple fair was the increased participation of young people in community performances. Participants ranged from 4-year-old children to teenagers, injecting new vitality into the ancient festival.
Xun County's Shehuo has a history of over 1,000 years and is recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage. The performance roles are derived from folk legends, historical accounts, traditional operas, and literary works, and are given new life through the innovations introduced by the performers.
Xun County, Henan Province, known as the hometown of Chinese folk art, is famous for its ancient temple fairs. These fairs are renowned for their long history, rich cultural significance, far-reaching influence, and enduring vitality. The temple fairs last for a month, with the Dapishan Temple Fair opening on the ninth day of the first lunar month and the Fuqiu Mountain Temple Fair, held on the 16th day, being the most historic and famous.
In December 2024, China's Spring Festival was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In the official video submitted to UNESCO, the temple fair in Xun County was showcased as a vibrant and dynamic celebration of the Spring Festival.
Xun County is a national historical and cultural city. The Xun County section of the Grand Canal and Liyang Warehouse in the ancient city are listed as world cultural heritage sites. Other historical sites, such as the ancient city walls and the Wenzhi Pavilion, provide a strong foundation for the preservation of traditional culture. In recent years, Xun County has vigorously developed its cultural tourism. The image of the ancient city, with its blend of mountains, water, and sightseeing opportunities, has been renewed through the temple fairs, transforming this destination into a new tourist highlight, especially during the Spring Festival.
'Temple fairs are a grand gathering of people, culture, and commodity trade, extending the reunion culture of the Spring Festival to the entire society, from family reunions to social reunions,' said Qiao Taishan, director of the Central Plains Intangible Cultural Heritage Research Institute and consultant to the Henan Folk Artists Association.
'Harmony and reunion are the core of Spring Festival culture. Our culture's pursuit of harmony is the confidence that drives Chinese traditional culture to go global,' Qiao added.
The Fuqiu Mountain Temple Fair is held on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month each year. Community performance troupes from surrounding areas of Xun County also gather to enjoy this millennia-old cultural feast.