Sending Off The Regent

Every three years in Sigang, the entire village will send off the regent. Sigang receives most of the praises among the temple festivals with patrol marching, which implement “the regent” in command, from the Taiwanese public. No matter if it is about the occasion or impetus, time, or history, it can be placed as the best of all; especially, the royal ship ceremony.

The greatest feature of the royal-ship ceremony in Taiwan is the regent patrolling held in between ‘ inviting the regent” and ‘ sending off the regent.” In around the Donggang River zone, they call the regent patrolling held between ‘ inviting of the regent” and ‘ the sending off of the regent” as a “ welcoming for the regent” and in Zengwen River zone, they call it “ the incense festival” or “cruising through the villages.” The flare-ups of both locations are all very competitive; regarding Zengwen River zone, the incense festival of Chingan Temple in Sigang is the one place with the greatest cast among the areas in this zone and also the temple with longest history and shortest interruption. The people and events that it affects are broad and deep, presenting the public vitality, so vigorous and vast that it can be regarded as one of the greatest spectacles in southern Taiwan.

When people send away, they will have performances. At 5:00 A.M. people will start to dance and sing or perform karate in the street. The performance can be good and sometimes it can be really bad and boring. It depends on what kind of people is performing what.

On the streets in the Sigang Village, they will have decorations of traditional Chinese lanterns. Each lantern will represent each house. If there's ten houses in one street then, it will have ten lanterns. During at night, it can be pretty and colorful. Also, during these short three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), people will sale food, little things for decoration, books, clothes, and more. People will come all over the viallge to stay in our Sigang Village.

Even Thursday morening, when I was going to my school, there's a lot of traffics already. Even tonight when I was comming back, the traffic is very very tight. I do not want to think what will happen tomorrow morning and evening. I will bring Alan to the Sigang downtown to see the show, see things around what they are salling and eat something. I think tomorrow night, Alan and I will have a lot of fun.

More than that, one of the traditions is that each house has to inviate thier best friends or families for dinner or lunch. Most of Taiwanese people in my Village, they will prefer to invite thier friends for lunch not dinner. In my case, Sunday, I will go to my coworker's house (Joda) for lunch. She invited Alan and I.