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Lu Jiang elementary school (2013 CyberFair Project ID 7434)
Taiwan,
New Taipei City
Official Status:
Final Project: Ready for Judging
Teacher:
Category: 8. Local Music and Art Forms
We estimate 8 student(s) from 10 to 12 will work on this entry.
Description of Our Community: Luzhou: Lu represents the reeds, zhou represents the water dwelling. The name of Luzhou clearly describes the geographical features of Luzhou: a livable and cultivable sandbar covered with reeds in Tamsui River. Luzhou is an alluvial sandbar. Since its low geographical position caused constant floods, the residents struggled with the river to live in the habitat. Therefore, It used to be named “The continent in the river”. Due to the flooding, most residents were hardworking poor people who migrated from southern Taiwan; the population brought a different culture to northern Taiwan. The plentiful temples and constant temple festivals did not only unite the residents but also led to the development of various industries in Luzhou. The religious ceremonies in Luzhou always attracted and gathered numerous pilgrims and Shenjiang troupes. When people praised the abundant and vast festivals of the temples, we, the Luzhou residents, always felt proud of it. However, with the changes of time, modern society has gradually lost its touch of humanity, the tradition of the temple festivals are gradually fading away as well. Therefore, we hope to evoke the buried memories in the locals and make the culture of Luzhou known again by more people through the project, “The Rhythm of Dance Steps~The Hallmark of Blessings~The Shenjiang Culture of Luzhou.”
Project Description: The culture of “Shenjiang,” temple god statues, began a century ago. It is said that a merchant brought eight heads of Shenjiang for sale from Mainland China, Shancai, Longnu, Weituo, Jialan, and two pairs of the Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord. Since the major god of Yonglian Temple is Guanyin Buddha and Shancai, Longnu, Weituo and Jialan are gods who work for Guanyin, local musical clubs, Nanyixuan and Anlexuan, which led parades for Guanyin Buddha, purchased the statues. Since then, the merchant has disappeared. This is the legend of how these Shenjiang statues came to Luzhou. Around the end of sixties, the “Shenjiang” became the key of the development for local god troupes and common interests of the residents. This was mainly due to Ganhui and Wanli, the Shenjiang statues produced by Lelele, which were exhibited by the Taiwan venue in the World Fair, held in Japan in 1935, during the Japanese occupancy in Taiwan. After the recovery of Taiwan, Weituo and Jialan, the Shenjiang statues of Anlexuan, were invited to the Retrocession Day parade. President Chiang Kai-shek was fond of their mighty posture and wanted to purchase them with a large sum of money, but the community was strongly opposed to it. However, Chiang Kai-shek still praised the Shenjiang statues and bestowed them with identity cards. To this day, only these two Shenjiang statues have this honor in Taiwan. Because of this unique piece of history, residents felt proud of the Shenjiang gods of their hometown and naturally developed recognition for the Shenjiang culture. The town paid a lot of attention to the productions and performances in the Shenjiang parade. The Shenjiang statues in the parades of temple festivals always amazed the masses. When the Taiwan economy took off, temples in Luzhou were capable of purchasing more Shenjiang statues and believers offered money to pay for their crowns and armor. Lots of Shenjiang statues were made starting some time between the 70s and 80s for about twenty years. There are more than two hundred Shenjiang statues in Luzhou, both the quality and quantity are the highest among the country. The Shenjiang statues have become an important asset to Luzhou and give Luzhou the reputation of “Cave of Shenjiang” and “Homeland of Shenjiang.” The folk customs of the unique culture of “Shenjiang” deeply attract us. Therefore, through observations, interviews, information and documents analysis, we record the Luzhou “Shenjiang” culture, compile our process, and produce this website. We hope to convey the simple humanistic spirit of Luzhou to the world through the project.