Doors to Diplomacy Participants

Lukang Junior High School (2021 CyberFair Project ID 8581)
Taiwan, Changhua County
Official Status: Final Project: Ready for Judging
Teacher:
Category: 8. Local Music and Art Forms

We estimate 10 student(s) from 13 to 14 will work on this entry.

Description of Our Community: “Fucheng first, Lukang second, and Manka third” is the phrase we have heard very often from the elderly since our childhood. Lukang, the second, refers to Lukang Township, our beautiful hometown. The name Lukang means Deer Harbor, as herds of deer used to gather here. Lukang is the first settlement in Taiwan developed by the Han people.

The turbulent and dangerous voyages on the sea the earliest settlers to Lukang had to go through underpin their religious beliefs. This is the reason why there are temples, big and small, everywhere in this township. Indeed, Lukang is home to over 200 temples. Take some examples. Longshan Temple is known as the Forbidden City in Taiwan, and Tianhou Temple has a large number of religious followers all the time. Among the other famous temples are Wenwu Temple, Hsintzu Temple, and Fengshan Temple. These temple architectures, internal structures, decorative sculptures, and colored paintings are the treasure of architectural traditions and the core of tourist resources for Lukang.

As the saying goes, food is everything for the people. As attractive as the historical temples in Lukang are its street food and local cuisines. Lukang is just like a time capsule of culinary delights. The heritage of local food is as everlasting as the historical sites from hundreds of years ago. Oyster omelets, thick vermicelli, mud shrimps, pork thick soup, and taro ball soup are the culinary feast not available even at a five-star restaurant. After the meal in Lukang comes with mouth-watering pastries. Traditional snacks, such as ox-tongue shaped pancakes, phoenix eye cakes, and radish pastries, are the flavors unique to Lukang. This town, known for ancient architectures, traditional craftsmanship, and delicious street food, is our beautiful hometown Lukang.

Project Description: “Pu-Tu Festival in Lukang” is the topic of our Cyberfair project. We are all children born in Lukang, but we never sought to understand our hometown, let alone its traditional culture of Pu-Tu Festival. The work and interviews for Cyberfair project have equipped us with a good knowledge of the historical sites and Pu-Tu practices. For example, we know about Tianhou Temple but we did not know its other name “Old Temple”. We walk by Hungry Ghost Yard every day and now we know how this strange name came about. In the past, fishermen and wharf workers came to this market for food. They were so hungry that they could not follow good eating manners but ate quickly and loudly. In fact, Pu-Tu can be divided into public and private in Lukang. In the early days, local temples and districts organized these special banquets for ghosts in turns. Lantern pole erections, Ghost Gate opening, and water lamps releasing were all parts of the ritual in Lukang. We learned about the history of Lukang when we worked on the Cyberfair project. We interviewed a local scholar in history and literature, the composer of Pu-Tu music, and an expert active in Facebook social groups. We also visited various sites and gathered information on the Internet. We organized our findings into a file on the history and culture of Lukang, so that more people can know about its cultural legacy and heritage.

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