Folk culture of Wujinshan National Forest Park

Longwangshan Ancient Temple Fair

The eighth day of the fourth lunar month is the traditional ancient temple fair in Longwangshan. The conference will last for three days and will be held at Crystal Courtyard, Zhoushan Mountain and Jieshenping. The Longwangshan Ancient Temple Fair is organized in turn by eight villages including Dayukou and Pingdiquan. The temple fair includes receiving and sending off gods, community fire performances, offering incense and making wishes, etc. There will also be theater troupes singing on the temple stage to add to the fun.

Purple Mountain Ancient Temple Fair

The twenty-seventh day of the third lunar month is the Purple Mountain Ancient Temple Fair. The venue is located at the Huayan Temple in Purple Mountain and on the two mountain ridges of the East Divine Banner and the West Divine Banner.

The Purple Mountain Ancient Temple Fair is a famous ancient temple fair in the north of Yuci City. During the meeting, there are social fires, opera singing, receiving and sending off gods and other activities.

The annual temple fair in Purple Mountain is organized by the member villages of Sishe Village (Dongsuanyu and Yaoluo Village in Yuci, Hujiayu and Wangjiazhuang in Shouyang County) in turns. The Purple Mountain Ancient Temple Fair lasted until the founding of New China.

Praying for rain in Longwang Mountain

Praying for rain is a superstitious custom. It is a helpless act by the mountain people in the old days to place their hopes on the gods for survival.

In the old days, whenever there was a severe drought, the mountain people in the Yucijian River Basin would hold prayer activities for rain. Praying for rain is also called "worshiping water". There are two ways to pray for rain: praying for rain in words and praying for rain in force. Wen Qiyu, also known as "Good at Worshiping Water", is located in Longwang Mountain (also known as Wujin Mountain). The ceremony is hosted by Gaobi Village. The procedures for praying for rain include inviting gods, praying for rain, inspecting incense, making wishes, sending gifts to gods, etc.

Praying for rain in Purple Mountain

In the old days, villagers around Zijin Mountain would go to Huayan Temple to pray for rain whenever there was a drought, which was also called "worshiping rain" or "worshiping water". The scale of praying for water ranges from large to small. The largest rain praying activity is the "Evil Water Worship" in Dongsuanyu Village, also known as "Evil Prayer for Rain". Due to its unique form, solemn momentum and grand scene, it is very representative of the way villagers around Purple Mountain pray for rain. Praying for rain at Purple Mountain consists of five procedures: making a wish, wearing a wish, making a wish, fulfilling a wish, and returning a wish.