What does "burning the king's boat" mean?

Sending the king boat, also known as "burning the king boat", is an ancient folk custom in coastal fishing ports and fishing villages. By offering sacrifices to Poseidon and mourning the souls killed at sea, they prayed for safety at sea and profitable fishing. The fishermen's custom of "sending the king's boat" also integrated the belief of Wang Ye (Zheng Chenggong). It is said that this custom originated in Taiwan Province Province. In the early Qing Dynasty, fishermen made a "king boat" to commemorate Zheng Chenggong's great achievements and sent it to the sea, but they received the news without making it clear. At the beginning of 2006, it was listed as the first intangible cultural heritage in our province.

"King Ship" is an ancient ship, with a length of 10 m and a height of 3 m. Its hull has beautiful patterns and reliefs, painted red and gold. The front of the bow is a lion's head pattern, and flags are inserted on both sides according to the rules. This is called left Qinglong right white tiger. There is a big dragon painted on the front of the stern, and there is a red flag on the front and back of the ship, which is "Kiki House Chitose Sky Patrol". Paper figures are inserted above the ship's rail, representing different identities such as "heavenly generals and sailors".

The so-called "burning the king's boat" means inviting the god of plague to the boat, then dragging it to the seaside and burning it all, which means taking away bad luck and praying for peace. After a vast cruise during the day, the king's boat is already full of fishermen's blessings of "safe and good weather". The ship is also full of necessities such as oil, salt and rice provided by fishermen.