Origin

It is said that more than 100 years ago Tai O was hit by a plague and in an effort to drive out the epidemic, local fishermen paraded along the local waterways on dragon boats towing behind them deity statues that they had borrowed from temples in the area. The plague ended, but the custom, known as the “dragon boat water parade”, has been maintained to this day.

Features

Every year, at the start of the fifth lunar month, association members would bring their 19-metre-long dragon boats out from the “dragon depot”, push them onto the water, then row them to a boatyard for maintenance check in preparation for the parade. The process is called “pushing the dragon”. Then on the fourth day of the month, association members of Hop Sum Tong and Sin Yu Hong would row their dragon boats, with the small boats called the “sacred boats” in tow to the four temples in Tai O to receive the statues of Yeung Hau, Tin Hau, Kwan Tei and Hung Shing. The deity statues are then transported to the “dragon’s home” - the stilt house headquarters of the associations - for people to pay tribute.

On the morning of the fifth day of the month, members of Pa Teng Hong would row a dragon boat to Po Chu Tam behind Yeung Hau Temple, where they would pick fresh grass from the hillside to put inside the dragon’s mouth in a rite called “picking the greens”. There is also a “drinking dragon” rite conducted by association elders. They would mix a few drops of rooster blood with Chinese white wine and then sprinkle it on the dragon’s head, tail and body as an act to cast out evil spirits. The representatives from Pa Teng Hong would then go to the temples to reverently “receive” the statues of their guardian gods.

With all these done, it would be time for the “water parade”, or what the locals call “gods’ parade”. A small boat carrying the deity statues is towed by each dragon boat along the local waterways. Gold and silver paper offerings for departed souls are burned in the water along the way, while the residents of the stilt houses would also burn joss sticks to pay tribute to the passing dragon boats. As entertainment for gods and mortals alike, the dragon boats would engage in a race after the parade. In the afternoon, the associations would host a “send off” ritual in which the deities are transported back to the temples. That evening, everyone would gather for a feast to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in what is always a jubilant highlight of the year.