Author:

Category：Photograph

Year：1958

Size:Length:50.5 x Width:60.6 (cm)

Size description：為相紙尺寸 夾裱尺寸：縱：60.3cm，橫：76.3cm 影像尺寸：縱：37.1cm，橫：55.7cm

Introduction：Originated in the south of Fujian Province, the “folk parade” is essentially a performative form of folk arts usually staged during religious festivals and ceremonies. From a contemporary perspective, the folk parade can be regarded as one of the most traditional forms of street performance.

Folk parades are regularly performed on pilgrimage festivals. Although the deities are the essence of such events, the center of attention is always the folk parades. A folk parade can come in plenty of different forms. Besides the well-known Ba Jia Jiang (八家將, “the parade of the eight generals”), other traditional forms of folk parade include Chegu Zhen (車鼓大鼓陣, “the parade of the drums”), Binjian Ge (病囝歌, “the song of the nausea of pregnancy”), Shiba Mo (十八摸, “the eighteen touches”), Songjiang Zhen (宋江陣, “Song Jiang’s parade”), Jia Jiang (家將, “the parade of the general”), Wulong (舞龍, “the dance of dragons”), Wushi (舞獅, “the dance of lions”), Yige (藝閣, “the parade of decorated floats”), and many more. Moving with the times, folk parades have developed a variety of dazzling new forms. The most well-known among those contemporary folk parades are the Electric-Techno Neon Gods and Pole Dancing on Jeeps.

In earlier times, most of the folk parades were organized by voluntary worshippers, and performers were asked to obey many rules and customs. For instance, tobacco, alcohol, and betel nut were prohibited starting from three days before the performance, and sexual activities with women must be avoided the day before the event. Nowadays, professional folk parade troupes have become more and more prevalent. Staff members and worshippers of temples can now hire those troupes on an ad hoc basis when hosting religious festivals.

Media and Techniques：Gelatin silver print

Accession Number:NCP2016-021-0024