Temple Fair (tea farm)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Temple Fair

Applicant: Pan'an County, Zhejiang Province

Item No.: 991

Project No.: Ⅹ - 84

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Pan'an County, Zhejiang Province

Protected by: Pan'an Cultural Center

Brief introduction of Temple Fair (tea farm)

Applicant: Pan'an County, Zhejiang Province

Temple fair, also known as "Temple market", is a kind of folk belief activities held regularly in and around temples, which is popular all over the country. Some large temple fairs had a considerable scale in the Tang Dynasty, and they are still handed down and have a wide influence. All kinds of temple fairs have their own time, most of them are a traditional Lunar Festival or a religious and folk belief day. Temple Fair has the characteristics of concentration, group and fixation. During the temple fair, all kinds of folk activities and technical trade activities can be fully displayed in public, and the activities are rich and colorful. The God greeting competition is also a form of temple fair. In Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, traditional temple fairs, which are popular among believers, are all introduced from the mainland and have a close relationship with the mother. In the overseas Chinese residential areas, many temple fairs brought from the motherland are full of incense, inheriting the cultural blood of the Chinese nation in a special way.

The tea farm is a traditional folk custom in Yushan, Pan'an County, Zhejiang Province. Located in Matang village, Yushan Town, Pan'an County, Yushan ancient tea farm was built in the Song Dynasty and rebuilt in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It is the earliest ancient tea trading site found in China.

In the Jin Dynasty, Xu Xun made great contributions to the development of local tea production and opening up tea market when he visited Yushan. Yushan people felt his kindness and respected him as the "God of tea". They built temples and statues and paid homage to him at four o'clock. In the Song Dynasty, the temple was rebuilt for the tea God, and a tea farm was set up on the side of the temple. Therefore, the temple was called "tea farm Temple", and formed two temple fairs of "spring society" and "autumn society" centered on tea trade.

The "spring society" is scheduled to be held on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. At that time, local tea farmers will come to the tea farm in costumes to hold folk cultural activities such as social opera performances, hanging lanterns and welcoming dragon lanterns (pavilions and lanterns). The "autumn society" was held on October 15 of the lunar calendar. Tea farmers and common people went to the tea market with tea and goods from all directions, forming a lively grand temple fair. In addition to the trade of goods, there were various folk art performances during the "autumn society", such as thirty-six lines, overlapping Han, carrying eight immortals, and so on.

In the temple fair of tea farm, the trade of tea and medicinal materials is closely connected with agricultural production, which promotes the development of local production, economic prosperity and social harmony. There are a whole set of ceremonious tea God ceremony and a series of colorful folk art activities in the tea field, which are widely participated by the masses and spread for a long time. The protection and inheritance of this folk cultural activity is of great practical significance for the maintenance of ancient tea farms and the development of local tea production.