Nine Emperor Gods Festival


The Nine Emperor Gods Festival is a nine-day Taoist celebration beginning on the eve of 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, nine-emperor-gods-festival-celebrated-with-primarily in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia by the Peranakans.

Introduction to the Nine Emperor Gods

The Nine Emperor Gods Jiǔ Huáng Xīng Jūn / Jiǔ Huáng Da Di are the nine sons manifested by Father Emperor Zhou Yu Dou Fu Yuan Jun and Mother of the Big Dipper Dou Mu Yuan Jun who holds the Registrar of Life and Death. The worship of Dou Fu Yuan Jun has declined strongly as proper teachings of Taoism degenerate since being exported out of China. Today, most Nine Emperor God temples do not acknowledge the existence of Dou Fu Yuan Jun. However, Dou Fu Yuan Jun is invoked alongside Dou Mu Yuan Jun in Great Dipper Honouring known as Li Dou ceremonies. According To Priest Long Hua, the 35th Generation Leader of Long Shan Men Taoist Sect, honouring the Northern Dipper stars prolongs one's life, eliminate calamities, and absolves sins and past debts of oneself and his family.Wu, Jave,
The term Ye as in Jiu Huang Ye, Celebration
The Nine Emperors is formed by the seven stars of the Big Dipper of the North Ursa Major'' and two assistant stars. The Nine Emperor Stars are:
  1. Tan Lang Tai Xing Jun 1st Star Bayer
  2. Ju Men Yuan Xing Jun2nd Star Bayer
  3. Lu Cun Zhen Xing Jun 3rd Star Bayer
  4. Wen Qu Niu Xing Jun 4th Star Bayer
  5. Lian Zhen Gang Xing Jun 5th Setar Bayer
  6. Wu Qu Ji Xing Jun 6th Star Bayer
  7. Po Jun Guan Xing Jun 7th Star Bayer
  8. Zuo Fu Da Dao Xing Jun 8th Star
  9. You Bi Da Dao Xing Jun 9th Star

    Nine Emperor Gods Festival celebration in popular folk culture

On the eve of the ninth moon, temples of the deities hold a ceremony to invoke and welcome the nine emperors. Since the arrival of the gods is believed to be through the waterways, processions are held from temples to the sea shore or river to symbolize this belief. Devotees dressed in traditional white, carrying incense and candles, await the arrival of their excellencies.
A carnival-like atmosphere pervades the temple throughout the nine-day festival. During this period of time, the constant tinkling of a prayer bell and chants from the temple priests are heard. Most devotees stay at the temple, eat vegetarian meals and recite continuous chanting of prayer. It is believed that there will be rain throughout the nine days of celebration.
The ninth day of the festival is its climax. A procession which draws scores of devotees sends the deities back home.

Celebration in Thailand


In Thailand, this festival is called thetsakan kin che, the Vegetarian Festival. It is celebrated throughout the entire country, but the festivities are at their height in Phuket, where over the half of the population is Peranakans. It attracts crowds of spectators because of many of the unusual religious rituals that are performed.
In accordance with the traditions, many religious devotees will perform ritualized mutilation upon themselves and one another while under a trance-like state, including but not limited to: impaling through cheeks, arms, face, legs, back etc., with everything from as small as syringes to as large as is agreed upon between all members; partial skinning ; slashing of limbs, chest, stomach and especially tongue with swords, axes and knives; bloodletting; removal of tissue and intentionally wrapping or standing near fire crackers as they are lit.
This is done without anesthetic, always inside or near the temples surrounded by other devotees with only iodine, petroleum jelly and surgical gloves as precautionary measures. Despite this scenario, many of the people performing the rituals are also the people who will care for many of the people in their recovery.
To this effect few people ever need to have prolonged medical treatment, and although in the weeks after the festival many people will be seen covered in bandages, scarring is uncommon, stitching, even on individual devotees who impale their cheeks, is rare, and return to daily activity for the devotees occurs shortly after the completion of the ritual, frequently before the festival ends unless performed on the last days, much sooner than before the bandages themselves are removed.
The purpose of this practice is a mixture of veneration for their gods and ancestors, to display their devotion to their beliefs and the trance itself, which has a profound impact upon demeanour for days or weeks after, frequently with devotees appearing exceptionally calm and focused in their day-to-day activities after the festival is completed.
According to an early-nineteenth-century interpretation of Chinese Taoism by a local community of Chinese immigrant miners, the nine Emperor Gods descend from poles located in the shrine’s yards and incarnate by using the bodies of the participants as shells for walking on Earth.  The participants who prepare to volunteer their bodies to the gods are called the Ma Song.  During the main ritual at the temples, the Ma Song fall into a trance and pierce their cheeks with ritual objects, including knives, spears, relics, and other items of personal significance.  Then, the Ma Song demonstrate their submission by presenting their expressive forms of self-mutilation in a public procession. In his research project starting in 2012, Schneider identified the affective states of the Ma Song that reflected a religious frame of submission. While in Western cultures dominance is seen as a cherished goal, Schneider observed an unusual appreciation of submission amongst the Ma Song. This might be generalizable to other religious practices where believers submit in devotion. This study has been made possible through the support by Fulbright Scholar grant PD2082693, the National Research Council of Thailand in Bangkok, and the members of the Phuket Provincial Cultural Office. Dr. Schneider was depicted on his research site in a National Geographic documentation by Morgan Freeman.

''Jeh''

During a period of nine days, those who are participating in the festival dress all in white and ghin jeh กินเจ, which has come to be translated as abstinence from eating meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy products. Vendors and proprietors of restaurants indicate that jeh food is for sale at their establishments by putting a yellow flag out with the word เจ written on it in red. However, technically, only food prepared in the sacred kitchen of the Chinese temple is jeh, as it must undergo a series of rituals before it can be given that name.

''Masong''

Masong ม้าทรง are the people who invite the spirits of gods to possess their bodies. Ma ม้า is the word for horse in Thai, and the name masong refers to how the spirits of the gods use the bodies of these people as a vehicle, as one rides a horse. Only pure, unmarried men or women without families of their own can become masong. At the temple they undergo a series of rituals to protect them for the duration of the festival, during which flagellation and self-mutilation is practiced. The masong tradition doesn't exist in China and is believed to have been adopted from the Indian festival of Thaipusam.
The festivities in Phuket include a procession of masong wearing elaborate costumes who pierce their cheeks and tongues with all manner of things, including swords, banners, machine guns, table lamps, and flowers. While the face is the most common area pierced, some also pierce their arms with pins and fishhooks. Teams of people accompany the masong to keep their wounds clean and to help support the heavier piercings. It is believed that while they are possessed the masong will not feel any pain. They can also be seen shaking their heads back and forth continually, and usually do not seem to "see" their surroundings. At the temple during the festival there is also firewalking and blade-ladder climbing. While large crowds of people gather to watch, the entranced mah song distribute blessed candy and pieces of orange cloth with Chinese characters printed on them yan ยันต์ for good luck.

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