2016 Hsinchu Zhucheng Zhongyuan City God Festival: Everyone sheds the cangue to dispel misfortune together

The "2016 Zhucheng Zhongyuan City God Festival" will kick off enthusiastically on August 2, inviting people from all over the country to shed the cangue and dispel misfortune together.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau said that this year the Hsinchu City Government specially produced an animated promotional short film for the event, promoting Hsinchu City's precious intangible cultural asset, the "Zhucheng Zhongyuan City God Festival," to the whole country, so that the public can gain a greater understanding of the intangible cultural assets within its territory, and hoping to further promote the transmission and development of traditional culture.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau said that this year's City God Festival promotional short film is mainly in an ink-wash style. The main technique is to render images on paper through the dynamic effect of ink diffusion. The overall film is mainly in black and white tones, presenting the distinctive rituals of the City God Festival through animation.

Zheng Gengya, secretary-general of the Hsinchu City God Temple, said that the "Cangue-Shedding, Karma-Dispelling, and Blessing-Building Dharma Assembly," held according to ancient rites by the City God Temple for more than a hundred years, is one of the highlights of the temple ghost month in the Hsinchu area. Last year 1,500 people signed up to take part. According to statistics from the City God Temple, Hsinchu City residents accounted for 31% of the participants, while more than half of the others came from southern Taiwan, and people from all over the country are invited to take part and pray together to dispel misfortune.

Last year it was jointly held for the first time by the Hsinchu City Government and the Hsinchu City God Temple, expanding event promotion and marketing, which greatly increased the number of people taking part in carrying the cangue. The largest age group was 30-39 (accounting for 25%), and the participation rate of younger groups rose substantially. This year's event uses animated promotion to call on the public to take part, inviting everyone to experience and join in the charm of more than a hundred years of folk culture.