Taiwan Religious Culture Map

Constructed in 1976, the Main Salvation Altar is located atop Shitou Hill in Keelung City’s Chung Cheng Park. It is also where the highlight of Keelung Zhongyuan Festival—the Zhongyuan Passage Ceremony (pǔdù)—takes place. The main altar tower is four storeys high, formed from three tiers in the shape of an octagonal pagoda rising from the first-storey base. There are also two hexagonally-shaped wing towers on either side of the central tower. The building’s exterior design is inspired by traditional Chinese architecture, with the eaves of the roof protruding in a beautiful arc. The top of the tower also happens to be the best place for visitors to enjoy a clear view over the Port of Keelung. Approximately a month before the Zhongyuan Festival each year, the kinship association responsible builds traditional Chinese-style wood arches (páilóu) around the Main Salvation Altar, matching it in height to present a “tower-on-tower” design. A set of stairs is placed in front of the altar for the Taoist priest to ascend to the altar. Temporary accommodations for visiting ghosts are also erected. The decorations include five different colors of LED lights outlining the arches. Fiberglass is used to create dragon columns and wood is crafted to display auspicious wishes, such as “Happy Ullambana Festival" (Buddhist name of Zhongyuan Festival), or simply “Happy Zhongyuan Festival.” Colorful imagery such as clan surnames, dragons, and phoenixes are also on display. The altar with all of its lights turned on at night is quite a memorable sight. The Keelung Zhongyuan Festival reached its 150th anniversary in 1997. It was decided that the Main Salvation Altar would be renovated and an 80 píng (a local unit of measurement equaling 264.5 square meters) will be set aside for the construction of the Ghost Festival Museum. The museum is divided into 6 major areas: a cultural artifacts display area, a special exhibition area, a multi-media film screening room, a magic theater, an interactive games area, and a reading area. On display are many pictures and artifacts from Zhongyuan Festivals over the years, as well as an introduction to the series of ritual events held during the festival.

The Dipper Lantern Parade on the thirteenth day of the seventh month is one of the main events of Keelung Zhongyuan Festival. Dipper lanterns (dòudēng) are important artifacts in Taoism, often used in temples and shrines to bring good fortune and avoid back luck. For the kinship associations, their own dipper lanterns are sacred objects kept within Ching-An Temple when not used in festive celebrations. The dipper lantern of each clan is crafted by specially-hired folk art masters. The lanterns are not only beautiful to look at but  also have a great deal of value as folk art pieces.

The water lantern parade on the fourteenth day of the seventh month has been around for over 100 years. On the evening of the event, the kinship associations gather by the bank of the Tien-Liao River with local performance groups and school teams invited to participate. They then embark on a parade around the city led by the clans’ water lanterns, with parade groups divided by surname. This is not merely a light-hearted parade, but is rather symbolic of the Salvation God (Da Shi Ye) touring the city and propitiating local residents. The parade also imparts blessings on the four major temples of Keelung—Ching An Temple, Cheng Huang (the City God) Temple, Dianji Temple, and the Temple of Tiandu Yuanshuai (the God of Music). Apart from the religious arrangements, the parade also includes various folklore performance teams (zhèntóu). In recent years, other religious, folk tale-related, or simply charmingly-decorated parade floats have also joined in the celebration. Glittering parade floats and art performance groups from all around the world have become a new spotlight. Accompanied by rhythmic music and the cheers of the gathered crowd, this popular religious carnival lasts deep into the night.

After touring the city, family lantern bearers gather at Wanghai Alley to release the water lanterns, symbolic of a temporary burial (fèngcuò) for the ghosts. The ritual involves chanting and the burning of paper money and offerings followed by setting off strings of Chinese firecrackers, and ends with the releasing of the lanterns into the water. The lanterns drift off into the sea as guides to help lost ghosts to accept passage into the afterlife. The releasing of the water lanterns is one of the festival’s main attractions for visitors.

The Zhongyuan passage ceremony of the Keelung Zhongyuan Festival takes place every year on the fifteenth day of the seventh month at the Main Salvation Altar in Chung Cheng Park, Keelung. The ceremony is a feast of human food for wandering ghosts to enjoy. One of the main offerings is decorative rice flour dough sculptures (niēmiànrén). These usually include birds, animals, vegetables, bugs, and artifacts made of colorless flour dough, symbolizing offerings to the ghosts. The Main Salvation Altar is splendidly decorated each year by different kinship associations. They often spend a large amount of money  decorating the venue and displaying their surnames to honor their ancestors. In the evening, the altar is lit up to display a beautiful, colossal tower of colorful lights. Visible several kilometers away, the altar instantly becomes one of the most dazzling landmarks of Keelung City and a guiding light for the ancestors to return and enjoy a feast.