Tianjin is known as the “Gateway to Beijing”, and its unique geographical environment is formed by its location at the foot of the Nine Rivers and its proximity to mountains and waters, making it known as the “Water Town of Zeguo” in northern China. The rich and diverse forms of expression, profound cultural heritage, and regional characteristics constitute Tianjin’s unique folk culture.
Fishermen running torches
In the old days, the boatman would light the reed handle at midnight on the 30th day of the Chinese New Year, and be carried by two people to run through various temples before running to the coast and circling around his own fishing boat. The key to keeping a boat is to use two torches, and so on. Thousands of torches will be used together to illuminate the New Year’s Eve in the fishing village like daylight. A copper gong will open the way in front of the torches, and a divine flag and a silk lantern will guide the way. Each person runs torches through the streets and alleys, with no one coming out of the other. The scenery is like a dragon soaring and a snake dancing, very lively.
At that time, the doors of each temple will be wide open and the lanterns will be hung high to welcome the torches. The ship owner bowed incense in each temple one by one and came to his own fishing boat. He surrounded the boat and shouted auspicious slogans such as “The Great General (Big Mast) has a powerful presence in all directions”, “The Second General (Second Mast) is the vanguard of the road”, “The bow presses the waves”, “After the ship, the wind blows”, and then burned off the remaining torch with the sound of gongs.
The fishermen are very interested in running torches on New Year’s Eve. On the one hand, the shipowner prayed for prosperity and development in the coming year for the auspicious word “hot” (homophone for torch), and on the other hand, many people enjoyed the spectacular scenery and wanted to see it firsthand. Some idle and unemployed people and children are preparing to run torches to the shipowner’s house to start a barge. The meaning of ‘start barge’ is that after all this busyness, the barge owned by the shipowner is already full of fish and shrimp and cannot accommodate them anymore. They need to start moving. The ship owner happily gave them Dim sum, peanuts, chestnuts, persimmons, etc., and these people carried fruit in their pockets, shouting “one net for two ships, one net for gold, two nets for silver, and three nets for a cornucopia” and other auspicious words happily left.
In the lively scene of running torches, there are also occasional situations where torches come fiercely, and some people do not dodge, even running towards the torches and intentionally letting them hit themselves. These are some fishermen who consider themselves unlucky and hope to burn off their bad luck in order to be transported from here on.
Tianhou Culture
Tianjin’s folk beliefs are extensive and diverse. Before the mid Qing Dynasty, there were more than 500 temples of various types, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and folk or local worship of gods. The number of temples is rare in the country. The worship of natural objects, animals and plants, ancestors, folk gods, as well as activities such as jumping to the gods, fortune telling, and feng shui are extremely popular.
Among many folk beliefs, the worship of the sea god and goddess of heaven is particularly revered, and it is closely integrated with the local culture of Tianjin, becoming the patron saint and urban protector of the Three Tianjin Islands. The history of Tianjin is closely related to the culture of Tianhou, not only with the historical legend of “Tianhou Palace first, Tianjin Guard later”, but also with significant impacts on Tianjin’s economy, culture, customs, and many other aspects.
