Towering traditions: Hong Kong’s centuries-old Kam Tin Jiao Festival returns

Once every decade, villagers in Kam Tin build a nearly 30-metre (100-foot) tall bamboo structure – large enough to hold almost half the capacity of the Hong Kong Coliseum – to stage rituals and Cantonese opera performances for an audience of residents, deities and spirits alike.\nThe colossal structure, adorned with vibrant plaques and a flag, is the largest of its kind in Hong Kong and serves as the centrepiece of the HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) Jiao Festival organised by the indigenous Tang clan of Kam Tin. The five-day, six-night celebration will begin on Saturday evening.\n“Throughout the generations, [this festival] reminds us that we must repay our gratitudes. It also unites our clan, as during every Jiao festival, everyone comes back,” said 66-year-old Tang Ho-nin, chairman of the Kam Tin Rural Committee and chief organiser of the festival.\nClansmen of the organising committee told the Post that the festival had been preserved in its original form for 340 years, out of respect for their ancestors and the desire to unite families across generations and across the world.\nThe Tang clan welcomed the government’s recent efforts to safeguard intangible cultural heritage, which they saw as an opportunity to share their festival with other residents in the city.\n“We have been doing this [festival] all along, but now there’s a new name for it being intangible cultural heritage,” said Tang Wing-hong, 68, a village chief and member of the organising committee.\nThe festival features about 10 cultural practices recognised by authorities as intangible cultural heritage, including bamboo scaffolding, lion and dragon dancing, puppet theatre and the traditional cheongsams worn by villagers during rituals.\nBeing held shortly after last month’s deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court that killed at least 160 people, organisers have taken extra precautions to ensure safety.\nSecretary of the organising committee Tang Hung-yan told the Post that additional meetings were held to allocate more manpower for night patrols around the festival, increase the number of fire extinguishers on site and enforce a strict no smoking policy.\n\nA dedicated area will also be set up during the festival to appease the spirits of the Wang Fuk Court victims.\nThe estate had been covered in scaffolding and netting for renovation work since July last year. Investigations later found that flammable foam had been used to seal windows, and some of the netting samples failed fire-retardant tests.\nKnown in Chinese as “repayment for benevolence”, Kam Tin’s Jiao Festival dates back to 1685, when the Tang clansmen sought to thank two officials for allowing them to return to their homeland in Yuen Long.\nThe clan, along with other coastal communities, had been forced to move inland during the early years of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) to prevent them from aiding forces led by Zheng Chenggong – a Japan-born, half-Chinese sea merchant who rose to power with his formidable maritime might from the coast of Fujian.\nTo commemorate the help of Zhou Youde, viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Wang Lairen, governor of Guangdong, villagers built the Chou Wong Yi Kung Study Hall in Shui Tau Tsuen, Kam Tin, and established the tradition of holding a Jiao Festival every 10 years.\nAccording to cultural anthropologist Professor Liu Tik-sang of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Jiao festivals were common among village communities in the New Territories, serving as a way to thank the gods for their protection and to appease wandering spirits, preventing them from disturbing the living.\n“These Jiao festivals were also a way for local leaders and elites to show their capabilities, while for villagers, it’s a chance to get protection from the gods and see friends they haven’t met in a long time,” Liu said.\n\nWhat sets Kam Tin’s festival apart is its grand scale and its distinct Taoist tradition. Villagers invite ceremonial masters from a different Taoist school, resulting in unique ritual practices and interpretations.\nCentred around five days and six nights of Taoist rituals from December 13 to 19, the festival’s ceremonies will be held at the bamboo scaffolding structure, and Taoist masters and family representatives will take part.\nThe rituals will culminate in a parade featuring a giant papier-mache warrior and the burning of offerings to appease spirits on the final evening, followed by a concluding procession returning the gods to the study hall on the next day.\nAfter the ceremonies, the bamboo structure will be transformed into a 6,000-seat Cantonese opera stage. Besides villagers and visitors, the gods honoured and the ghosts appeased during the rituals are also counted among the audience.\nPreparations begin 10 months in advance, with committee members arranging the construction of the scaffolding, commissioning papier-mache sculptures, selecting opera troupes and appointing heads of families to participate in the rituals.\nChairman Tang said this year’s festival would cost about HK$20 million (US$2.57 million), with HK$4.5 million spent on the scaffolding structure and HK$7 million on vegetarian poon choi – a communal banquet dish served in large layered bowls.\nTang Wai-tim, 61, a member of the committee’s reception and general affairs section, said organising the once-a-decade event typically fell to clansmen in their fifties and sixties, with elders passing on their knowledge and experience.\n“Many of our clansmen return [after retirement] to take up duties in the village’s affairs. Our legacy begins bit by bit from here,” Tang, a former policeman, said.\nYounger members were encouraged to enjoy the festivities and handle smaller tasks – such as carrying giant papier-mache figures during parades – before taking up larger roles later in life, he added.\n