3/05/2013

The Legend and Significant of Bai Tian Gong

by Gooi Ai Moon


The celebration of Jade Emperor’s birthday (Bai Tian Gong) has been inherited for thousand years since Tang Dynasty in China. It is said that during a Chinese New Year of Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao’s army had attacked the Hokkiens’ village in South China and came the kill.

Due to the misunderstanding caused by the costume and language barrier from the army and the Hokkiens, the army misinterpreted that the Hokkiens were a wolf that will harm them. It was because when “human” pronounce in Hokkien, the pronunciation is same with “wolf’ which pronounce in Chinese. 

The Hokkiens could not resist from the army, therefore they hid themselves into a large sugarcane farm. When they were in the sugarcane farm, they prayed to the Jade Emperor for salvation. 

Until the 9th day of Chinese New Year, the army finally gave up and the Hokkiens could back to their village. As there was still Chinese New Year on that day, the Hokkiens brought along with the sugarcane to celebrate Chinese New Year.

The Hokkiens believed that their life was saved by the Jade Emperor. Therefore, to express their appreciation to the Jade Emperor and commemorate this incident, the Hokkiens decided to celebrate the birthday of Jade Emperor in every 9th day of Chinese New Year.

See also
Bai Tian Gong - An Unignorable Tradition of The Hokkiens
The Necessities and Expenses of Bai Tian Gong
Sugarcane is a “MUST”
Decoration of the Offering Table

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