What is the Nine Emperor Gods Festival?
The Nine Emperor Gods Festival (九皇爷诞) is a popular festival celebrated in South East Asia, particularly in areas that are the focal points of the Southern Chinese diaspora, like Phuket in Southern Thailand, Penang and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Singapore and certain areas of Indonesia.
This festival is sometimes known as Vegetarian Festival or Tesagan Gin Je in Thailand. Interestingly, this festival does not exist in Mainland China or Taiwan, and is distinctive to the Chinese diaspora outside China. Unique to this festival is the 9 day duration (10 days if you include activities on the eve of the festival), and devotees that wear white and use white or yellow candles and joss-sticks to pray instead of the usual red ones.
A lantern with nine lamps (高燈 or 九曲燈 - pic below) is raised on the eve of the festival to inform the gods that the celebration is happening at the location and an invitation ceremony, that is usually very festive, to invite the Nine Emperor Gods from a body of water usually happens later that day.
At the end of the festival, the Nine Emperor Gods are sent off back to the body of water that they
were invited from, usually with another procession consisting of priest, mediums and devotees.
Who are the Nine Emperor Gods (九皇爺 / 九皇大帝)?
The exact origin of the Nine Emperor Gods (九皇大帝) worshiped is unclear, and there are many versions of the origin of this worship. The practice seems to be an amalgamated practice of Taoist Li Dou (Big Dipper Prayer) mixed in with folk spirit worship.
The Nine Emperor Gods are sometimes said to be the nine sons of Dou Mu (斗母), the Mother Goddess of the Taoist pantheon and hence a lot of Nine Emperor Gods temples are called Dou Mu Gong (斗母宮) - literally the Mother of Dipper Star Palace. There is also the version that associates the Nine Emperor Gods with nine Ming Dynasty heroes who fought to overthrow the Qing Dynasty that were beheaded.
In some places like Ampang, there is another version linking the Nine Emperor Gods as a product of the secret society (Hong Secret Society - 洪門會) trying to hide their activities from the law. Regardless of which story you believe in, the worship of Nine Emperor Gods are very popular with the local devotees and their efficacy in answering prayers attested to.
Why do people worship these Nine Emperor Gods?
Whilst there are many (muddled) versions of how this festival started, it all points down to being able to seek help from a higher source to help them with their lives. The festival is a chance for them to pray for a better future, or to purify themselves by participating in rituals associated with this festival such as bridge crossing and fire-walking. Also one can engage Taoist priest to conduct luck opening or luck increasing ceremonies during this festival which is said to be very efficacious.
When does this festival happen?
This festival is celebrated from the 1st day to the 9th day of the 9th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar. The dates usually fall around late Sept to mid Oct in the Gregorian calendar. Bear in mind that the festival actually starts on the eve of the celebration with the nine lamp lantern pole raising.
- In 2020 - 17th till the 25th of October.
- In 2021 - 4th till the 13th of October.
- In 2022 - 24th of September till the 3rd of October.
Where can I read up more about this festival?
What is this 'Zhai' (斋) banner that I see on food stalls all about?
During this festival, one will surely not miss the yellow coloured banner with the character 斋 (zhai), usually in red. On the surface, this 'zhai' seems to represent the food ie vegetarianism that is associated with this festival, but in actual fact the Chinese character means abstinence or fast. So what do the devotees supposedly fast from?
- Meat/animal products including dairy and eggs ( this includes wearing leather garments/items)
- Five pungent root vegetables (onion, garlic, leek, garlic chives, spring onion) - although some only abstain from garlic.
- Alcohol (allowed in some places, especially where beer companies sponsor the temple banners).
- Sexual contact.
- Negative actions, feelings and thoughts.
Hence the food that is sold for this festival is more akin to vegan food (minus the pungent vegetables) than just being vegetarian. Also the cooking utensils and eating cutlery must also be clean and have not come in contact with animal/meat products.
In reality, this festival is not just about the food being 'pure', but the other aspects of the abstinence should be practiced in order to achieve the purification and blessings associated with the festival.
Who are the half naked guys in costumes running around?
Those are the spirit medium that are part and parcel of this celebration. During the invitation ceremony, they also serve to usher the spirit of the nine emperor gods to descend (besides the priest's incantations), and to conduct certain rituals for the benefit of the devotees which includes empowering talismans, fire-walking etc.
Why do these mediums self-immolate and take on bizarre body piercings?
One is to purify the space and also to protect the devotees. The blood shed from this immolation is a form of self-sacrifice, and since they are supposedly possessed by deities when doing so, the blood has protective power that can be used to clean a space, or empower talismans.
The bizarre and sometimes brutal piercing also serves to prove to devotees that they are indeed possessed by gods, as they appear to feel no pain, and the wound heal quickly once the piercings are removed.
When can you see these spirit mediums in action?
The deities are usually called upon to possess the mediums during rituals associated with the festival such as the lantern pole raising ceremony, the invitation ceremony, on certain days where they feed the heavenly armies that guards the temples, during processions to bless the area and devotees, and during rituals like bridge crossing or fire-walking.
Where does this festival happen?
Like they say, it is all about location, location, and location - basically wherever there are Nine Emperor Gods temple.
Phuket does the spirit mediums (as well as the festival) to the utmost intensity and fervor that is unmatched in other places. However if you are squeamish about brutal piercings, huge crowds and firecrackers going off at every corner, then Malaysia and Singapore are more suitable for you as a start to look into the festival.
Just look out for huge temple flags/banners or yellow lanterns set out along the roads leading to the temple, usually emblazoned with the Chinese words 九皇大帝 (Nine Emperor Gods) and you will be able to find them.
