Posted on: Saturday, September 28, 2002
Festival displays Taoist tradition
By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer
This weekend, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is winding down and heading into its picturesque-sounding "chasing the moon" phase.
In a rare peek at Taoist traditions, the Rev. Duane Pang invited visitors to watch as he celebrated two ceremonies in Cantonese fashion as part of this year's festival. First, Pang, who is a member of the orthodox-1 (Cheng-Yi) sect of Taoism, faced the altar to Kwan Dai, the patron saint of Chinese martial artists, with its richly hued array of flowers, candles, bowls of food offerings and burning sticks of incense. Then, as part of the ceremony, he offered three small cups of tea and three cups of whiskey.
Later, an altar was set up in front of four heads used in lion dancing. This altar to the deities is where Pang called forth the many saints and gods of the Taoist pantheon to bless the heads, bringing them to life through a Hoy Gong (K'ai Kuang in Mandarin) ceremony.
"In general, lion costumes aren't worn by dancers until they are formally given life in a Taoist or civil or martial art tradition," Pang explained.
A hundred people gathered at a hall for the private party in the Chinese Cultural Plaza as Pang chanted the Hoy Gong. Audience members watched, fascinated, as halfway through the ceremony Pang took a live rooster in his hands and pricked its crown. Small drops of blood were dabbed on paper charms at the altar and also onto the eyes and a silver disk on each of the lion's foreheads.
The rooster was given back to its owner the next day, Pang said.
It's hard to gauge the number of Taoists in Hawai'i, Pang said. There are no enrollment requirements, and unlike some Buddhist temples, there are no membership rolls. They also don't show up in religious surveys. The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is a major Chinese festival, he said, second only to Chinese New Year's.
During the 15-day celebration of New Year's, people go to the dozen or so Chinese Buddhist and Taoist temples on O'ahu to ask for blessings for the year.
The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebrates the moon goddess Chang-o. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar moon or the first full moon after the autumnal equinox, and is celebrated with moon cakes and offerings to Chang-o, including round fruits.
Pang not only had pomelos on the altar, but used a pomelo leaf to sprinkle water to bless the offerings.
Moon cakes have a special meaning this time of year: The pastries were the means of overthrowing the Mongols during the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Messages to the revolutionaries were hidden inside moon cakes, sent to friends and relatives during the festival. In 1353, a midnight massacre of the Mongols took place, led by Liu Bowen, counselor to the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty.
According to Susan Levitt, an author who writes about Taoist feng shui and astrology, Chinese myths associated with the moon relate to longevity — for example, the legend of Chang-o, who ruled over the lunar Palace of Great Cold. In Chinese mythology, the moon is the dwelling place of the immortals, she writes. Here's how she describes the Chang-o tale:
Chang-o was married to Hou Ki, a master archer. Ten suns rose one morning, and burned so brightly that life on Earth was threatened. Hou Ki shot down nine suns and, as a reward, was given a magic elixir that would let him live forever.
From here, Levitt writes, there are two versions of what happened next.
In one version, Hou Ki was a ruthless man. While he was out hunting, Chang-o drank his brew of immortality in an attempt to stop his cruelty. When Hou Ki returned and realized what happened, he tried to kill her, but she escaped to the moon, where she lived happily with the moon hare and became a moon goddess and protector of children.
Taoists refer to the moon as the Jade Hare and the sun as the Golden Crow, said Pang, adding that's where rooster comes in, as a descendant of the crow. He represents the young element, and is believed to have the five virtues: civility, prowess, valour, generosity and reliability.
In another, more romantic version, Hou Ki was a spiritual man who decided to fast for a year before he drank the elixir to demonstrate his sincerity of becoming immortal. One evening while he was out, Chang-o noticed a mysterious glow coming from the corner of the house. She followed the beam of light, discovered the magic potion, and drank it. Hou Ki arrived home and saw her rising into the night sky. She flew straight into the night until she arrived at the moon. He sought residence in the Palace of the Sun and the two meet when the moon is full — a yin and yang conjuncture.
Up next for the Taoists is the Li-Tou, or Pole Star Festival, with nine days of penance, Oct. 6 to 14.
