拜天公 (Celestial God)

14th February 2008, Valentine Day... What am I doing here?

Well, I went to Chew Jetty there, along with my friend, Kok Sheng. We went there to take photos during Bai Tnee Kong (hokkien) or 拜天公 in mandarin.

Bai Tnee Kong is the traditional celebration which prays to the Celestial God, and is normally carry out by Hokkien people.

农历大年初九，是福建人拜天公、大过年的日子，这一天凌晨的拜天公仪式，比大年除夕迎新春、接财神更热闹，更隆重，祭拜仪式过后，大家吃一顿丰富的年餐，以示团圆、吉祥。 福建人拜天公，除了感恩外，也祈求天公在新的一年，赐福给全家人，让合家大小平安，步步高升。 大年初九凌晨，成千上万的烧猪和鸡、鸭，将是祭拜天公的主要祭品，以祈求新春大吉大利。天公诞的祭拜仪式，是从大年初八深夜开始，一直持续到初九凌晨。 烧猪，是孝敬天公的重点祭品之一，一些经济不错的家庭，甚至订购大烧猪供拜，而普通的家庭也以小金猪或烧肉祭拜，以祈求天公带来好运。

拜天公源自明朝....

传说明朝时一年的农历新年，倭寇在福建沿海一带，杀人放火，抢夺财物，乡民扶老携幼逃命。乡民在黑夜中逃到一处偏僻郊野时，眼见倭寇就要追上，大家感到万分惊恐，突然前面出现一大片蔗林，乡民便逃入蔗林躲避，避过倭寇，逃过鬼门关。这天正是大年初九，逃出生天的乡民都认为这是天公救命，于是每年的大年初九凌晨便祭拜天公，以谢救命之恩。而拜甘蔗也具有不忘蔗林藏身救命之恩。

Sorry folks, I dont really know how to translate the chinese above into English, well, my photos below will do most of the talkings. Please look below.

The scene when we arrived.

Offerings...

Yoyo, check it out... Kok Sheng posed when he wanted to take some photos...

Chew Jetty

Red firecracker

The firecracker was put on the ground and it was very long (can I say about 1km long?)

Dragon joss stick

END.

Thanks for viewing this post. Hope you all will gain some knowledges regarding about this traditional occassion.