Culture Transmission＞ Patrol Tour

Patrol Tour

1.Motive and Purpose
The patrol tour is a big annual event for Luzhou temples. We hope we can see more Shenjiang statues from more temples showing up in the event. The chairman of Hutian Temple told us about this event that the temples in Luzhou would hold a joint patrol tour today, when we visited Hutian Temple. We hope to see more Shenjiang statues of Luzhou, and watch some Shenjiang performance.

2.Interview Procedure

It’s a gloomy day again. It has been raining these days in Luzhou, and we don’t know if it will rain when we watch the patrol tour. After breakfast, we meet at school by 10 o’clock. We notice that besides the director, Teacher Tsai and Teacher Kuo, our principal also wants to go with us today. This is a happy surprise. We walk to Hutian Temple together. Before we get there, it starts to rain. We hear the rumbling drum sound and whistle sound coming from far. When we get closer, we see a long motorcade, Shenjiang statues, and busy traffic policemen. They put a big plastic bag on each statue in order to prevent the statue from getting wet. After crossing the street, we see all the Shenjiang statues parked under the eaves of a factory. We approach and watch very closely, and find that these statues are very tall and fierce. They are about 3 times taller than we are. Someone is almost hit by a statue’s arms, so the teachers and workers ask us to keep a good distance to avoid danger. The rain is getting harder, but cannot extinguish everyone’s enthusiasm. The program is starting. All of “gods’ feet”, the people who work the statues, get inside the statues and prepare to enter the temple. We enter the temple to watch the performance there. The festival of Hutian Temple starts with a very loud drum and firecrackers. We see Shenjiang statues walking, one-by-one, to the front opening of the temple. They squat sideways and lean forward to solute the gods, since statues are very big and cannot bow like a man. After doing that, each statue exchanges positions with the next statue. They do it the same way to salute each other. It is very interesting to watch. Tens of Shenjiang statues get in one by one, salute, and exchange positions. Our director says: “Originally, there should be more statues, but the weather was bad; some Shenjiang groups have cancelled the schedule. It’s really a pity.” Beside for Shenjiang statues, there are other performances such as Bajiajiang and electronic floats. We still feel the Shenjiang statues were the most showy and beautiful. Our director takes us to the place of statues parking and explains about the statues to us again so that we can understand more. Later, the street is much more crowded and the rain is getting harder, so we have no choice but to leave Hutian Temple. We have learned a lot from this rich culture tour.

 

3.Afterthoughts
Kuan-ting He: We went to visit with our director on Saturday morning. We had a temporary member, Yi-cheng Chen, today. I encouraged him to come with us. The principal joined us too. After we all got together, the director took us to Hutian Temple. We saw General Qi, General Ba, and other statues when we got close. When we entered the alley of Hutian Temple, I said, “Statues walk in their ways, and we walk in ours” Director replied: “Yes.” All statues had a head cover except General Qi and General Ba. Both had big painted faces. All Hutian Temple statues were gone. By 11 o’clock, Dimu Niangniang started to move, so they set off firecrackers and got the god sedan ready. The god’s palanquin and Shenjiang statues were moving forward with loud drums and gongs. Unfortunately, the rain grew harder. This trip allowed us to see many different Shenjiang statues and expand my knowledge.
Pin-yu Wu: Today, Director took us to visit Hutian Temple. When we got there, I saw many Shenjiang statues that I have never seen before. The first few I saw were General Qi and General Ba. General Ba has a smaller build and big painted face. On the contrary, General Qi is skinny and tall, with a long tongue outstretched. They both looked scary. We have seen many Shenjiang statues while visiting Hutian Temple. Qianliyan and Shunfenger gave me the biggest impression. They looked different from the others and their faces and painting on the faces were both exaggerated. I really wanted to know why, so I asked some professional over there: “When sculpting these two statues, do you usually encounter difficulties during the production?” and “Is the production much more labor intensive compared with others?” In this visit, I have closely seen many Shenjiang statues and have a better observation on statue appearance and clothes. I have many questions that are waiting for answers. Finally, I would like to thank our hard-working teachers.

Shun-wei Huang: Today we visited Hutian Temple again. We went to visit their patrol tour activity. It was very crowded when we got there. Many big Shenjiang statues were about to get in. Everyone got ready and lifted up the statues to move. It was raining. Everyone was nervous and excited. The Shenjiang statues swung their arms and moved forward with the loud drums. Everyone started to take photos. There were General Qi, General Ba, Jinzha, Muzha, General Liu, Yinyanshi, and General Zhang. Since the firecrackers were too loud and it was raining hard, we entered the first floor of Hutian Temple. We saw Bajiajiang sitting there with a big painted face and colorful clothes. We could not waste this big surprise, and started to take photos. This activity makes me feel that Taiwanese cultures are rich, have big diversity, and are good for education. I have learned a lot today. 
Ming-hsien Hsu: Today, we went to Hutian Temple to see a patrol tour with Director. We did not expect our principal to come with us but he did. When we got there, we saw many Shenjiang statues dressing up. There were General Qi, General Ba, Jinzha, Muzha, Xiqin Prince, General Zhang, Four Generals (Pang, Chang, Gou, and Liu), Yinyansi, and Zhongxu. Since it was raining, people from the temple used big plastic bags to cover statues’ heads from getting wet. The funny thing is, there were no plastic bags for General Qi and General Ba, and their faces were painted colorful. It’s very strange. Also, Xiqin Prince was different from the others that only he wore a crown and the others wore officer helmets. Bajiajiang also joined after getting ready. I was so happy to stand close to him. Since I could name most of the statues and speak out their features, my brain was full of knowledge. What a happy day!
Po-hung Wang: Today, there was a patrol tour for Dimu Niangniang at Hutian Temple. We planned for going to the event. Unfortunately, it was raining, but we still went. We saw about 1/3 of the Shenjiang statues in Luzhou, and learned a lot. Due to the rain, most of the Shenjiang statues were wrapped with plastic bags. Only General Qi and General Ba did not wear bags and were painted with colorful faces. They ran back and forth, jumped here and there, and acted like clowns. Soon, all Shenjiang statues started to move in the patrol tour, but the rain was getting harder; therefore, we did not see the best part of it.