EACH year on the 23rd of the fourth lunar month, Xiangnan Village in Nanshan District is teeming with dancing, drumming, firecrackers and excited villagers as it’s the Marquis’ Birthday, a local festival that has been celebrated for over 300 years. This year, however, it was celebrated differently due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 15, the village held a livestream via the Daily Sunshine app to celebrate the festival, attracting nearly 1 million viewers from across the globe. The livestream included four sessions, namely, history of the Marquis’ Birthday, the worshipping ceremonies, other ceremonies and an introduction to festival food.

Xiangnan Village is an ancient village in Shenzhen, and the Marquis’ Birthday is part of the city’s intangible cultural heritage. Held during the pandemic, the livestream showcased Nanshan’s efforts in protecting its cultural heritage as it explored a new way to promote its intangible cultural heritage.

The marquis of Xiangnan Village Chen Zhongyong was one of the most prominent 12 nobles of the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Born to an ordinary family, Chen fought his way to become a general and was given the title of marquis by the Ming emperor. To Xiangnan villagers, the marquis was a hero when alive and after his death, becomes a god who protects them from bad luck and disasters.

Once upon a time, as the village was seized by a plague, villagers held a parade in the name of the marquis to drive away the disease. Soon the plague vanished, and the villagers decided to build a temple for the marquis and hold ceremonies to annually worship the god on the 23rd of the fourth lunar month. Over the years, the celebration is seen by the villagers as a virtuous practice that has taught them to be decent, upright and respectful of laws and regulations.

Zheng Jianrong, who’s in charge of the festival, said that, every year on the festival day, villagers from home and abroad gather in the village to attend the ceremonies and pray for good luck. The celebration has gone beyond being a local tradition to becoming a bond between villagers staying at home and those living overseas, and a power that unites members of the Zheng clan.

Xiangnan Village has a lion dance troupe that is significant as a cultural mark of the village. Among the many ceremonies held during the festival, the lion dance is a highlight. It’s said that the history of the troupe could be dated back to the early 20th century during the Republic of China era. Back then, the troupe was frequently invited to perform in celebrations around the Nantou area. Unfortunately, due to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, it stopped performing for decades and didn’t resume activities until 1985 when Zheng Yun, a villager who’d moved to Taiwan, reestablished the troupe. It started with over 30 members and has continued to grow since then.

Currently, the troupe is led by Zheng Guosen, a young man born in the 1990s. He has been learning lion dance since he was 15. According to Zheng, the art of lion dance has been passed through generations from masters to disciples, and it will continue to be so.

In addition to the lion dance, performances at the celebration include traditional art forms like Cantonese opera and martial arts. The festival also features traditional handicrafts which are used as utensils for worshipping rituals.

In 2009, the Marquis’ Birthday celebration was listed as a part of Shenzhen’s intangible cultural heritage. Today, the celebration has grown from a simple worshipping ceremony among local villagers into a project that inherits the intangible culture and provides a spiritual home for overseas Chinese from the Zheng clan.

Having by far the most projects listed in Shenzhen’s intangible cultural heritage, Nanshan District has 18 projects, including two at the provincial level, three at the municipal level and 13 at the district level.

(Lin Lin)