The history of Shangqiu Fire Temple Society

Legend has it that in primitive society, after Zhuan Xu, Di Ku was the leader of the Shang-Lu tribal alliance. Di Ku saw that the Shang people had no fire, so he asked his son Kan Bo to be the "fire officer" here. Quiber did his duty and tried to put out the fire. After his death, people built a fire temple (or Kuiba Temple) on the earthen platform where he stored the fire, which was later called Vulcan Platform. Wei Xiao was originally a "fire strategy", why did he become a Prometheus-style fire thief hero? Another local legend goes like this: Kui Bo turned out to be the "Vulcan" in the sky. He violated heaven and secretly scattered fire on the earth, and the Emperor of Heaven wanted to demote him to the earth for the people. When Quiber was about to fall from the sky, he secretly hid the fire in his body and brought it to the world. Before long, the Emperor of Heaven knew about Wei Xiao's stealing fire, so the Emperor of Heaven flooded the human kindling and punished Wei Xiao.

The flood on the ground is like a wild animal, scaring people to flee everywhere. In order to preserve the fire, Kuibo built a high platform and shed to shelter from the rain, and stayed alone on the high platform to guard the fire. After the flood receded, when people came back from all directions, the fire on the high platform was still burning, but Bob starved to death nearby. This mythical Queba is a Prometheus-style fire thief hero in the East.

Because Vulcan lives on a high platform, in eastern Henan, people will also worship Vulcan named "Chaotai". The time to worship Vulcan is three times a year. The first time is the seventh day of the first month. It is said that this day is the birthday of Vulcan. In fact, people began to gather on the Vulcan platform on the first day of the first month, and ended on February 2, which lasted for a month. This is the biggest pilgrimage of the year. During the temple fair, people from Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and other provinces flocked to Vulcan, or came here with various social fires to perform and entertain Vulcan. The second time is on the fourth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, which is a day to worship Shang Xing and lasts for 10 days. The third time was on June 23rd of the lunar calendar. It is said that this day is the day when Quiber, the god of fire, died, lasting for 10 days. Such a grand and systematic ritual activity is rare in Han myths and folk customs.

Every Spring Festival, the most lively place in Shangqiu is the Fire Temple Fair. Old Shangqiu is called "Taiwan Association". More than 30 experts from China Academy of Social Sciences, National Cultural Heritage Administration and Nanjing Purple Mountain Observatory confirmed that this is the earliest stargazing site in China. There are complete ancient architectural complexes, including Daxiong Hall, Worship Hall, East-West Attached Hall and Bell and Drum Tower. Legend has it that the seventh day of the first lunar month is Kuiba's birthday. At that time, people at the junction of Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui flocked to Taiwan Province to form a grand ancient temple fair, which lasted for more than a month.

Facing the Vulcan Terrace is a theater, which has existed since ancient times and has only been rebuilt in recent years. Watching drama before Vulcan is also an important local folk custom. Henan opera is not only enjoyed by the elderly, but also by young people and even dolls. The dolls may not understand it, but they also like the excitement.

During the temple fair, the "Chinese Cultural Square" has performances every morning, mainly acrobatics, including high-powered cars kicking bowls, large-scale light performance, hard performance and so on. There are also performances in front of the Huaxilou every morning and afternoon, mainly magic performances. "Fire Culture Square" includes Wuqiao Acrobatic Troupe, Flying Troupe, Animal Training Troupe and Children's Recreation Facilities. During the temple fair, there are all kinds of Shangqiu specialty snacks, traditional famous foods, Shangqiu local products and other gourmet streets. There are also tourist souvenir street and photo street.

As a folk belief and cultural activity of Han nationality, it has its unique influence. Shangqiu Fire Temple Spring Festival Temple Fair has a profound cultural heritage and has a history of more than 2,000 years. With the theme of "showing traditional culture and reappearing folk customs". During the temple fair, various cultural programs are colorful, and the Han folk programs are even more amazing.