Bai Tian Gong celebration

 

As they say, Bai Tian Gong is a big celebration for the Hokkiens. I'm Teochew but still, I celebrate it with my in-laws. Alot of preparations were done prior to the actual day.

It is the birthday of  Tian Gong (in Mandarin) or Jade Emperor. It is an important day for Hokkien Taoist (fujien). My wife told explained to me previously that on the 8th day of Chinese New Year, prayers would start from 11pm and will last till the wee hours of the next day(well, approximately 2am for this year at my wife's place). It is a night of grand offerings to Tian Gong; roast pork, steamed chicken, and red eggs, and traditional huat kueh(plain rice cake), a pair of sugarcane, red candles, joss sticks and folded joss paper.

I'm sure you've seen people buying sugarcane lately didn't you? The story which I've been told is that the Hokkiens were attacked and they hid themselves in a sugarcane field. As they lived through the ordeal, they prayed to Tian Gong with sugarcanes offerings to remind themselves on how their lives were saved.

Anyway, below are some of the pictures I took. Enjoy!