Starting next Friday, Tainan City will host the 10-day International Chihsi Arts Festival alongside the "coming-of-sixteen" ceremony -- a tradition unique to Tainan -- to be performed at various temples which will in the city on Aug. 18.
Chihsi (
legend
PHOTO: HSU MIN-JUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Legend has it that once a cowherder married a weaver girl from Heaven and had children.
But a goddess was upset that a fairy maiden had married a human and recalled the weaver girl.
The couple, standing on each side of the Milky Way, could only meet each other on Chihsi when magpies started forming a bridge between them.
In the modern age, Chihsi is celebrated as Lovers' Day in Taiwan.
However, Chihsi has another special meaning for the people of Tainan -- it's the traditional day for the "coming-of-sixteen" ceremony, Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (
"Coming-of-sixteen" (zuo shiliusui,
"Most people have only heard half of the Chihsi story, but we know the full story in Tainan," he said. "After the weaver girl was recalled to Heaven, six other fairy maidens -- sisters of the weaver girl -- came down to take care of her children; therefore, children who become adults would show their appreciation to the qiniangma (seven fairy maidens, 七娘媽)."
A table with offerings arranged on it was set up at the news conference to demonstrate the coming-of-age rituals.
offerings
All the offerings -- including tea, pastries, fruits and noodles -- came in sevens, "so that the qiniangma may each get a share," Hsu Keng-hsiu (許耿修), director-general of the Tainan City Cultural Affairs Bureau, told reporters.
"The makeup and perfumes on the table are to tell the girls that they may start using those items now that they are adults. The betel nuts and cigarettes serve the same purpose for the boys," he said.
teenagers
Two teenagers crawled out from under the table, which "symbolizes that they've come out of the qiniangma's palace," he said.
"During the Qing Dynasty, workers at Tainan's Wutiao Harbor (五條港) were paid as child laborers if they were under 16, but would be paid full wages when they turned 16. That's why we celebrate the coming-of-sixteen," Hsu Tain-tsair said.
"The coming-of-sixteen celebration tells our young adults to be grateful to their parents, to be independent and to be responsible," he said, "while the celebration also preserves a unique Taiwanese tradition," he said.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS