Iron man? No! We have a firecracker man.

It is "Yuanxiao" (lantern festival) on Jan. 15th of lunar calendar. I believe most of you already know the sky lantern festival in the north part of Taiwan. Thousands of people will release sky lanterns into the air as a prayer for the coming year.

What I'm going to show you is a very special ceremony in Taidong(east part of Taiwan). We called it "Firecrackers at Master Han Dan". A real person will take the place of God Master Han Dan, wearing only a pair of red shorts. He will cover his face with a towel, hold a branch to protect himself, be carried by people on a sedan chair. He must stand strong as many people throwing firecrackers at his body.

There are two stories behind the legend of Master Han Dan. The 1st, God Master Han Dan was afraid of cold so every year people will light firecrackers to get rid of cold for Master Han Dan during the parade. Meanwhile, people hope Master Han Dan will take good care of them by throwing firecrackers.

The 2nd, Master Han Dan was a local gangster bullying people and all evils on him. One year, people planned to get Master Han Dan drunk then killing him by throwing firecrackers. Till now, people throw firecrackers in order to get rid of any upset emotions.

#Taiwan #Taidong #LaternFestival #HanDan #Firecracker #cultural