Tower-burning on Mid-Autumn Festival

　　A scene in Jinjiang

Tower-burning on Mid-Autumn Festival

　　In 2011, as the principal in charge, Mr. Yan Chengli, a member of the Anping Bridge Historical and Cultural Research Association, together with a number of associations and civil society organizations in Anhai, launched a folk event that had been interrupted for more than 40 years —tower-burning. Today, apart from Anhai, other towns and villages in Jinjiang also organize such events.

　　Before burning, people will first build six towers with red bricks, which symbolize “Liu Liu Da Shun (i.e. Everything goes smoothly)”. At the beginning of the activity, the host gives an order and six torch bearers come to the brick towers and light the firewood inside with the torches. As the firewood is ignited, a burst of smoke rushes out from the top of each tower, which turns red soon. People sprinkle salt into the towers from time to time, and the flames leap higher with the fire crackling loudly.

　　It was recorded that “burning tower” event originated from a resistance at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. There was a military battalion with 3,000 soldiers stationed, ruling the soldiers in the villages including Anhai. Under the governance of Mongolia, people were oppressed by the brutal Yuan soldiers. Therefore, the local people secretly organized groups of anti-Yuan militias. They gathered on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival and built a beacon tower to raise fire as an attack signal so that the militias were prompted to revolt and killed the Yuan soldiers ultimately. In order to commemorate the anti-oppression victory achieved that day, people burn towers on Mid-Autumn Festival every year, and it has become a custom for many years.