NINE-EMPERORS FESTIVAL
This festival is of Taoist origin but so popular has its annual celebration become with the Chinese that many Buddhists also participate in it as assiduously as the Taoists, since their faith in the Buddhist religion has not become strong enough to enable them to completely dissociate themselves from practices of a purely Taoist nature.. In Chinese mythology, Tian Hou, the Queen of Heaven (Taoist counterpart of Kuan Yin), was the mother of the nine deities, popularly known as the Nine Emperors gods. Once a year, from the 1st. to the 9th. day of the 9th. lunar month, they assemble on earth to be worshipped by their devotees. In temples dedicated to these deities, devotees pray to them daily in the belief that their prayers will bring them good luck, riches and long life. Those suffering from various ailments, and have strong faith in the deities, have been known to be cured of their illnesses. In the state of Penang, situated at the top of a particular hill is a very famous temple specially dedicated to the Nine-Emperor deities. During the festival season, thousands of pilgrims climb the one-thousand-and-two-hundred steps to reach the temple at the summit. Those who desire to make this pilgrimage are advised to abstain from meat-eating, and are assured of reaching the temple without mishap. Stories have been told of pleasure-seekers meeting with accidents or falling off the cliff for ignoring this advice on the day of the climb.
According to some authorities on Chinese culture and history, it was the legendary emperor, I luang Ti (2737 B.C.) who began to practise fasting and abstinence from meat after he was told that this would lead to a long life, but it was not until after the introduction of Buddhism into China that vegetarianism became widespread. Thus, if the Nine-Emperors festival does not have any Buddhist significance, the encouragement of observing vegetarianism during the festival season is praise-u c m thy as it accords with Buddhist religious principle of not resorting to animal-slaughter when iclcbrating a festival. As is customary in Chinese temples, devotees make voluntary cash donations liter praying to the deities, and are given amulets Consisting of pieces of yellow paper with portraits of the deities printed on them. These amulets are either worn on the body for protection against evil spirits, or for consumption after being burnt to ashes and dropped into water contained in a cup. This belief and practice may be compared to the sprinkling of holy water on devotees in Theravada Buddhist temples after a religious service, and the Chinese pantheon are the counterparts of devas in Theravada Buddhism because they are believed to possess the power of granting certain worldly favours to those devotees who have faith in them.
The Chinese believe that performing meritorious deeds such as donations to charity (dona), observing silas by refraining from animal-slaughter, partaking of vegetarian food and generally reducing the indulgence in sensual pleasures are all contributory factors in extending the life-span.
