Jade Emperor Festival
The Jade Emperor's Birthday (天公誕) is said to be the ninth day of the first lunar
month. On this day, Taoist temples hold a Jade Emperor ritual (拜天公, bài Tiān
Gōng, literally "heaven worship") at which priests and laymen prostrate
themselves, burn incense and make food offerings.
In the morning of this birthday, Chinese, Taiwanese as well as Hokkien and
Peranakan Malaysian Chinese and Singaporean Chinese who practice Buddhism,
Taoism and other traditional Chinese religions set up an altar table with 3
layers: one top (containing offertories of six vegetables (六齋), noodles, fruits,
cakes, tangyuan, vegetable bowls, and unripe betel, all decorated with paper
lanterns) and two lower levels (containing the five sacrifices and wines) to
honor the deities below the Jade Emperor. The household then kneels three times
and kowtows nine times to pay homage and wish him a long life.
In Penang, Malaysia, a focal point of the Jade Emperor's Birthday celebrations
is Thni Kong Tnua, which gained worldwide fame as one of the featured locations
for The Amazing Race 16. The temple, built in 1869, is located at the foot of
Penang Hill at the Air Itam
suburb near George Town, Penang's capital city. Aside from Thni Kong Tnua, the
Chew Jetty in the
heart of George Town is another focal point of the Jade Emperor's Birthday
celebrations; the festivities in this particular location was captured for a
2014 Malaysian film, The Journey..
undo Malaysian Festivals