Ocean Festival is a traditional festival formed by nature worship. The most famous Ocean Festival is the traditional Ocean Festival in ewald Village, Tian Heng Town, jimo city, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China. Commonly known as "Tian Heng Sea Festival", it has a history of more than 500 years. This is the biggest marine festival in northern China. The folk custom of offering sacrifices to the sea is a fisherman's culture and folk cultural activity with unique regional characteristics created by fishermen in their long-term farming, grazing and fishing life.
After the annual sea festival, the fishermen, after getting ready to repair their boats and buy fishing gear, set sail for fishing. In this ceremony, people will pay homage to their deceased relatives and pray for the tolerance and blessing of the sea. At the same time, they will also express their gratitude to nature, and thank the ocean for giving them rich fishery resources and beautiful beaches.
The Origin of Ocean Festival
According to historical records, during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, with the gathering of local population, villages gradually formed, and sea worship ceremonies began to take shape. In the early years of the Republic of China, the sea sacrifice in Tian Heng formed a collective sea sacrifice activity with families or boats as the unit, and the day of the sea sacrifice was the most lively time in the fishing village. Sacrificing to the sea is a way for coastal residents in China to thank nature and express their respect, and it is an important part of marine culture.
Tian Heng, Qingdao, was born and prospered by the sea. In the long-term life of agriculture, animal husbandry and fishing, this kind of fishermen's folk cultural activity with unique regional characteristics, created by worshipping the sea and fearing nature, has been passed down from generation to generation, and has become the largest festival to worship the sea in northern China. The festival is extremely popular and has attracted more and more attention from all walks of life.