'Techno' San Tai Zi - 電音三太子 (2)

The tradition of the "techno" San Tai Zi ('folk' Taoist Child Deity 三太子) began in 1986 when a well-meaning gentleman performed alongside a dancing Jigong (a Buddhist monk who became a deity) at a Mazu festival in Beigang (北港), Taiwan. He did this to entertain the children who were bored as their parents watched the day-long parade. The original San Tai Zi performance was of children's songs, but even so, at the time, it was very controversial and angered the traditionalists among the organizers of the Beigang Mazu festival. However, the performances continued.
Nine years later there was an on-line vote for a performance which most represented new Taiwanese culture. The voters were of a younger generation, and the prize was to perform alongside a famous Taiwanese musician in concert. The dancing San Tai Zi won the vote, and the performance was televised.
Since then, the music has changed to 'techno' (and more recently pop) giving rise to the generic name "techno" San Tai Zi. They perform at religious events as well as for entertainment this blurring the boundaries between religion and performance.
The performance in this video was at a San Tai Zi festival (2012哪吒電音大會舞) on Feb 5th 2012 where many San Tai Zi groups performed, some with dancers, some alone and some with traditional Chinese dragons. This coincided with the eve of Lantern Festival (元宵節) and with Yen Shui Feng Pao (鹽水蜂炮) only a few kilometres down the road.

[@ReligioninTaiwanandSingapore]

For sure - 3 more video shorts on the way ... still need to add voice overs and subtitles though before uploading ...

[@ruiguanlong77]

Fabs hope all is well. any more clips coming any time soon?

[@mm781205]

。。。