"Loy Krathong 2022": Getting to know Loy Krathong in China and the perception of "Thai Loy Krathong" among the Chinese.

“Loy Krathong 2022“It is a long tradition. Held to ask for forgiveness and worship the river god. And it is not only in Thailand. But it is also found in neighboring countries of Thailand country of the southeast The Loy Krathong festival also appears, both in Burma than in Cambodia due to similar beliefs, how to respect mystery and nature

When moving from Southeast Asia to the countryChina Not far from Thailand and from this area you will find that there is a festival which is similar to the Thai Loy Krathong day, calledXia Yuan party (下元节) Directly on the 15th day of the 10th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Which is the same day as the 15th day of the 12th lunar month according to the Thai calendar, which is a festival that has existed from ancient China. according to the Taoist belief it also affects the beliefs of the modern Chinese people Even though it is not as popular as other festivals like Chinese Sart, there are still people who know it.

According to Taoist beliefs, the Xia Yuan Festival is believed to be the day of the birth of the river god. who is one of the three most important deities of Chinese Taoism. or known as the god of the three brothers The water god is considered to be the smallest god, hence the Xia Yuan Festival Therefore, it is the day when the Chinese people worship and ask for forgiveness for the river god. on the day of the birth of this god Consistent with the Loi Krathong beliefs of the Thai people is to worship and ask for forgiveness from the goddess Ganga The river god according to Thai beliefs.

How is the Xia Yuan Festival in China today?

from the experience of Ai Zhong living in China for many years asked acquaintances friends and looking for more information, found it Currently, “Xia Yuan Festival” is not the main festival of the Chinese people. But there are still some Chinese in some areas who still attach importance and perform rituals in this festival.

for the Chinese people who still care Often worship and pay homage to the river god in Taoist temples. or city shrine For example, in a Taoist temple in Shanghai, where paper money was burned, gold paper was found. and put things in a red bag ready to write their name (can include names of loved ones and family) to ask for blessings from the gods The reason for writing the name because he did not want the gods to bless the wrong people The color red is a symbol of good luck in the Chinese people.

In addition to performing rituals Worshiping the Gods in Taoist shrines or temples In some parts of China, lanterns can still be seen floating in the sky. and floating lanterns in the water to bring the bad things out of the life of the float with blessings from the gods This is the same as the beliefs of Thailand that are still practiced in modern times.

Lantern Festival – Worship the sky god and Chinese Sart Day – worship the earth gods 2 important days related to being the brothers of the river gods

At first, Ai Zhong spoke of the three sister deities according to the beliefs of Chinese Taoism.Xia Yuan party Worshiping the river god the smallest god Let me tell you in detail about two other deities related to Chinese festivals that we can still see today.

15 months 1 according to the Chinese lunar calendar Day of birth of the god of the sky The god of blessings, wealth and happiness according to Taoist beliefs. Therefore, there is a party to worship the god of the sky. Called the Shangyuan Festival (上元节), also known as the 元宵节 Lantern Festival, the festival symbolizes the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. (Chinese New Year) Some areas will have lanterns floating in the sky.
15 months 7 according to the Chinese lunar calendar Day of birth of the god of the earth God of forgiveness and protection of the human world According to the beliefs of Taoism The day of worship of the Gods of the Earth is called Zhong Yuan Festival (中元节). but called by name Chinese Dressmaker’s Day The day when Chinese and people of Chinese descent pay homage to their ancestors. The reason why the gods of the earth are related to ancestor worship forgive from the gods of the earth and allow the spirit to return to the human world to receive merit for 1 day

Do the Chinese know the “Loi Krathong of Thailand” festival or not?

Ai Zhong Used to receive questions from Thai friends. And I think many people who are reading the article right now may be wondering: the answer is that the Chinese know the festival. Loy Kratong Festival of Thailand, especially those who came to travel to study and live in Thailand or meet Thais Including Thai stories that like Thai stars, Thai movies, must have heard of “Shui Deng Jie” (水灯节) is a Chinese word used by the Chinese to refer to the Thai Loy Krathong Festival, where 水 means water and 灯 translates to Thai as lantern or lantern Together, they form a stream of lanterns, meaning krathong, where incense sticks and candles are lit and made float in the water.

According to an analysis of online search behavior data on Baidu (China’s popular online search engine), it was found that Chinese people searched 水灯节 more each year in the Loy Krathong days of that year. The year with the highest search results was 2017, the year many Chinese people visited Thailand. Searching up to about 1,200 times a day, considering the trend of Chinese search behavior for this word. one can also analyze that “The popularity and perception of Loy Krathong in Thailand among the Chinese will follow the popularity of traveling to Thailand”

From the image, it can be seen that the period 2015-2018 (2014-2018) was the period in which the Chinese sought the most 泰国旅游 Thai travel (green in the photo), which was the period in which the Chinese sought 水灯节 Loy Festival of Krathong (blue in the photo) more and when entering the period of the Covid-19 epidemic Chinese cannot come to Thailand. Dating from February 2020 (2020) to present, look for volumes for both Loy Krathong Festival and greatly reduced Thailand travel

When considering the demographics, the population demographics for the terms “Tai Thai” and “Loi Krathong” have been collected from 2011 to present (2011-2022) from the TOP5 provinces and territories equivalent to counties of China. The most searched for each term are:

Loy Krathong Festival : Guangdong (Guangdong), Shanghai, Beijing, Yunnan (Yunnan), Jiangsu
Travel to Thailand : Guangdong (Guangdong), Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Beijing, Sichuan (Sichuan)

3 out of 5 are from the same area. If you expand to the TOP10, you will find that all the areas above are in the TOP10 of both, but if you look at the age and gender bracket “There are differences” groups looking for words. Loy Kratong Festival Most, including 20-29 years old, while those of the shore Travel to Thailand is 30-39 years old (30-39 years old is the second group of Loy Krathong and 20-29 years old is the second place in Thai tourism (called alternating) while genders are also swapped. Females search for the word Loy Krathong Festival the most part while On the Thai side, most of the males

While searching for information in the Chinese online world, such as Baidu and Chinese social networks, where Chinese people spend time posting lifestyle and travel, such as “Xiao Hongshu – Xiaohongshu” (小红书) with the word Loy Krathong Festival (水灯节)) will find information on both knowledge content and travel reviews of the day Loy Kratong Festival Of Thailand, the website of the Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China (中国国务院新闻办公 Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China) also published information from the Thai Loy Krathong (泰国水灯节) in October 28, 2010. .2010)