The ninth day of the lunar calendar is the Hokkien's New year and it's the second new year for Penangites.. Again, fireworks could be seen all over Penang, celebrating the new year and obviously, the celebration is even grander than the Chinese New Year celebration.. As usual, annually, I'll go to pray at the biggest Jade Emperor’s temple at Bukit Bendera..I'm not a Hokkien but paying homage to the Jade Emperor has been a tradition to all the people here.. Thni Kong in Hokkien means Jade Emperor.. Sugarcane stalks and other Chinese traditional cakes and roasted pork are some of the prayer offerings to the Jade Emperor..
The origin of this tradition is as below:
For the Hokkien community, the most important time of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration is the eighth night and ninth day, which is their liberation day.
According to the ancient tradition, hundreds of years ago, people of the Hokkien province in China were under bondage to some demonic forces and didn’t have the opportunity to celebrate the Chinese New Year for years until one year, on the eighth night of the lunar new year, when the Jade Emperor of Heaven came and liberated them.
During the cosmic battle between the Jade Emperor and the demonic forces, the Hokkien hid in the sugarcane plantations.
Following the victory over the demons and their liberation, the Hokkien people came out to celebrate the Chinese New Year for the first time in years.
They wanted to give thanks to the Jade Emperor and also honour him on his birthday on the ninth day of the lunar new year but didn’t have anything to worship with. So, they used sugarcanes as their offering to the Jade Emperor.
From that first worship ceremony, they continued with the tradition of using sugarcanes to thank the Jade Emperor on the eighth night of the lunar new year.
This tradition is closely observed by the Hokkiens of Klang, Petaling Jaya, Penang and elsewhere in Malaysia.
Taken from The Star
Below are some photos of the temple and people offering and paying homage to the Jade Emperor in conjunction with HIS birthday :
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