ВЕPOНИКА●YOYO●大隻小資優尼斯

必須事先聲明，我英語沒有多強，這裡的筆記整理是我參考各網站的資料來的。

有些資料如人口族群等可能會有時間差，如果文字或是數據部分有錯誤歡迎留隨時言告訴我指正，

但仍建議各位考生還是自行吸收做修改，全盤照抄的話有錯誤我是不會負責的。

如果覺得有用、有幫助到您準備口試的話請幫我按讚!  畢竟這些資料也花我很多時間準備，很需要鼓勵的///// 感謝囉~~

台灣知名宗教活動 Religious Activities

大甲媽繞境 Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage

Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea, migrated to Taiwan with the people of Fujian Province in the 17th century to become one of the most revered deities on the island.

Today, there are about 870 temples worshiping Mazu in Taiwan. Mazu's birthday falls in the third month of the Chinese lunar calendar, and at that time temples all over the island hold birthday activities including the burning of incense and having tours of the deities around their domains. Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage is the largest celebration of all, and also has the longest history.

Some of the largest of the celebrations take place at Dajia’s Zhenlan Temple(大甲鎮瀾宮) in Taichung City, Lugang’s Tianhou Temple (鹿港天后宮) in Changhua County, Chaotian Temple (北港朝天宮) in Yunlin County, Datianhou Temple (鹿耳門天后宮) in Tainan City, and Fengtian Temple (新港奉天宮) in Chiayi County.

All sorts of festive activities are arranged at this time, including puppet stand theater performances, displays of embroidered banners, float parades, dragon and lion dances, and other events as the procession passes by. The nine-day procession passes through Changhua and Yunlin counties, and terminates at Fengtian Temple in Xingang, Chiayi County. Many devotees walk the whole trip. 

The devotees prepare meat, fruit, and vegetables as offerings; firecrackers are discharged, and incense is burned. Along the route, one can see hundreds of thousands of devotees holding parties for friends, relatives, and the returning pilgrims. Many devotees walk the whole trip, and devotees who want to make special prayer can queue up to crawl beneath the palanquin. (鑽轎底) 

By the way, Dajia Mazu pilgrimage festival is recognized as one of the three major religious events in the world.  The festival has also been added to the lists of UNSECO intangible cultural heritage.

Pilgrimage  (n)  朝聖，朝覲；旅行；漫遊

revere (v) 崇敬

高雄內門宋江陣 Neimen Songjiang Battle Array

In Taiwan, the traditional Songjiang Battle Array is active in Kaohsiung City, with a large number of battle array groups in Dashu District and Neimen District. It has a history of more than 200 years in Taiwan.

It is said that the origins of the battle array to Song Jiang can be traced to a fiction about bandit in the Song The Water Margin, otherwise known as All Men Are Brothers.

The martial arts skills used by the army in the novel became the prototype of the Songjiang Battle Array, with a focus on formation and a lesser emphasis on individual fighting.

Another version is that the battle array is a boxing branch of the Shaolin School of martial arts.

Some people believe that the Songjiang Battle Array in Taiwan was a type of training used by Zheng Cheng-gong, a revolutioner who wants to overthrow theQing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, to prepare his troops to defend the coastal areas of Taiwan during the late Ming Dynasty. At that time, Song Jiang had a deep influence on popular respect for morally courageous revolutionaries. 

● Composition of the Songjiang Battle Array:

The original Songjiang Battle Array was composed of 108 heroes who were said to be transformed from the 36 Tiangang star gods and 72 Disha star gods.

Today, the Songjiang Battle Array is generally composed of 36 members. The reduced size is due to social changes in Taiwan and the belief that 108 is an inauspicious number. 

The members are all composed of local residents. Song Jiangzhen was transformed from an organization that strengthens, defends, and unites the village into a religious activity that entertains the gods at the age of years, and then becomes a well-known folk art performance.

It is the epitome of the social and political environment changes in Taiwan for decades.

epitome (n) 縮影

補充:   欣賞宋江陣禁忌  (1) 不可從隊伍中穿越 (2) 不可擋在陣頭與廟宇大門間   (3) 不可觸碰宋江陣頭武器

屏東東港王船祭  Burning of the Plague God Boat in Donggang

 In Donggang, Pingtung County, the festival is held once every three years, around the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, at Donglong Temple.

The date is not fix and the festival time should be decided by throwing the divination blocks.

The burning of the plague god boat is a folk ritual practiced by fishermen in southwestern Taiwan.

The original purpose of this ritual was to send the Plague God out to the sea, taking disease and pestilence along with him. Today, it has become an activity whose purpose is to solicit (v. 乞求，請求) peace and good fortune. 

The Donggang boat-burning celebration including large-scale temple activities runs for eight days and seven nights. According to custom, first the boat is set on fire by devotees as other participants prepare goods for the symbolic trip.

Then the climax comes when a big fire is made--to force any bad spirits and the Plague God to go aboard--and the boat is finally burned when the devotees pray for peace.

其他宗教相關字彙:

joss paper (n.) 紙錢

worshipper (n.) 信徒

incense stick (n.) 香柱

drawing fortune stick  抽籤

divination blocks 筊杯 + throw

參考網站:  http://www.who-ha.com.tw/
                 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M9-aHKkYncelmoH3QNfbrSr4Bzzfuu44/view
                  https://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002022   -----  台灣的大型宗教活動

英語導遊口試題目筆記目錄傳送門: 【英語導遊口試】口說筆記目錄篇