Ancient sea sacrifice ceremony held in Ningbo

A grand sea sacrifice ceremony is held in Xiangshan county of Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on Sept 12, 2015. [Photo/people.cn]

A grand sea sacrifice ceremony was held in Xiangshan county of Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on Sept 12, 2015. Over a hundred fishermen attended the ceremony, which can be dated back to ancient times.

The sea sacrifice ceremony has a history of over 1,000 years. Before sailing, fishermen would worship the Goddess Matsu, the Chinese patron goddess who is said to protect seafarers, such as fishermen and sailors, to pray for safety and good harvest. Since the adoption of the midsummer moratorium system, the custom has become even more important to fishermen. Now, the sea sacrifice ceremony has become one of the most special cultural activities held during the Fishing Festival in Xiangshan. The grand and solemn ceremony has been injected with new spiritual meaning: the common prosperity of human and sea.

Worshipers of the ceremony all came from 16 nearby villages and the whole ceremony tried to reproduce the traditional folk worship rituals.

During the Fishing Festival, a series of cultural activities will be held, such as night market, cultural exhibition and the sailing ceremony.