Detailed Introduction
During a Jiao Festival, the whole village takes no life and touches no meat for days on end: markets stop selling fish and pork, restaurants switch to vegetarian fare, and even the nearby convenience stores pull their meat products from the shelves. This collective devotion is the very thing that most astonishes outsiders. The Jiao Festival (jianjiao) is the largest and most solemn community religious ceremony in Taiwanese folk belief. Also called "doing the Jiao" or "striking the Jiao," it is held only once every three, five, twelve, or even several dozen years; throughout the festival everyone within the designated area keeps a vegetarian fast, forbids slaughter, and erects altars to pray for peace — a vital tradition that binds a community together.
What Is a Jiao Festival?
The character jiao originally meant "a sacrifice to the heavenly gods." A Jiao Festival is led by the local temple and presided over by a troupe of Daoist priests, a large-scale liturgical ceremony whose core purposes are to thank the gods for their protection, pray for peace across the whole community, and deliver the souls of the wandering dead — carrying the sense of "repaying Heaven's grace and praying for blessing." A complete Jiao usually lasts three to seven days (called a "Three-Morning Jiao," "Five-Morning Jiao," or "Seven-Morning Jiao"); the longer the Jiao, the greater its scale and the more considerable the manpower and resources it demands.
Types of Jiao Festivals
● Qing'an Jiao (Peace-Praying Jiao): the most common type, focused on praying for peace and safety throughout the community.
● Qingcheng Jiao (Completion Jiao): held when a temple is newly built or restored, combining celebration with prayers for peace.
● Wen Jiao (Plague Jiao): performed to drive out pestilence, originating in the ancient plague-sending rites.
● Shui Jiao (Water Jiao): held in areas prone to water accidents, praying for safety on the waterways.
● Huo Jiao (Fire Jiao): held to pray for protection from the disaster of fire.
Fasting and Taboos
During the Jiao Festival, the whole jiao domain (the area the festival covers) enforces a strict "ban on slaughter and vegetarian fast" — every resident and business must eat vegetarian, take no life, and consume no meat. Markets stop selling fish and pork, restaurants turn to vegetarian menus, and even the nearby convenience stores cooperate by pulling their meat products. This strictness often leaves outsiders in awe, yet to the locals it is devotion taken entirely for granted. Within the jiao domain, "earth-disturbing" acts such as weddings and moving house are also forbidden, preserving a solemn and reverent atmosphere.
Altars and Rites
Several temporary altars are raised during the Jiao: the "Heavenly Altar," for worshipping the Three Pure Ones and the Jade Emperor, is the highest tier; the "Earth Altar," set on the ground, is for delivering the souls of the dead; and the "Water Altar," placed by the water, delivers the spirits of the drowned. The Daoist priests, in elaborate ritual vestments, perform rites day and night without pause — the morning audience with Heaven at dawn, the noon offering, the release of water lanterns at night to guide the dead across, the universal feeding of the hungry ghosts, and the closing thanksgiving that brings it to a perfect end. The whole process follows a rigorous ritual sequence, the priests' chanting, ritual footwork, and instrument-playing weaving together into solemn yet magnificent religious music.
Famous Jiao Festivals
Taiwan's most renowned Jiao Festivals include the Keelung Ghost Festival (held annually, the largest Zhongyuan celebration in all Taiwan), the Tainan Yanshui Grand Jiao, the Jiao of Lugang Tianhou Temple in Changhua, and the Jiao of Beigang Chaotian Temple in Yunlin. The Keelung Ghost Festival, which combines clan-rotation hosting, parade floats, and the release of water lanterns, has been listed as a National Important Folk Custom. In late 2024, the "Three-Morning Completion Thanksgiving Peace Jiao" held at Dalongdong Baoan Temple in Taipei was a major event unseen in over thirty years, with the entire district keeping the fast and slaughter ban and tens of thousands taking part.
Community Solidarity
The most precious meaning of a Jiao Festival lies in the collective mobilization of the whole community. From the preparation stage onward, residents divide the work — some raise the altars, some cook the vegetarian banquets, some patrol to keep order, some handle the fundraising. The "thanksgiving banquet" after the ceremony (also called the "peace banquet") is a grand reunion of the whole village, with hundreds of tables of vegetarian feast prepared by professional outdoor banquet chefs (zongpushi), embodying the community's deepest bonds of fellowship and shared identity.