Archive / The Sacred Pig Competition of Sansia

Directed by Chang Chao-Tang

The “Sai Jhu Gong” (賽豬公, Sacred Pig Competition) is a major annual ritual associated with the Sansia Ancestor Master Temple (三峽祖師廟), held each year on the sixth day of the first lunar month. This film documents the ceremonial proceedings of the 1976 “Sai Jhu Gong” (賽豬公) observance. Dispensing with narration altogether, the film’s soundscape consists exclusively of Beiguan (北管) music and liturgical recitation (祭儀口白). In terms of audiovisual construction and thematic orientation, the work may be understood as a transitional piece within the folklore-oriented documentary practice of Chang Chao-Tang (張照堂), situated between the more conventionally structured The Homecoming Pilgrimage of Dajia Mazu (大甲媽祖回娘家, 1974) and the more formally experimental The Boat Burning Festival (王船祭典, 1979).