Monkey King worshipers mark the year of their god

Festive parades, fruit-laden tables and fancy new temples are what Chinese worshipers of the Monkey King are preparing for the upcoming Year of the Monkey.

Followers of Qi Tian Da Sheng, or Monkey King, hope the Lunar New Year, which starts on Feb. 8, will increase temple attendance and expand the influence of this unique culture in and out of southeast China's Fujian Province.

"We are planning the largest-ever celebrations in the Year of the Monkey. We've hired musicians for the parade and other events," said You Xiang, member of the management committee of the Ruyi Hexin Temple in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian.

A powerful demon-slayer in the classic novel Journey to the West, the Monkey King is also worshiped in Fujian and Taiwan as a guardian of families - a fact many Chinese are unaware of.

Pointing to an ornately dressed monkey statue sitting on a wooden throne, You said a record number of believers are expected to join this year's "parade of God" shortly after the New Year holiday.

The parade will see temple workers carry the statue through several streets banging gongs and lighting firecrackers. Local believers will welcome the deity with tables of vegetarian food as tribute before joining the parade.

Workers are also renovating the temple to usher in the new year and attract more visitors, You told Xinhua.

Such excitement is felt across many of the 700-plus Monkey King temples in the city.

The "ancestral" temple on Fuzhou's Pingshan Mountain, which overlooks several other temples and shrines, also received more worshipers in the month preceding the Lunar New Year.

"Many believers have visited the temple wishing to bring the King (statue) back home for the Year of the Monkey," said Wan Congyuan, who heads the temple's management committee.

The religion is gaining momentum as the Monkey King is hoisted as a cultural icon across the country.

The inspiration of countless movies, cartoons and TV dramas, the character has made headlines across the country as 2016 marks the year of the monkey on China's 12-year zodiac calendar.

Folklorists say the Monkey King could originate from the pre-historic worship of apes, dated much earlier than the appearance of the monkey warrior in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel.

"The novel made the belief more popular, as it transformed the local's image of a fearsome god into a demon slayer and protector of the people," said Li Linzhou, expert with the religious affairs bureau of Fuzhou, referring to some ancient folk stories that depicted the monkey as an evil spirit that ruled by fear.

You said they hoped to use the Year of the Monkey to promote the belief of a culture centered around courage.

"What we young believers hold precious is not those empty folk stories, but the Monkey King's pride and spirit of never giving up," You said.