At 1:30 p.m. on July 27, 2013 (Saturday), on the plaza outside the Changhua Li Chuen Yuan, a playful Beiguan Luantan Opera performance by the Beiguan music band of the Changhua Li Chuen Yuan was given along with other festivities to celebrate the birth of Lord Hsi-Chin. The cultural nature of the Beiguan Luantan Opera performance along with magnificent and elegant Beiguan Luantan Opera performances was presented through grand ancient etiquette at traditional worship ceremonies, an activity setting bustling with noise and excitement as well as the Changhua Li Chuen Yuan’s stage performances.

The Beiguan Luantan Opera performance to celebrate the birth of Lord Hsi-Chin takes place on the 24^th day of the sixth lunar month every year. On this day, all temples that enshrine Lord Hsi-Chin as well as Beiguan music bands in every corner of Taiwan host grand parades, worship ceremonies, and performances of Beiguan music to express reverence and felicitations to the deity. However, as time goes by, many important and distinctive customs in relation to annual or seasonal celebrations are dying out and calling out for imperative protection and restoration. The “three-ritual-musical consecration” is an example.

A three-ritual-musical consecration ceremony is similar to general three-consecration ceremonies in terms of size, ceremony etiquette, procedures, content, and worship performances. However, a three-ritual-musical consecration ceremony’s distinguishing feature is that the repertoire of a Beiguan Luantan Opera performance would include” the Lo-Yang Music as the musical accompaniment to the ceremony. Guiding the procession of the ceremony with particular musical sections and lyrics, it fully demonstrates the musical features of a Beiguan Luantan Opera performance and reflects the humanistic culture of the integration of traditional ceremony etiquette and music.