ABSTRACT
Though the Boat People celebrate the birthday of their Patron Saint by a pilgrimage to T'ai Miao (:kJfi) , the Queen of Heaven receives the homage of at least twenty-three other localities in the Colony where her temples are the most popular in the Taoist pantheon. The Residents' Association is responsible for the arrangements, and starts collecting funds for a theatrical performance about a month before the 23rd of the Third Moon. They are assisted in money-raising by the local Lion dancers, who practise in the morning before the temple, parading the streets during the forenoon to relax the purse-strings of the shopkeeper and householder. The Lion is stimulated to greater activity by the display of a banknote and a lettuce, sufficiently out of reach to cause the man working the head to mount on another's shoulders to secure the prize. Sheng ts'ai (~~), the lettuce, is symbolic of life, and, when used for ritual purposes, must always have the roots attached.
