The Water Cart Pulling Ceremony held every year in Yunlin County's Kouhu will

The Council for Cultural Affairs recently designated Kouhu Township's water cart pulling ceremony a national cultural heritage.

The rite is traditionally held on the eighth day of the sixth lunar month.

A sudden flood killed nearly one thousand Kouhu Township residents 165 years ago.

To commemorate the dead, a special water cart pulling ceremony is held every year on the eighth day of the sixth lunar.

This unique local custom was recently designated a national cultural heritage by the Council for Cultural Affairs.

According to CCA Minister Emile Sheng, the ceremony is designated as an intangible cultural heritage because it is funerary, rather than religious, in nature.

The water carts are made from wheel-shaped rattan discs covered in paper pulp.

The discs are spun in turn by a Buddhist priest and then local residents.

According to those that have participated in the rite, an invisible power can be felt during the ceremony.

Next, the priest leads the cart puller in touching all the other carts in blessing.

The ceremony is representative of the good faith of the Taiwanese people in commemorating the dead.

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