📖 Meaning
An old folk custom in which deity statues are carried out of temples in a procession, accompanied by sacrificial rites and festive fairs, to pray for the averting of disasters and the granting of blessings. The term also broadly refers to such temple fairs and religious processions held in rural communities.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase traces back to the Yuan dynasty sanqu (散曲) suite 'Shua Er - Zhuangjia Bu Shi Goulan' by Du Renjie, in which a bewildered peasant visits a theater for the first time. He looks up and sees something resembling a bell tower, looks down to see a swirl of people, and notices women sitting on a platform; since it is not a deity-welcoming ceremony (迎神赛社), he cannot understand why the drums and gongs never stop. The idiom captures a vivid slice of popular religious life that late imperial and modern writers, including Lu Xun, continued to invoke when depicting rural festival culture.
💡 Example Usage
每逢迎神赛会，乡民们便抬着神像游行祈求丰收。
At every deity-welcoming festival, the villagers would carry the god's statue in a procession to pray for a bountiful harvest.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 迎神赛会
- Pinyin: yíng shén sài huì
- Literal Translation: welcome, deity, contest-sacrifice, gathering
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4