Since the beginning of 2013, the Tainan Silianjing Puji Hall and the Puji Cultural and Historical Research Association have held the Fucheng Puji Lantern Festival for seven consecutive years. After years of hard work, the development has become very well-known in Taiwan, even in Japan. However, the huge expenses required for the Lantern Festival have caused the organizers to be under the pressure of insufficient resources every year. Finally, after the end of the 2018 Lantern Festival last year, the temple and the association announced on its Facebook page that the Puji Lantern Festival would be turned off.
【Visual design of the Fundraising platform of the 2019 Fucheng Puji Lantern Festival: the more local it is, the more international it will be】
Prof. Bi-Ching Tseng from the Department of Engineering and Management Information and Prof. Zhi-Jui Chen from the Department of Visual Communication, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, led the student entrepreneurial team—Alley from the Heart Cultural Workshop— to enter the Community of Puji Temple to implement its USR University Social Responsibility Practicum Program sponsored by the Ministry of Education—" Dissemination and Creation of Local Cultural Heritage—Fucheng v.s. Yuejin. The STUST team worked together with Puji Cultural History Research Association, organizing a series of special local events. In the process of cooperation, the STUST team found the difficulties faced by the organizing group of the lantern festival. The team offered a proposal for online fundraising from the public. Over a series of meetings, communications, and adjustments, the proposal was approved by the temple and the association. The team and the group jointly planned the festival and had it promoted by the STUST student entrepreneurship team of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology and the core volunteers of the Puji Cultural History Research Association.
【Success of the Fundraising platform of the 2019 Fucheng Puji Lantern Festival: the more local it is, the more international it will be】
Thanks to the efforts of the team and the support of all parties, at the end of 2018, the fund-raising activities jointly sponsored and promoted by the student entrepreneurship team of the Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology and Puji Cultural History Research Association were successful, injecting a solid energy into the 2019 Lantern Festival, so that the traditional Fucheng Puji Lantern Festival could continue and that people of all parties were expected to see the glory of the Lantern Festival. Over the past seven years, the Puji Lantern Festival has evoked people’s memories of the past. Lanterns are part of the daily life of the elderly, the perspective of children, and the story of everyone.
【The 2019 Fucheng Puji Lantern Festival: the more local it is, the more international it will be】
Prof. Bi-Ching Tseng, the instructor of Alley from the Heart Cultural Workshop, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, said that this kind of folk strength and ability is the true soft power of the Taiwanese. Such a thing needs to be taken over and needs to be passed on. It is necessary for everyone to continue working together. In order to let the story continue, the Puji Lantern Festival needs everyone's support and help! The 2019 Puji Lantern Festival drew a beautiful rest on March 2, and we should look forward to seeing it again in 2020!
【"Paper-Cutting Lane" lanterns were another creative feature of the Puji Festival this year.】
【The spectacular 1500 lanterns came as a result of the efforts of many people, attracting many people to watch and take pictures.】
【Prof. Bi-Ching Tseng from the Department of Engineering and Management Information and Prof. Zhi-Jui Chen from the Department of Visual Communication, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, led the student entrepreneurial team—Alley from the Heart Cultural Workshop—to implement its USR University Social Responsibility Practicum Program sponsored by the Ministry of Education】
【Lanterns are part of the daily life of the elderly, the perspective of children, and the story of everyone】