Micropolitics and the Reproduction of Tin Hau Communitas in Hong Kong

Every year, on the 23^rd day of the lunar 3^rd month, many communities who were once upon a time associated with fishing and sea-faring, gathered together and in a grand celebration, to honour the sea-faring goddess, Tin Hau (pronounced according to the Cantonese dialect) has played a crucial role in Hong Kong since historical time. This lecture is based on ethnographic study of the Tin Hau celebration among the villagers of at the Shap Pak Heung, an inland district, literally meaning 18 villages in Yuen Long where Tin Hau has been intimately connected with the life of these villagers since the 17^th century. This lecture will explore Victor Tuner’s idea of the relationship between ritual performance and the reproduction of communitas, specifically of the communitas that emerged as a result of Tin Hau celebration. Through this study, we will demonstrate the centrality of Tin Hau to the local community and the complex politics of identity at different levels namely at the individual-to-individual level, lineage vis-à-vis the outsiders, indigenous versus non-indigenous villages, hybridized communitas relationship within the community and the relationship with Hong Kong society at large. It points to the micropolitics within the district that comprises these villages that is marred by cooperation and rivalry at the same time.