The Wangchuan ceremony, also known as Ong Chun, is a folk activity in the coastal areas of Fujian Province as well as in the Chinese communities of Melaka, Malaysia.
It holds particular cultural importance as the ceremony embodies people’s hopes for peace, driving away disasters and praying for good fortune at sea.
During this ritual, an elaborately decorated model ship, referred to as Wangchuan, meaning the King’s ship, is burnt on the beach, loaded with offerings such as food, fruits and paper-made artifacts.
For the locals, it is believed that as the ship burns and drifts away, misfortunes will vanish with the flames and the smoke.
This ancient custom has been passed down from generation to generation, serving as a vivid cultural bond among Chinese communities living in coastal areas.
The folk activity was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage in China in 2011 and was inscribed onto UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2020.