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been pointed out in other areas as well.16 Other channels of inspiration are not therefore excluded; in the structure of the Taoist ritual some essential elements can hardly be explained by pointing to an old Chinese model only. (See below).
If Chou rituals are, however, accepted to be the prototype of the Taoist fen-teng, there is still an important discrepancy between the two; if the old Chinese custom was related to the four seasons and in the Han dynasty to the spring equinox exclusively, the change brought in by the Taoists is the disconnection of the ritual from the spring equinox: as it stands now, the fen-teng can take place any time during the year, whenever the chiao festival is celebrated. Since the chiao is a grand occasion for renewal, the fen-teng or the striking and blessing of new fire, harmoniously blends together with the meaning and essence of the chiao,
There is another indication of the eclectic origin of the fen-teng ritual within the sequence of the present-day chiao festival. As was mentioned above (footnote 10) it is a regular occurrence in some temples to have the essential chiao preceded by two days of preliminary exorcism: exorcism of the water-spirit and of the fire-spirit. 'Water' and 'fire' have throughout history been extremely dangerous elements in South China; water especially has often been a threat in Taiwan, where every summer typhoons and floods have destroyed crops and property and caused the drowning of many fishermen. Fire also is a potentially destructive force: before the age of concrete building, fire was an enemy against whose rage little could be done; once a fire broke out, it would destroy a whole cluster of buildings, if not large sectors of a town or city. At the beginning of the chiao, the 'water' and 'fire' spirits are pacified by means of recitations and sacrifices, performed by the Taoist priests, and ultimately almost 'sacramentally'17 restrained from doing harm to the community in the new time period to come.
In view of this exorcistic ritual, in which 'fire' (and 'water') is seen as a threat, the fen-teng ritual, which takes 'fire' as a blessing, appears to be paradoxical and can only be explained as to derive from a different conception and origin altogether.18
2. The Christian Consecration of Fire and the Easter Candle
Although the Liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church has been changed throughout the centuries to accommodate new perspectives