The day that the Hakka don’t work : Sky Mending Day

The 20^th day of the 1^st lunar month is the "Sky Mending Day"(Tian Chuan Ri), which is also a mini New Year of the Hakka people. The Hakka people, who are born hardworking, suspend their work on this day and carry out the ceremony of "Mending the Sky" to commemorate Nuwa's patching of the sky.

There is a legend about the origin of the Sky Mending Day: Gong Gong, the God of water, and Zhu Rong, the God of fire, had a disagreement, and therefore had a big war. After losing the battle, the god of water, in a fit of rage, destroyed the jade pillar, Mount Buzhou, which supported heaven and earth. As a result, the earth was turned into an ocean. Later, Goddess Nuwa saved the earth by mending the sky with colorful stones.

Chong Khoon Quck,, president of the Johor Bahru Hakka Association, said in "Our Native Land" that the 20th day of the 1^st lunar month is usually the season after the beginning of spring, so it will be particularly rainy, and therefore the Hakka people generally believe this is symbolic of the fact that there is a hole in the heavens, and the hole needs to be patched. As a result, the food worshipped on the Sky Mending Day is all sticky food, such as rice cake, Hakka ramie leaf, lo ma chi and so on.

"It is also a symbol of the reverence for heaven and earth as generations of Hakka people have relied on the mountains to survive and must rely on heaven and earth for food."

It coincides with the Johor ancient temple during the festival, so the Association will include the ceremony of “mending the sky” into the activities, and at the same time to comply with the ancient system of writing a letter to the sky as the rituals. This means that an ancient document is written to send a list to heaven, and it is hoped that such ancient rituals and customs will help more people understand that there are still many folklores worth preserving.

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