Hong Kong Traditional Handicraft: Cheung Chau Piu Sik Parade 香港傳統工藝：長洲飄色巡遊

Project co-developed with the University Library.

The Hong Kong traditional handicraft of Cheung Chau Piu Sik Parade – its continuation on Cheung Chau Island, cultural references to both mainland Chinese and Hong Kong history, and the participants’ integration into neighbourhood communities has far-reaching cultural implications for the preservation of Hong Kong’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH). As a cultural artefact, the Hong Kong Piu Sik Parade differs from its mainland counterparts; its relatively isolated nature takes advantage of the Cheung Chau topography, and the development of its indigenous culture is by no means anachronistic. The very distinctive geographical structure of the Cheung Chau island creates a local folk tradition that is unlike any other places, and which has allowed it to develop over decades with rarely any outside influence. At the same time, the relatively isolated development of the Cheung Chau Piu Sik Parade has made it an indispensable and defining element of an interactive albeit singular community network. In this sense, to study the Cheung Chau Piu Sik Parade is to study the ways in which traditional art forms not only reinforce but also comment upon, community relationships. Such a study constitutes an alternative to comparable studies utilizing provinces, districts or towns as their geographical backdrop, but also, and more importantly, it allows us to see clearly the important social effects of cultural traditions.