Aoshan Temple Fair is an ancient folk custom and folk religious cultural activity of the Han nationality. It worships the Buddhist and folk auspicious gods Ao Wang and Ao Mu, and has a great influence in southern Hunan. The birthday of Guanyin on February 19, the "Three Halls Boat Ride" ceremony on the third day of March, the birthday of Sakyamuni Buddha on the eighth day of April, and the birthday of Ao Wang on May 23 are all temple fair events. The most grand temple fair is the Spring Festival Fair held on the second day of the first lunar month. Aoshan Temple Fair plays a positive role in promoting interpersonal communication, enriching the cultural life of the masses, and protecting national folk culture. In 2006, Aoshan Temple Fair was identified as the first batch of intangible cultural heritage list projects in Hunan Province. Aoshan Temple is located between Dabei Market and Bajiao Market in Dashi Township, Leiyang City, Hunan Province. It is 13 kilometers north of the urban area of Leiyang City and is close to the Leishui River. There is a market called Dabei Market, which was called Aoshankou in ancient times. It is now the seat of the Dashi Township Government. According to folklore, during the Five Dynasties, there was a great famine in Aoshan, and the people were living in poverty. Liu Zhiyuan, the first emperor of the Later Han Dynasty, was personally in power and loved the people. He led the people through the disaster, and the people then revered Liu Zhiyuan as the Holy Emperor. In the second year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1724), ships transporting coal from Aohe River to Changsha, Xiangtan, Yueyang and other places encountered strong winds and waves on the way. The ship owner burned incense and prayed for the Holy Emperor Liu Zhiyuan to bless them with smooth sailing. It is said that the Holy Emperor responded to all requests, and the wind and waves in Aohe River stopped, and the sailboat was safe. Later, in order to commemorate Liu Zhiyuan's power and holiness, the people on land and water changed the Aoshan Temple to the Aowang Emperor Shengdi Temple. From then on, believers from all over the country called Liu Zhiyuan "Grandpa Aowang". From the Qianlong to Tongzhi period, the Aoshan Temple was very small. In the second year of the Guangxu reign (1876), Liu Xiangpu, a local martial arts candidate, called on the people on land and water to donate funds to expand the temple on a large scale, with a construction area of more than 40,000 square meters. There are three halls, front, middle and back, and Guanyin Hall on the top, monks' rooms on the left and right, north and south review platforms in the middle, Yama Hall (Ten Halls) below, two mansions in the east and west, a large central stage, four arched gates outside, three halls forming a square, and a total of sixteen white stone pillars in the three halls. Until the early years of the Republic of China, the temple was very popular, with more than dozens of monks in the two wings. The temple fair activities returned to their former scale. In 1940, Japan bombed Leiyang, and Leiyang fell in 1944. The war was chaotic, the people were living in poverty, the temple was deserted and desolate, the monks left one after another, and the temple fair also declined. In 1953, all the statues were destroyed, and the three halls of the temple were converted into granaries. In 1972, the Aoshan warehouse was rebuilt. In 1985, the people of the three halls (six administrative villages around Aoshan Temple) took the initiative to contribute money and effort to rebuild the temple. At the end of the same year, the main construction of the temple was successfully completed, and about 40% of the temple was restored. Then the images of Ao Wang and Ao Mu were sculpted, and the temple fair activities were resumed. In 1996, the archways on the east and west sides and more than 50 Buddha statues were newly built in the main hall. In 2001, the images of Ao Wang, Ao Mu and other Buddhas were reshaped. In 2003, the stage, restaurant, and canteen were rebuilt, the ten halls were rebuilt, and the statues of gods were sculpted. During the temple fair, incense smoke rose to the sky, salutes rumbled, and bells and drums sounded. There are many incense-burning activities every year at the Aoshan Temple Fair, especially the temple fair on the second day of the first lunar month, which is very grand. On the second day of the first lunar month every year, more than 2,000 people from Leiyang's six administrative villages (divided into three halls and twenty-three bows) get up at dawn, carry out three paper boats (one for each of the upper, middle and lower halls) and gather at Aoshan Temple to worship the gods for more than two hours. At around 8 o'clock in the morning, guns and cannons blasted, gongs and drums sounded, and the three boats were divided into three teams, parading to each natural village along the route prescribed by their ancestors, greeting each other and celebrating the New Year together. Each boat is carried by eight people in two shifts. There is one person holding the "altar bamboo" in front and behind each paper boat, who is an old man in the village who is both blessed with good fortune and longevity. There is also a Taoist priest (shigong), one big drum, six full gongs, one surname flag, two colorful flags, two large and two small trumpets, twelve large flags, eight row lanterns, eight bright mirrors, thirty bundles of large incense sticks (each incense stick is 2 meters long), twenty incense burners, twenty incense pavilions (for burning cypress incense), four to eight people setting off firecrackers, thirteen phoenix lanterns, twelve stilt walkers, a dancing team of twenty people, two hydrangea dancers, ten colorful paper-made drama characters and scenes. There are 2 to 20 bearers, and dozens of people dress up in drama stories such as "Fishing and Killing the Family", "Drunkenly Beating the Mountain Gate", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", etc. There are also 40 waist drum team, 40 to 80 dragon lanterns, 4 flower pavilions, 12 female lanterns, 24 male lanterns, 14 green lanterns of the Eastern Green Emperor, 14 red lanterns of the Southern Red Emperor, 14 white lanterns of the Western White Emperor, 14 black lanterns of the Northern Black Emperor, 14 yellow lanterns of the Central Yellow Emperor, and hundreds of iron guns, dozens of drums, gongs, erhu, and flute bands. The team is huge and parades in the fields and villages. When the paper boat team arrives at the designated location, the so-called "Chuantou Village", firecrackers are set off at the head of the village, and the oldest and most blessed and long-lived old man in the village (that is, he has both sons and daughters, and his wife and husband) takes over the "altar bamboo", welcomes the boat into the "main hall" with a shrine in the village, and puts the paper boat on the bench. The flag team, storytelling team and others also stopped in the village. Dragon lanterns danced on the wheat field, hundreds of iron guns were fired, and gongs, drums and musical instruments sounded. At the same time, women in the village, with their children, young and old, were running around under the paper boats, throwing paper money into the boats while chanting, praying for peace and blessings from the gods. Taoist priests also held a ceremony to drive away plague and pray for blessings for the village. During this time, each household in the village distributed cigarettes and tea that they had prepared in advance to everyone in the cruise team, and also poured snacks such as buns and rice cakes into the baskets of the cruise team for the deacons to enjoy. Afterwards, the boats were carried out of the village and swam towards another natural village. At this time, iron guns and firecrackers were fired again, and the sound of gongs and drums was deafening. At about 5 pm, the parade ended and the fleets rushed to the designated outdoor locations. At this time, the large group of people gradually dispersed, leaving only those who carried the boat, set off firecrackers and hundreds of people firing guns. The Taoist priest spread a layer of firewood and paper money on a relatively flat ground by the Ao River, placed the paper boat on it, and the master burned incense and knelt down to worship the heaven and earth and King Ao. Firecrackers and iron guns rang again. The Taoist priest chanted incantations while holding torches to ignite the firewood around the boat. The flames shot up into the sky and burned the paper boat, and the whole ceremony ended. The Aoshan Temple Fair is a typical traditional folk cultural activity. The temple fair activities include many traditional folk crafts, dances, music and performing arts such as singing operas, boat trips, dragon and lion dances, which play a positive role in protecting national folk culture and art, and have high value for studying Leiyang local folk culture.