**6. Jiacun Double-Fourth Temple Festival**

The year 2016 was a year for small *sai*. The normal length of small *sai* is three days, which, however, was shortened to two and a half days in 2016, with the celebration beginning on the morning of the third day of the fourth month (9 May) and running until the noon of the fifth day of the fourth month (11 May), although the festival still followed a standard tripart format, i.e., welcoming, entertaining and seeing off gods, which are locally referred to as the initial *sai* (*tousai* 頭賽), the main *sai* (*zhengsai* 正賽) and the final *sai* (*mosai* 末賽), respectively. The first day of the temple festival was devoted to the initial *sai*, with the main *sai* and final *sai* scheduled, respectively, for the morning and afternoon of the second day, followed by a special concert performance by the Entertainers on the morning of the third day.

The initial *sai* consists of a series of rituals—namely, Inviting the Deities to Descend (*xiaqing* 下請), Welcoming the Deities (*yingshen* 迎神), Assembling All the Deities (*yuan-shen* 圓神), Dismounting Horses (*xiama* 下馬), Receiving the Deities (*jieshen* 接神) and Settling the Deities (*anshen* 安神). The ritual of Inviting the Deities is also called 'the Assembly for Offering Incense' (*Shanxiang hui* 上香會) in the Shangdang region, in which the principal god of the *sai* festival invites through the local Earth God all other deities and spirits worshipped by members of a ritual community to receive sacrificial offerings and enjoy musical and theatrical performance at the host temple of the *sai* festival. In the case of the Double-Fourth Temple Festival in Jiacun, Bixia yuanjun plays host to the *sai* festival as the principal deity of the Bixia Temple.
