The Plague That Started the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance

In the late nineteenth century, long before extensive land reclamation created present-day Causeway Bay, Tai Hang was a quiet Hakka farming and fishing village, nestled snugly between Mount Butler and Victoria Harbour.

In 1880, just days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, a severe storm battered the village. Soon after, an enormous python began terrorizing the area, destroying livestock. Although the villagers managed to kill the beast and take it to the local police station, it mysteriously vanished the next day. Shortly thereafter, a deadly plague swept through Tai Hang, claiming many lives.

Terrified, the villagers came to believe this succession of disasters was a cosmic curse. Some soothsayers even claimed the python they had killed was the son of the Dragon King.

Desperate to save his community, a village elder received a divine prophecy in a dream from Guanyin—the Goddess of Mercy—or the Buddha. The message revealed that the only way to lift the spell was to construct a giant dragon out of straw and pearl grass, cover it in burning incense, and parade it through the village streets—along a route known today as the Fire Dragon Path—while letting off firecrackers.

The villagers wasted no time building the dragon from the old man's dream. They performed the ritual for three consecutive nights on the 14th, 15th, and 16th days of the eighth lunar month. Miraculously, the plague vanished once the ritual was complete.

Gratified by their salvation, the residents vowed to re-enact the dance every year to pray for continued peace, health, and good fortune.