Beliefs are used to explain unusual situations or as a symbol of an industry or a specific type of element. In Macao, fifteen characters and/or roles, which are under specific religions and/or be believed in, have ‘Daan’ (誕). They are listed in the inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Macao independently or as a part of a specific intangible heritage. The character’s name or honorific title with ‘Daan’ in behind is a type of celebration and means the birth and birthday of the character. Excluding Lou Pan Celebrations and Kuan Tai Celebrations, all the Daan has a concept to eliminate disaster (消災), generally or specifically. However, the extreme weather might damage places such as temples holding ‘Daan’. For example, the Sin Fong Temple (先鋒廟) has a high possibility of facing flooding when Macao has heavy rainfall. As a result, ‘Daan' would have to be cancelled or deferred, which is damaging the value of ‘Daan’. Thus, developing the idea of eliminating disasters would be one of the possible ways to improve public environmental awareness and attention to extreme weather, and promote environmental awareness based on traditional knowledge and cognition. In a long-term situation, the believers could appeal to protect the environment and support the community as well as the governmental organization to execute related events. 

信仰被用來解釋不尋常的情況，或者作為一個行業或特定類型元素的象徵。在澳門，十五個屬於特定宗教和/或信仰的人物和/或角色有“誕”。它們單獨或作為特定非物質遺產的一部分列入澳門非物質文化遺產名錄。人物名字或尊號後加“誕”，是一種慶典，表示人物的誕生和生日。除了“魯班誕”和“關帝誕”之外，所有誕都有一個普遍或具體的消災概念。然而，極端天氣可能會破壞諸如舉辦“誕”的寺廟之類的地方。例如，位於連勝巷的先鋒廟在澳門暴雨時期極有可能面臨洪水。因此，誕將不得不取消或推遲，從某種程度上損害了誕的價值。總的來說，發展消除災害的理念將是提高公眾環境意識和對極端天氣的關注的可能途徑之一，並促進基於傳統知識和認知的環境意識。從長遠來看，信眾可以呼籲保護環境，支持社區和政府組織開展相關活動。

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The threats of extreme weather to Beliefs with ‘Daan’

Extreme weather might not only damage places such as temples holding the ‘Daan’ but also the tools used in a ‘Daan’. For example, the Sin Fong Temple has a high possibility of facing flooding when Macao has heavy rainfall (Macao Daily, 2021). The temple structure as well as the altar inside could be damaged. Moreover, one of the interviewees, the chairman of the Chinese Opera Association of Terrestrial and Maritime Dwellers of Barra, Macao Mr. Chan expressed that when a ‘Daan’ is facing extreme weather, ‘Daan’ is very fragile and passive. However, the date of a ‘Daan’ is fixed and cannot be changed. As a result, the ‘Daan’ might have to be canceled, which is damaging the value of those ‘Daan’. On the other hand, the sea level rising might harm the places and buildings that used to hold the festivals due to waterlogging. Macao sea level might have risen more than 30cm by 2060, and flooding could be a disaster to most of the Macau Peninsula shoreline and Taipa (Meneses, 2021).

 

極端天氣對「誕」的威脅

極端天氣不僅會損壞舉辦「誕」的寺廟等地方，還會損壞「誕」使用的工具。例如，當澳門下大雨時，先鋒廟很可能面臨水浸（Macao Daily，2021）。 寺廟結構以及內部的祭壇可能會受損。 此外，受訪者之一澳門媽閣水陸演戲會理事長陳先生表示，當「誕」面臨極端天氣時，「誕」是非常脆弱和被動的。 但是，「誕」的日期是固定的，不能更改。 結果，「誕」可能不得不被取消，這正在損害那些「誕」的價值。另一方面，海平面上升可能會導致內澇而損害舉辦「誕」的場所和建築物。 到 2060 年，澳門海平面可能上升超過 30 厘米，洪水可能對澳門半島大部分海岸線和氹仔造成災難（Meneses，2021）。

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The future possibility 

Facing extreme weather, a ‘Daan’ is breakable and helpless, the organizer and staff could only use their common sense to confront or cancel the ‘Daan’. Furthermore, the interviewees expressed that they rely on the government to decrease the negative effect of extreme weather or climate change. However, as the most important event of the temple, ‘Daan’ has a high potential for promoting environmental awareness among the public. Respecting the relationships between faiths and the natural world, people could take care of the environment by following their traditions (Alliance of Religions and Conservation, n. d.). 

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未來的可能性

面對極端天氣，「誕」脆弱無助，主辦方和工作人員只能用常識對抗或取消「誕」。此外，受訪者表示他們依賴政府來減少極端天氣或氣候變化的負面影響。然而，作為寺廟最重要的活動，「誕」具有提高公眾環保意識的巨大潛力。 尊重信仰與自然世界之間的關係，人們可以通過遵循他們的傳統來保護環境（Alliance of Religions and Conservation, n. d.）。

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