Research and Other Investigations from China

Demerit at Max Star: Ripping Up the Temple of Earth

August 21, 2010

This past week marked the passing of even more music festivals in the Beijing area – the summer is now chock-full of them. However, the Max Star Music Festival that took place at the Temple of Earth (Ditan Park/地坛公园) was a special oddity as the stage was set up on the main altar of the temple. Originally constructed in 1530, emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty provided offerings to heaven on summer solstices at the same spot. Flash forward nearly 500 years and my old friends and notorious punk rockers Demerit were mounting the altar to deliver their musical sermon (see my old post Screaming into the Void). In the attached video, Spike, the lead singer of Demerit, instigates a whirling circle of fans that implodes into a flailing mosh pit – a great departure from the highly ritualized imperial offerings of yore.