Tong Blossoms 2017

As in years past, I took some time out of my busy schedule to visit one of the local hot-spots where Tung-Blossoms grow in abundance. As I'm posting this, the blossoms have pretty much all fallen off the trees, but as I've posted a few times already about the blossoms, I figured I might as well share some photos taken this year and some of the information I shared about them in years past - 

In April and May forests in the country turn white with the popular Tung Blossoms (油桐花) that line mountains and hillsides around the country. Taiwanese people often refer to Tung Blossoms as "April Snow" or "May Snow" (depending on when they are in full bloom) and their arrival attracts people from all over the country.

The Tung Tree (油桐樹), a deciduous tree that can grow up to 20 meters tall and is endemic to south China and Burma was originally brought to Taiwan by the Japanese during the occupation period and was planted in mountainous areas in north-western Taiwan.

The cultivation of the tree was important economically to the Hakka people who lived in the areas where the trees were planted and thus started a long-lasting relationship between the Hakka people and the tree that continues to this day.

The tree brought with it economic benefits as its seeds were instrumental in the production of Tung Oil which was used to make paint, varnish, caulking and wood finish while the wood in turn was used for making everything from furniture to toothpicks.

When the economic benefits of the Tung tree eventually subsided, the tree transformed into a symbol of the Hakka people who showed their respect for the economic prosperity the tree brought them.

In 2002 the Council for Hakka Affairs started the "Hakka Tung Blossom Festival" (客家桐花祭) an annual event that takes places during the blooming season as a way to promote Hakka culture. The event attracts crowds of people into Hakka-dominant areas of the country to not only see the Tung Blossoms but to experience Hakka culture and cuisine.

When Tung Blossoms are in bloom, there are areas set up in New Taipei City (新北市), Taoyuan (桃園市), Hsinchu (新竹縣) and Miaoli (苗栗縣) where people can view the blossoms and in turn experience Hakka culture.

One of the coolest things about the Tung blossoms is that in areas where they grow in abundance they tend to turn hiking trails 'white' as the blossoms fall to the ground. The blossoms falling also gives off an effect of snow falling in the forests which is beautiful as hundreds of them are falling around you while you're hiking.

On the weekends people will travel from all parts of the country to come and see the blossoms, hike a bit and have some food.

Tung Blossoms are popular with people of all ages, but recently especially with young Taiwanese couples who enjoy hiking into the mountains to have impromptu photoshoots with the Tung Blossoms.

Its also common that people will gather some of the blossoms that have fallen on the ground and arrange them into hearts or other shapes or even make a Tung blossom halo that they put around their heads. I visited two different areas to get the shots I used in this blog and in the areas I visited I saw the blossoms arranged in heart shapes, in the shape of Taiwan, and in the Chinese character for love (愛)

Personally, I much prefer taking shots of the blossoms in their natural surroundings. I like taking shots of them while they're still on the tree and I like how they look when they land on the ground or in a river or mountain stream. I'm not really big on the blossoms being arranged in heart shapes for a photo opportunity - but we all look at photography in different ways and it is a very subjective form of art.

Now that the blossoms have pretty much all disappeared, you'll have to wait until next year to see them again. If you are interested, make sure to plan ahead and when April or May rolls around that you plan some time to check them out as well as visiting a place where Hakka culture is abundant and enjoying some of the beautiful culture and cuisine that the Hakka share with the world. 


Disappearing History - Taichung Park

Taichung Park (台中公園) is a 10 acre park situated within the downtown core of Taiwan's central Taichung city. The park is the oldest in the city with a century year history dating back to the early stages of the Japanese Colonial Era.

The expansive park is an important recreational area for the people of Taichung which features several important pieces of Taichung's history mixed in with the jungle gyms, basketball courts and a lake for kayaking and canoeing.

Originally known as Nakanoshima kōen (中之島公園) the park was constructed in 1908 and has been listed by the Taichung City Government as a protected historical site owing to the various historical monuments on site.

My first post about the park focused on its most famous landmark, the beautiful century-old Mid-Lake Pavilion (湖心亭). The park however has a few other historical landmarks which (for the most part) date back to the Qing Dynasty.

With this post, my purpose won't be to focus on history of each of the historical monuments found within the park (although I will provide a few photos of them) but instead focus more on something that really irritated me and something that has actually been bothering me for a while. 

Wu Family Gatehouse (吳鸞旂公館的更樓

Let me start with a bit of a backstory - A few weeks ago an article surfaced from the Japan Times with the title: "Taiwan: Where Japanese go to feel at home on vacation" which romanticized the Japanese Colonial Era and the cultural and historical relationship that the people of Taiwan share with Japan.

The article had good intentions but ultimately caused a bit of an 'uproar' in the expat community here in Taiwan with people commenting on some of the historical errors and colonial mindset within. Personally, I thought that despite a few factual errors, the article more or less made its point that the people of Japan hold a high level of respect for Taiwan. 

This country is a popular choice for Japanese who want to get away, but also a safe place where they will be treated with kindness and respect - which the article admits can often be a bit difficult due to the historical pain the Japanese inflicted throughout Asia during the Second World War.

Wang-Yue Pavilion (望月亭) from the Qing Dynasty.

The feeling appears to be quite mutual for the people of Taiwan who choose Japan as one of their most popular tourist destinations.  

That being said, there is no denying that terrible atrocities were committed against the Taiwanese people during the colonial era. These "incidents" as they have become known are well-documented - especially those against the Indigenous people of this island where there are gruesome photos that show some of the terror inflicted upon the people of this land.

On the other hand, the Japanese helped to develop Taiwan with modern infrastructure, education and healthcare - In the short fifty years that the Japanese controlled Taiwan the island experienced tremendous growth in its development. Its safe to say that without the infrastructure left by the Japanese that the Economic Miracle (臺灣奇蹟) and rapid industrialization that made Taiwan one of the Asian Tigers (亞洲四小龍) would never have happened.

Ohhhhh a Shinto Shrine?

How does this all relate to Taichung Park?

When the Second World War ended and Japan surrendered to the allies, the legal status of Taiwan came into question. The result was an ambiguous decision to allow the Republic of China to assume control over the island despite the political situation being both disputed and unresolved according to international law.

The Chinese Nationalists under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek (at the time) were in the midst of a brutal civil war with the Chinese Communist Party and when the situation took a turn for the worst, they retreated to Taiwan with a few million refugees setting up shop here with the ultimate goal of regrouping and 're-taking' the mainland to restore democracy in China.

That never happened.

The Second World War caused a lot of resentment for the Japanese and the Chinese refugees who escaped to Taiwan had a hard time understanding why the people of Formosa didn't particularly share the same opinion of the Japanese.

Due to that bitterness (and in an attempt to convert the people of Taiwan into "Chinese" citizens), the KMT enforced a strict Mandarin-only policy while tearing down or repurposing buildings of Japanese cultural or religious significance.

The deliberate destruction of these buildings was a point of contention in one of the arguments I had with the article I shared above. It was suggested that the Chinese Nationalists didn't actually destroy everything that the Japanese built which was partially true - The new (colonial) regime only destroyed what they couldn't use for themselves.  

Once well-established on Taiwan however things changed and those buildings which were relics of the Japanese Colonial Era started to disappear. I took some time to search information from the Ministry of the Interior which in the 1970s approved an initiative to "clean up" (destroy) any of the remaining buildings of Japanese cultural influence. I'm including the text of that announcement at the bottom of the post for reference (I won't bother translating).

The idea was that if the buildings couldn't be repurposed in a way to either solve the housing crisis or serve a new role, they were destroyed. Of the over 200 Shinto Shrines in Taiwan during the colonial era, only a handful remain today. The same goes for the Martial Arts Halls - There were once over seventy of them around the country with only a dozen remaining in existence today.

In recent years some of Taiwan's local governments have made an effort to rectify the mistakes of the past and have classified some of the surviving buildings as historical properties and have given them protected status. Sadly though the damage has already been done and many of Taiwan's historic buildings of Japanese origin were torn down or desecrated to fit a certain political narrative.

Doesn't Confucius have his own temple?

This leads me to my point

My visit to the Taichung Park was solely to walk around with friends and take some photos of the Mid-Lake Pavilion. I honestly had no idea about any of the other historical aspects of the park although I had heard from my friend Alexander that there was a really cool pavilion from the Qing dynasty that I should check out.

While walking around the park however I noticed something that seemed out of place - There was a walkway that was lined with stone pillars, something that once would have had lanterns. There was also a set of stairs that led up to two bronze horses and a statue in the distance.

From what I've learned over the past few months with regard to the design of Shinto shrines it amazed me that I was walking around a former Shinto shrine. I've done extensive research about the remaining shrines in Taiwan and if there were to be one in the Taichung Park, it most certainly would have come up.

I knelt down to look at the stone pillars which had some 'fading' Chinese characters on them but looked like they were purposely vandalized with the words scratched out. I rubbed my fingers along the indents and the word read: "昭和..年" which refers to the specific year of Emperor Hirohito's reign that the Shrine was completed.

I continued walking up the path and walked up a set of stairs which led me to two opposing Bronze Horses (銅馬), yet another piece of evidence that a Shinto shrine once existed in this space. The horses were actually in great shape, but yet again, something wasn't right. The Chrysanthemum seal, the symbol of the Japanese royal family was purposely scratched out on the torso of both of the horses.

This behaviour is something that I've unfortunately had to become accustomed to in my search for Japanese-Era buildings - Some people have gone out of their way to destroy the memories of Taiwan's history and most recently we have seen random acts of vandalism by Pro-China Unification crazies like Lee Cheng-Long (李承龍), who have beheaded statues of Japanese engineers and destroyed century old statues to satisfy his hateful existence and political narrative. 

The vandalism of both the horses and the lanterns was yet another example of this attempt to erase history.  

The shrine area itself was honestly quite beautiful - It was tree-covered, quiet and peaceful and yet nobody paid any attention to it. While the park was full of people and the other historic relics within had plaques and educational resources set up, the shrine sat alone in a corner and I might have been the only person to notice it.  

When I got home I started searching for information right away and quickly found out that the park was once the home of a beautiful Shinto shrine that was named Taichū Jinjya (たいちゅうじんじゃ) or the Taichung Shinto Shrine (台中神社) and like the Tongxiao Shinto Shrine was dedicated in part to Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa (閑院宮載仁親王), who died in Taiwan and was elevated to god-like status after his death.

What I do know about the shrine is that it was opened in 1911, a few short years after the Mid-Lake Pavilion and was one of three Shinto Shrines in the city - with the other two being currently being replaced by the Taichung Confucius Temple (台中孔廟) and the Taichung Martyr's Shrine (臺中縣忠烈祠). The shrine ultimately became victim of the same shortsighted nationalistic government policies that destroyed not only aspects of Taiwan's Japanese colonial history but also that of Taiwan's Indigenous cultures and languages in an attempt to erase history and brainwash the people of Taiwan. 

Walkway to the shrine

While I realize that the reality of the situation is quite precarious and there are negative feelings directed towards Taiwan's former colonial masters, the wonton destruction of Taiwan's history and in some cases parts of its cultural heritage to placate certain political narratives is truly sad. There is history painted all over the streets of this country but it is slowly disappearing due to lack of preservation, governmental policies (like the one below) and modernization.

The history of colonialism is a touchy subject in many places all over the world and yes, it continues to be one here in Taiwan today but the most important thing we can do is to learn from the past and hope that these kind of things won't happen again.

This is the government announcement in 1974 which listed the buildings or sites of Japanese origin that would be dealt with:  

清除臺灣日據時期表現帝國主義優越感之殖民統治紀念遺跡要點

 內政部於民國63年公布了〈清除臺灣日據時期表現帝國主義優越感之殖民統治紀念遺跡要點〉,臺灣各地的神社,遭到政府與民眾大規模的拆除,僅有極少數被保留下來,使得這些見證日治時期歷史的文化遺產,幾乎消失殆盡,現在的我們只能從極少數倖免於難的神社遺跡中,認識當年的時空環境。

 有關本條文內容摘錄如下:

1.日本神社,應即徹底拆除。

2.日據時代遺留具有表示日本帝國主義優越感之紀念碑、石等構造物應予徹底清除。

3.日據時代遺留之工程紀念碑未有表示日本帝國主義優越感,無損我國尊嚴,縣市政府認為有保存價值,應憑據有關資料圖片,分別專案報經上級省、市政府核定,暫免拆除,惟將來傾頹時,不再予以重建,其碑石移存當地文獻機構處理。

4.民間寺廟或其他公共建築內,日據時代遺留之日式構造物,如日式石燈等應勸導予以拆除或改裝。

5.日據時代建造之橋樑,經嵌立碑石仍留存日本年號者,應一律改換中華民國年號。

6.日據時代遺留之寺廟捐贈石碑或匾額,以及日據時代營葬之墳墓碑刻等單純使用日本年號者,暫准維持現狀。


Kaohsiung Confucius Temple (高雄孔廟)

I've spent quite a bit of time so far this year travelling up and down the country working on my Martial Arts Hall project having already visited the majority of the remaining halls but still missing out on the halls that are the furthest south. I remedied that however with a well executed trip to Kaohsiung that not only included a trip to the Kaohsiung city Martial Arts Hall but also to the Qishan Hall which is an hour or so long bus ride outside of the city.

While planning for the trip I spent a bit of time mapping out my route on Google maps. I needed to know the quickest possible walking or bicycling route from the Qishan bus station to the Martial Arts Hall in order to utilize the time I had in the best way possible.

When I was looking at the Martial Arts Hall on satellite view I noticed something interesting on a mountain beside it. It seemed like there was a huge temple up there. I zoomed in and the title "Kaohsiung Confucius Temple" popped up. I did a quick search on google to find out what it was and when I saw the description: "The largest Confucius Temple in South East Asia" I automatically decided to add the temple to my itinerary.

I have become a bit of a pro when it comes to taking photos of Confucius Temples - This isn't to say that my photos of the temples are particularly interesting or even look good but I have a lot of experience with them and since they are mostly uniform in design I figured that even though this was dubbed as the largest Confucius Temple in Taiwan and also South East Asia that I could swoop in and out and get the shots I needed without spending much time.

I have to admit, I was wrong. There was no way I would have been able to just walk into this temple, take a few photos and leave. It was simply just too big and too impressive to not spend a little extra time to enjoy the minor details.

So far I've written about a few of Taiwan's other Confucius Temples which include the historic Tainan Temple as well as the Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu temples. There are however over twenty large Confucius Temples Taiwan and are typically constructed at the city or county level and vary in age from over three centuries to less than three decades.

History

The Kaohsiung Confucius Temple, not to be confused with that other "Kaohsiung Confucius Temple" is one of three Confucius Temples in the greater Kaohsiung area which all happen to more or less have the same English name.

For clarity sake I think its probably better to refer to this specific temple as the "Kaohsiung County Confucius Temple" (高雄縣孔廟) or the "Qishan Confucius Temple" (旗山孔廟). But in the case of "Kaohsiung County" it becomes confusing as the "county" ceased to exist a few years ago when the county and the city amalgamated into the area known as "Greater Kaohsiung" (大高雄市).

If I was talking to a Taiwanese person, they would of course understand that the Kaohsiung County Confucius Temple was the one in Qishan, but when it comes to English it becomes a bit confusing and is likely one of the reasons why there is so little English information available when it comes to this specific Confucius Temple.

The Kaohsiung Confucius Temple is not particularly an old temple, but there is a long history on the ground for which it stands. The temple is situated within Zhongshan Park (中山公園) and has an area of 41,169 square meters. While the temple may be lacking in history, it is certainly not lacking in size and easily makes the other Confucius Temples in Taiwan look pretty small in comparison.

The temple was built on the site of the Qishan Shinto Shrine (旗山神社/きざんじんじゃ) which was built in 1936 (昭和8年) and served its purpose until the Second World War when it was partially destroyed and left to rot. In 1983 a local politician promoted the demolition of what was the original shrine and planned for a Confucius Temple to be constructed in its place.

Construction on the temple started in 1984 and surprisingly was completed only a year later opening to the public in time for the annual Teachers Day celebrations. Unfortunately it seems that when it was built, in order to complete the temple as fast as possible a few short cuts were taken which forced the temple to close in 1993 for a period of eight years to reconstruct and repair some of the damaged buildings caused by a weak foundation, erosion and earthquakes.

The temple reopened to the public in 2001 (民國90年) and since 2004 the annual Teacher's Day celebrations on the anniversary of Confucius's Birthday are held on a grand scale at the temple.

 Design

Confucius temples tend to be uniform in their simplicity - Unlike the overwhelming beauty of Taiwanese folk temples and Taoist temples - Confucius temples stand alone in their almost "zen-like" nature in that they don't have shiny gold or bronze decorations and murals all over the walls with hundreds of sticks of incense creating a haze throughout the temple.

The simplicity exhibited in Confucius temples throughout China, Hong Kong and Taiwan is meant to be a show of respect to Confucius as well as the importance of his philosophical views of education and his influence on Chinese culture and history.

One of the common features of all Confucius temples is that there is no imagery or statues of Confucius. This is a rule that goes back almost 500 years to the Ming Dynasty (明朝) when the emperor decreed that all Confucius temples should be uniform and only have "spirit tablets" (神位) rather than images of the sage. This practice has endured in Confucius temples up until today.

Below I'm going to describe a bit of the key features and different buildings within the Confucius Temple:

 Dacheng Hall (大成殿)

Dacheng Hall is the main shrine area of any Confucius temple. The hall, which is known in English as the "Hall of Great Achievement" sits in the architectural centre of the entire complex and is also in the middle of a large granite courtyard. Inside the hall is a very simple set up with the Confucius spirit tablet set up on a nicely decorated table.

Suffice to say that with the rest of the complex being as large as it is, the Dacheng Hall at this temple, which is the main attraction is equally as large. When you walk into the main hall you can't help but feel a bit of awe at the sheer size of the single-room hall. The ceiling is quite high and when you walk in you might feel a bit like an ant.

On either side of the Confucius shrine there are additional shrines dedicated to the four sages (四配) Yan Hui (顏子), Zengzi (曾子), Zisi (子思) and Mencius (孟子) who were Confucius scholars and authored books which expanded upon the Confucian philosophy and has had a lasting impact on Chinese culture and the diaspora of Chinese people's throughout the world.

The building is the highest building within the main complex and is elevated off the ground. In the front of the hall is a stone carved mural of a dragon with several more dragons on the roof. In the middle of the roof there is a 'seven-levelled' pagoda which is thought to suppress evil.

 Chongsheng Shrine (崇聖祠)

The Chongsheng Shrine is traditionally situated behind the main Dacheng Hall and is used as a shrine room to venerate the ancestors of Confucius as well as the various Confucian sages and philosophers throughout history. This shrine room is not unlike a shrine room that you'd find in any large Taiwanese home and is an important place for ancestral worship for the descendants of Confucius whom have over time spread out throughout the world.

The Chongsheng Shrine in this temple is accessible to the public and has several different shrines with spirit plates for the many different generations of Confucius's ancestors. The room isn't as grand as some of the other areas of the temple but it is quiet and there's a nice breeze through the pills on the exterior.

The Kaohsiung Confucius Temple has the honour of being the largest in all of Taiwan but at the same time also one of the loneliness of them all. I visited the temple on a weekend and apart from a young couple who were hanging out at the main doors making out, I was the only person inside the whole complex.

The relative emptiness of the temple was great for a few reasons - The first that I didn't have to worry about people ending up ruining my shots. The second is that the temple is supposed to be a place where people go to be educated, relax and contemplate the larger aspects of life. I feel like in the case of this Confucius Temple, it would be much easier to sit next to one of the massive pillars, enjoy the mountain air and the peace and quiet of the temple.

I suppose the reason for the relative emptiness of the temple can be attributed to a number of factors - The first being that most people don't actually have any idea that it is there. The next is that most tourists prefer to take leisurely walks through the old street rather than walking up the steep set of stairs that brings you to the temple.

No matter what the reason, I think more people should know about the Kaohsiung Confucius Temple - Even though its not one of the older temples, its certainly the biggest and also the most peaceful. If you are in the Qishan area, make sure to stop by and check it out!

Map / Location

 

 For more information about Taiwan’s Confucius Temple’s please check out my Confucius Temple Guide.