義民節

Pigs of God 2020

Without fail, one of the busiest times on my yearly calendar is when the annual Ghost Month (中元節) rolls around, usually in the late stages of summer, or the seventh month on the lunar calendar. 

The problem I find myself faced with each and every year is that there is always so much to see and do that I need to be strategic and make sure to plan well in advance, so that I can make the most of my time. 

Even though there is so much to do, one of the events that I rarely ever miss is the annual celebrations that the local Hakka people in the community I live in put on for the Yimin Festival (義民祭). 

One of the reasons I love this festival is that it combines Hakka culture with a carnival-like atmosphere and whenever I go, I always end up running into people that I haven’t seen in years, while also enjoying some of my favourite local dishes. 

The problem with the whole thing is that there is also a dark shadow cast over the entire event thanks to the inclusion of the “Pigs of God” (神豬), a controversial element that goes hand-in-hand with the festival in the various places where it is celebrated throughout the country. 

As I’ve already mentioned a few times here on my blog, the competition is controversial because its viewed by many in contemporary society as a form of unnecessary animal cruelty which clearly violates animal abuse laws, but is supported by local temples and politicians who view it as an important cultural and religious activity.

Not to sound like a hypocrite, even though I’m philosophically opposed to the practice, I also rarely miss the chance to check it out and document it. 

So if I’m not a hypocrite what am I? A glutton for punishment? A masochist? 

I can’t really say. 

Part of me hopes that at some point in the near future all of this stuff will come to a screeching halt and the abuse of these poor animals will stop.

But on the other hand, every year I feel compelled to attend the festival to see what’s going on. 

Before I get into any of my thoughts about this years event, I think it’s important to give you a bit more information about what this event actually is. I’ll explain it briefly before, but I’m not going to copy and paste what I’ve already published, so if you’d like more in-depth information about the festival, I recommend taking a look at the links below. 

Yimin Temple | Pigs of God 2015 | Pigs of God 2016 | Pigs of God 2017

It’s also important that I provide a disclaimer before moving on: 

As you read on, there will be photos of animal sacrifices that you may-or-may-not feel comfortable looking at. There is nothing particularly gruesome about any of it, but I’m just warning you beforehand that the photos may be unsettling for some people. 


The Pigs of God (神豬/豬公)

Earlier this week, the Hakka Affairs Council, the government agency tasked with the preservation and promotion of Hakka language and culture, tweeted: “President Tsai Ying-wen attended a ceremony in observance of Hakka Yimin Festival on September 7th, a three-day event that aims to promote the spirit of Yimin, a collective phrase for Hakka Martyrs who sacrificed their lives to defend their homeland in the past. Under the collaboration between the central and local governments, Taiwan’s Hakka Yimin Festival has become one of the biggest national festivals.” 

And then without a hint of irony, Channel News Asia published a report titled: “Taiwan’s Polarising Pig Festival Draws Smaller Sacrifices” which proudly explained that this year the sacrifices were smaller and so too were the crowds who came to see them. 

So which one is closer to the truth?

Given that I’ve attended this event every year for well over a decade, I’m probably able to explain this stuff a little bit better than government propaganda or foreign news reports.

First though, I realize that few people will actually click the links I’ve provided above, so let me briefly talk about what the Yimin Festival is. 

Way back when people in China regarded Taiwan as nothing but a worthless pile of dirt, the Hakka’s were one of the first groups brave enough to immigrate to the island. 

Having settled here for hundreds of years, the Hakka people have a long and interesting history in Taiwan and are highly regarded for their loyalty, hard work and contributions to developing the country into the place we know and love today. 

That being said, life for the Hakka’s was never easy and throughout history they have constantly had to face persecution and discrimination.

Nevertheless, when duty calls, the Hakka people have always been on the front lines in order to protect their homes and families. Notably in 1786, a massive uprising against the Qing took place in central Taiwan and in order to protect their way of life, the Hakka formed a volunteer militia to help quell the uprising. 

Quickly putting together a force of over 1,300, the Hakka militia was victorious in quelling the uprising and saving their homes, but they also suffered tremendous losses. 

Due to the large number of casualties, it was decided that the dead would be buried together in a large tomb and honored as heroes, which became the foundation for “Yimin” (義民) worship and the Yimin Temple.

How do the Pigs of God factor into any of this? 

In what became a long-standing tradition, each year during the Yimin Festival, families would pool together to contribute food for a large festival. It was also decided that one of the major families would be responsible for sacrificing a pig to the ancestors as a show of respect.

Link: Hsinpu Ancestral Shrines

This rotation went on for quite some time but soon a competition (of sorts) started between families as the pigs raised for the festival started becoming larger and larger.

Ultimately the size of the pig that was offered up each year symbolized the wealth and power of a family which meant that as the years went by, the size of the pigs became a show of “face” and local power.

Today the Yimin Festival is celebrated all over Taiwan, but it is a much larger occasion in the Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli (桃竹苗) areas, which is where you’ll find the largest concentration of Hakka people in Northern Taiwan.

The majority of the festivities are held at the Baozhong Yimin Temple (褒忠義民廟) in Hsinpu (新埔), but wherever the festival takes place, the Pigs of God are also likely to make an appearance. 

Just for a bit of clarity - market sized hogs sell when they are at about 250 - 270 pounds (113-122kg).

This means that a Pig of God candidate has to grow to at least 5-6 times the size of a normal pig.  

Winning pigs in the past have reached anywhere between 800-900 kilograms, making them almost ten times the size of a normal healthy pig.

To achieve such a result, the pigs are raised for anywhere between two and four years and are constantly overfed and placed in a confined space, which ultimately forces them to become immobile.

This lifestyle is extremely unhealthy for the animals as they develop painful bed sores, suffer from organ failure, developmental deformities and various other ailments.

Adding to the problem, animal rights groups have accused farmers of force-feeding the pigs heavy-metals or stones days before the contest takes place, in order to achieve a higher final weight. 

As criticism of the competition has grown, proponents for the event have argued that there is no cruelty involved and farmers have even opened up their farms for animal rights groups to come and check out the process. They’ve also argued that once the pig is sacrificed, its meat is distributed to local charities so that there is no waste involved.

Link: What is Taiwan’s Pigs of God Weighing Contest? (EAST)  

My only question is, if the claims are true about the illnesses these poor animals suffer, how safe is the meat to actually eat? 

So, let’s talk about the 2020 Yimin festival. 

The last time I blogged about the Yimin Festival, I left feeling rather optimistic. 

Our current Mayor, Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), had just taken office with a progressive set of policies and things were looking good. The festival organizers were tasked with coming up with “environmentally friendly” ideas to slowly phase out the pigs - and the amount of pigs that were put on display was reduced.

Here’s a recap of my observations from the last time I blogged about this: 

  1. The Pigs of God this year were considerably smaller, which shows that a little more care was taken not to abuse the animals and overfeed them as much as in years past.

  2. The Taoyuan City Government promoted the usage of “Environmentally Friendly Pigs of God" (環保神豬), which were art displays made to look like pigs and constructed out of recycled products and paraded around town in the same way that the real pigs would be.

  3. The event organizers planned an alternate activity where local people as well as dignitaries as high up as President Tsai Ying-Wen would come and release water lanterns on the eve of the event.

This year, all of that progress was thrown out the window. 

There were seven Pigs of God put on display, with a total of seventeen entering the competition.

The winning pig weighed 880 kilos with the smallest being 580 kilos.

There were no “Environmentally Friendly” pigs to be seen and they went all-out with ostentatious displays of firecrackers, fireworks and pole dancers. 

And this was only at the Yimin Temple closest to where I live.

Link: The Pigs of God: Force-Fed then slaughtered for spectacle (We Animals)

There were several other temples, including one that was only a ten minute drive away, where similar events were taking place and the Pigs of God were put on display at almost all of them. 

I was hoping that the efforts being made to phase this event out would have continued, but it seems like despite people’s objections, the political clout of some of these temples far greater exceeds the calls for change and modernization. 

I’d also note that the last few times I’ve attended the festival, there were protesters who were also there trying their best to get people to pay attention to the plight of the pigs.

This year, they didn’t bother showing up. 

The fact that politicians as far up the political ladder as the President and Taoyuan’s mayor took part in the activities just goes to show that the political will to actually do something probably isn’t really there, which is unfortunate. 

The Yimin Festival continues to be a popular event and attracts crowds of thousands - I’m not sure where Channel News Asia (in the article linked above) got their numbers, but they were way off.

I haven’t seen any official figures, but from what I saw, not even a global pandemic could keep the crowds from attending this year. 

I’m sad to say that the Pigs of God aspect of this festival are going to be phased out any time soon, so I guess you’ll probably be seeing future Pigs of God posts from me in the future. 

*sigh* 


Pigs of God 2017 (義民節神豬)

Strangely enough, living in Taoyuan for the past decade, one of the most popular occasions of the year takes place at the end of the summer in the middle of Ghost Month when night markets pop up out of nowhere and the city comes alive with local culture and tradition.

The Mid-Summer Ghost Festival (中元慶典藝術節) seems to me a bit comparable to our 'Canada Day' festivities back at home when the whole community gets together to celebrate, enjoy a carnival-like atmosphere and eat some great food. 

Like local people here in Taoyuan, I have found that after all these years of living here I have made it a tradition of my own to take part in the yearly festivities. The festival always end up being a great time and allows for me to get out with friends, take some photos, enjoy some local culture and good food and meet up with people that I might not have seen for quite a while.

Despite what I see as a great time, there is a dark shadow cast over the entire event thanks to the inclusion of the "Pigs of God Competition" which is viewed both as a cruel form of animal abuse and also as an important historic, cultural and religious activity that should be protected.  

This is my third time to blog about this event and I’m sure that if you have read my previous posts you’ll likely notice a change in the tone for which I've presented it. The reasons for this are simply that my view has ultimately evolved with the times and as I've become more experienced as a blogger, my apprehension to discuss these aspects of culture and religion has started to fade. 

I don’t like to criticize 'culture' and I don’t feel that it is my place as an outsider to actually criticize what the people of Taiwan do in their own country - but a tradition that in normal circumstances (without religion) would not be acceptable to most people has become a horrible spectacle of animal cruelty and has brought Taiwan quite a bit of unfair international condemnation and has also numbed onlookers to the needless animal suffering that takes place in order to celebrate a single night of 'culture' and 'folk-religion'.

My coverage of the 'Pigs of God' event as a photographer and also as a blogger over the past few years is not because I want to drive traffic to my blog or write about something sensational - I want to help people understand that this event is not indicative of Taiwan as a whole and if you educate yourself more about this beautiful island nation that you'd find that its an amazing place to live, study and work and that the people who live here are some of the kindest and friendliest people you'll ever have the chance to meet. 

Pigs of God 2015 | Pigs of God 2016

Disclaimer

I just want to remind readers that as this blog moves on, there will be photos that you may not feel comfortable looking at. There is nothing particularly gruesome but I'm just warning you beforehand! 

This year's winning pig - considerably smaller than years past. 

The event is often described by the international media as being ‘mired in controversy’ but locally it has the strange ability to arouse the curiosity of society at large who yearn for a bit of tradition in their hectic lives and is often perceived as a way to connect people to their heritage. 

This means that while there are quite a few people who oppose it, there are others who make sure to visit and do their best to experience the ‘vibrance’ of Taiwanese culture while strangely taking family photos beside the carcass of dead animals stretched out and painted for the world to see. 

The arguments for and against the festival go a little bit like this: Animal Rights Activists argue that this practice is not in line with modern Taiwanese society and that the tradition should cease to exist while supporters insist that it is a traditional aspect of Hakka culture and therefore it should be preserved.

Taiwan is a highly developed country where modernity and tradition are often at odds with each other, so when it comes to events like this groups who support these cultural traditions are often just as vocal as the opposition when their traditions are being targeted.

When I first came to Taiwan there were around five-ten giant pigs put on display per year. Friends tell me that when they were younger there were at least twenty or more. That number has slowly decreased with only three showing the year before last, two last year and two smaller ones this year as well.

I spoke to the director of the Taoyuan Yimin Temple (桃園市平鎮市褒忠祠) and he explained that there are fewer pigs this year due to "environmental concerns" (環保的關係) and the fact that fewer people are willing to raise the pigs nor do they have the space to keep them.

As the conversation about the ‘Pigs of God’ progresses and society learns more and more about the unnecessary suffering these animals endure during their short lives more and more people have started to oppose it - This opposition has put pressure on religious and cultural organizations to come up with new ideas and start making plans to eventually phase out the practice altogether.

Thus far over twelve temples have already stopped the contest and there are future plans for more to eventually put an end to it.

The problem however is that while some temples have 'promised' to put an end to the practice, it seems like they may be backtracking on these promises and ultimately may just keep practicing it until they’re forced to stop.

Preparing a normal sized pig for sacrifice.

Before I focus on the negatives of this years event, I think its best to look at the positives and how things have improved over previous years:

  1. The Pigs of God this year were considerably smaller than years past which shows that a little more care was taken not to abuse the animals and overfeed them as much as in years past.
  2. The Taoyuan City Government promoted the usage of “Environmentally Friendly Pigs of God" (環保神豬) which were art displays made to look like pigs and constructed out of recycled products and paraded around town in the same way that the real pigs would be.
  3. The event organizers planned an alternate activity where local people as well as dignitaries as high up as President Tsai Ying-Wen would come and release water lanterns on the eve of the event.

As for the negatives, one of the things that bothers me most about all of this is how much local politicians have latched onto this event as a way to promote themselves. The event was attended by local and national level politicians from each party who mingled with the people.

The winning pig that was on display was either supported or promoted by a local DPP politician who had his flag next to the dead animal and office employees acting as a type of security in front of the pig.

When support for this event not only comes from local cultural and religious organizations but from politicians as well, it means that it is not likely that things are going to change very quickly and that is likely a sour spot for the animal rights activists who have worked tirelessly to help educate society about what is actually going on here.

At this point it seems like there has been a bit of progress and things have been changing for the better - I know that last year I seemed a little more optimistic that the practice would be ending after this year’s festivities, but right now, I can’t really see that happening.

There will be Pigs of God at the Mid-Summer celebrations next year as well.

If you are interested in watching some live video from the event in Hsinchu, check out this video from Far East Adventure Travel or this video from Taiwan Live

The Pigs of God (神豬)

The practice of putting giant carcasses of dead pigs known as the "Pigs of God" (神豬) on display as a form of animal sacrifice is a tradition that started with the Hakka people a few hundred years ago here in Taiwan.

 I should add however that animal sacrifice is something that has traditionally been common throughout almost all of the different Chinese ethnic groups. 

While there are valid historic reasons why the Hakka people of Taiwan created such a tradition, the contest that has evolved out of it has become one of those traditional cultural practices that has struggled to stay relevant in modern times due to to societal changes and attitudes towards animal welfare.

To become a “Pig of God”, the animal is typically raised for anywhere between two to four years during which time they are force-fed in much the same way as a goose or duck in France is fed in order to make foie-gras. This allows for the pigs to grow to abnormal proportions with some reaching a final weight nearing almost a thousand kilograms before being slaughtered.

For a bit of clarity - market sized hogs sell when they are at about 250 - 270 pounds (113-122kg) meaning that a “Pig of God” grows to at least 5-6 times the normal size while winning pigs of the past have reached anywhere between 800-900 kilograms making them almost ten times the size of a normal healthy pig.

To achieve such a result the pigs are raised in a way that they are constantly overfed which eventually forces them to become immobile. This lifestyle is extremely unhealthy for the animals as they develop painful bed sores and often suffer from organ failure and various other ailments.

To add to the cruelty involved in raising an over-sized animal like this, Animal Rights groups claim that farmers often force-feed the animals heavy-metals or stones days before the contest takes place in order to achieve a higher final weight.

In the past the pigs would be taken out into the public square in front of the temples to be weighed and publicly slaughtered. This was a gruesome sight and one that I'm glad I've never had to experience.

Foreign media outlets however continue to falsely report that this is still a common practice as the pigs are brought out on forklifts, weighted and they slaughtered in front of cheering crowds.

Pigs of God History

The Pigs of God always attract a huge crowd. 

The origin of the event is a bit difficult to explain, but it is one that coincides with the creation of the original Yimin Temple (義民廟) which was constructed as a place to memorialize Hakka militiamen and patriots who worked together to protect their homes and their families.

The spirit plaque (神位) that was placed in the temple to memorialize the fallen soldiers became known as "Yìmín Yé" (義民爺) and quickly became a community symbol that brought together Hakka people of all walks of life to celebrate their culture, identity and history.

Every year in order to celebrate Hakka culture and the sacrifice of the young soldiers, the Yimin Cultural Festival (義民節) is held in conjunction with Ghost Month festivities (中元節) to honour Hakka ancestors as well as celebrate and promote Hakka culture throughout Taiwan.

The festival, like the Pigs of God has ultimately evolved into something quite different over the years, but the general purpose remains the same.

In the early days of the festival, the community in Hsinpu got together and put on a huge feast to honour Yìmín Yé.

As pork (in addition to chicken and duck) has been one of the most important animals to sacrifice to the gods and has always has been one of the most widely ingredients in Hakka dishes, it was always one of the most predominate features of the feast.

Each year one of the local families would have to raise a pig in order to both offer it up as a sacrifice to the Hakka ancestors and to help feed the community during the feast.

As “Yimin worship” became more predominant and ‘good luck’ was being attributed to paying respect in the temple, the annual feasts gradually became larger as a way to not only show gratitude  but to also show off a families wealth and status in the community.

As mentioned above, the responsibility for raising the pig would ultimately rotate between the prominent Hakka families in order to ensure that each family did its part and that people wouldn't foolishly waste their money when they had such an important responsibility to the community.

This rotation went on for quite some time but soon a competition (of sorts) started between families as the pigs raised for the festival became larger and larger.

Ultimately the size of the pig that was offered up each year started to symbolize the wealth and power of a family meaning that as the years went by the pigs gradually became larger and larger as a show of “face” and local power.

When the problem of "face" comes into these kinds of things in Taiwan, a competition is bound to happen, and in this case, despite the tradition of rotating year-by-year it became expected that even in off-years people would still raise a pig to submit to the competition while at the same time offering gratitude to Yimin Ye.

Thus the Pigs of God competition became a thing.

With this history in mind we can likely agree that the 'Pigs of God Contest' was one that was born out of simple human vanity. This has nothing to do with culture or religion and that is why I believe that aspects of this tradition can continue while the contest should absolutely be put to an end.   

As I mentioned in my introduction, the weekend of this festival is one of my favourite times of the year and is one that I’ve attended pretty much every year since I’ve come to Taiwan.

As the years have passed I stopped looking forward to the ‘sensational’ aspects of the festival and more so towards the coming-together of the local community to celebrate their culture and their heritage.

There are many ways to improve amazing festival while at the same time celebrating Hakka culture and history - I have seen with my own eyes that a lot of these changes are already taking place and that while the ‘Pigs of God' were an important aspect of the past, they are not an important part of the future.

I realize that this is a touchy topic and although its not my first time to blog about it, if you have any questions, comments, corrections or more importantly criticisms, don’t be shy - Comment below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!


Yimin Temple (褒忠義民廟)

If you've been following my blog for a while now, you'll know that I'm a big fan of Taiwan's temples - I love the history, the art and the culture that goes into making them some of the most interesting places to visit in Taiwan. Of all the temples that I've introduced however, none of them have been as difficult to write about than Hsinpu's Yimin temple.

I have lived in an area of Taiwan for the last decade and that ispredominately populated by Hakka people and most of my friends, coworkers and food I eat are all Hakka. I have a great respect for the culture and feel like if I'm going to write about this temple that I'm going to have to do it justice.

This temple is most responsible for the preservation of Hakka culture in Taiwan and no matter how many hardships the Hakka's have experienced throughout their history - this temple has played an instrumental role in reminding them that it is okay to stand up proudly and tell the world "I am a Hakka".

The Baozhong Yimin Temple (褒忠義民廟) in the tiny village of Hsinpu (新埔鎮) has thus become a Mecca-like place of worship and celebration for the Hakka people of Taiwan where their culture, history, and cuisine have been carefully preserved over the last few centuries of Taiwan's development despite discrimination and persecution from other ethnic groups. 

The Hakka (客家人) are an ethnic group which originated somewhere near the Yellow River (黃河) in what is now China's northern Shanxi (山西), Henan (河南) and Hubei (湖北) provinces. The early history of the group is shrouded in mystery and historical records aren't really clear as to their origin given that the earliest recorded history referring to the group was during the Song Dynasty (宋朝) between 960 and 1279.

They are part of the 55 different ethnic groups that makes up the Han people (漢族) and are genetically similar to the northern Chinese with the only distinguishable different being their language, culture and cuisine.

The Hakka are pejoratively known within China as the "Jews of Asia" due to the fact that throughout their recorded history they were forced to migrate en-masse on five different occasions mirroring that of the experience of the Jewish people in the Middle East and Europe. The problem with this comparison however is that the Jewish people often migrated due to the sheer hatred and racism directed towards them whereas the Hakka people migrated in order to escape the turbulence of China's warring states period and the political and social upheavals that occurred when there was a regime change in the Middle Kingdom. 

Each migration found the Hakka people moving further and further south ultimately settling in areas such as Guangdong (廣東), Jiangxi (江西), and Fujian (福建) provinces and once again becoming some of the earliest Han people to migrate to Taiwan (as well as other parts of South East Asia) where they would find a permanent home. Today they are considered the most diasporic among all of the Chinese ethnic groups with a total population of around 80 million living in countries all over the world.

The Hakka people started immigrating to Taiwan in the 16th century and even though life on the island was tremendously difficult in the early years, they persisted due to their wealth of experience and their ability to adapt to new environments. Today the Hakka population in Taiwan is around five million which is about twenty percent of the entire population of the country. They live all over the country but have concentrated populations in Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli as well as in the south of Taiwan in Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties.

Today the Taiwanese government has set up a division known as the Hakka Affairs Council (客家委員會) to assist in preserving and promoting Hakka culture in Taiwan as well as around the world. Hakka culture and traditions however have been passed down generationally and the group has become well-known in Taiwan for the importance they place on hard work, family and relationships. The Hakka people might have been guests (客人) in the places they migrated to in China hundreds of years ago, but today they treat guests like family making them one of the friendliest and most hospitable groups in Taiwan.

The Baozhong Yimin Temple was the original centre for the preservation and consolidation of Hakka culture in Taiwan and the role it has played over the last 200 years has been integral in keeping Hakka language and traditions alive.

Yimin Temple isn't a typical Taiwanese temple and while the exterior may look similar, there are quite a few differences that separate it from the rest. What makes it stand apart is actually quite simple - Most temples in Taiwan are dedicated to a specific deity (or even several) whereas the purpose of this one isn't for the worship a higher power but instead the proud history of the Hakka people.

To understand all of this, we have to go back to the reason why the temple was built in the first place - "Yimin" (義民) which translates into English as "righteous people" refers to a group of Hakka men who banded together to form a militia in order to protect their homes from invasion. Today they are memorialized as righteous, brave and loyal defenders of their homeland showing what is considered some of the best aspects of Hakka culture. The story is not unlike a feel-good Hollywood movie where a group of underdogs band together against all odds to achieve something incredibly unlikely.

In 1786, a Hoklo (閩南人) uprising against the Qing dynasty formed in Changhua (彰化) which later became known as the "Lin Shuang-Wen Insurrection" (林爽文件事). The Qing dynasty at the time had little resources in Taiwan (due to disinterest in the island) and was unable to quell the insurrection on its own which meant that they required assistance from groups loyal to the empire.

The Hakka people who had developed a prosperous economy in the Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli areas of western Taiwan got together to discuss the insurrection and decided to form a volunteer militia in order to protect their lands from an army which conspired to oust the Qing and conquer lands to the north which threatened to once again send the Hakka packing.

This time, rather than migrating of their own free will, the Hakka amassed a force of 1,300 men and marched its way into Hsinchu to battle the rebels. When the dust settled and the battle was over the Hakka militia had lost around 200 soldiers yet were victorious in battle.

When it came time to return home, the militia piled up the bodies of the deceased and placed them on ox-carts to be taken back home so that their families could honour them properly. Upon reaching Hsinpu, it was decided that the bodies would be buried in a common tomb in the Fangliao area (枋寮) of the village.

Local people pooled together money and built a large tomb for the fallen heroes who were later awarded with a hand-written plaque of appreciation from the emperor which read "Baozhong" (褒忠) or "in praise of loyalty" which was regarded as a great honour for the people in the area and was the reason why the temple was given the name: "Baozhong Yimin Temple" (褒忠義民廟).

The Hakka people share a common history with many other ethnic-Chinese groups and ancestral worship has traditionally been an important part of their culture and religious beliefs. When the initial planning started for the temple it was decided that a building would be constructed in front of where the tomb was built and inside the temple would be a spirit tablet (神位) which would be dedicated to the deceased members of the Hakka community who died during the insurrection.

This would become the foundation for "Yimin" worship in Taiwan and is a tradition that has spread throughout Taiwan over the past two centuries having expanded to over thirty temples throughout the country known as either Baozhong Pavilion (褒忠亭) or Yimin Temple (義民廟).

Yimin Spirit Tablet (義民神位)

A spirit tablet is a plaque is meant to take the place of someone of importance or even a god. It is common to find spirit tablets within temples dedicated to Confucius (Taipei, Taoyuan Hsinchu) as well as in some Taoist temples. The purpose of a tablet like this is to designate the seat of a deity or an ancestor. Tablets like this are common throughout East Asia in places where ancestral worship is common. The tablet placed within Yimin temple reads "敕封褒忠粵東義民位" which basically refers to the fact that the Hakka warriors represented within the tablet were venerated by royal decree.  

The spirit tablet which became known as "Yimin Ye" (義民爺) isn't supposed to be a 'deity' in the traditional Taoist or folk religion sense but over time it started to serve a lot of the same function making Yimin worship a bit confusing in the context of traditional religion in Taiwan.

The original purpose of the Yimin spirit tablet was to allow the Hakka people to have a place to honour their ancestors as well as to keep the Hakka spirit alive. Local belief has it though that a few (so-called) miraculous events surrounding the tablets took place which led to people starting to pay their respect to the spirit tablet in the temple as well as using it to receive spiritual guidance and some much needed good luck. The superstitions that ultimately evolved from early Yimin worship helped to foster the importance of the Yimin Cultural Festival (義民文化節) which has become the largest event of the year on the Hakka calendar.

The Yimin festival had modest beginnings and started as a way for the Hakka community to come together once a year to celebrate the harvest and give thanks to the ancestors who helped save their land. There are many activities held around the temple and in other Hakka communities around Taiwan with a feast being one of the most important events. The festival has continued to this day and has unfortunately become most known for the 'Pigs of God' tradition which has become somewhat notorious in recent years. I explained the Pigs of God aspect of the festival in an earlier blog, so I won't go into much detail about that here. The important thing to remember is that the Pigs of God is actually just a small part of a very important festival which celebrates Hakka culture, history, cuisine and their way of life.

Design

Unfortunately the original temple succumbed to a fate much like that of Taipei's Longshan Temple and Confucius temple and only lasted until 1895 when it was either burnt down or bombed by the Japanese during the first Sino-Japanese War (第一日中戰爭).

The temple was rebuilt shortly after and completed in 1904 and is the structure that we see standing in Hsinpu today. It is a very simple temple that doesn't have all the glitter of a typical Taiwanese temple but at the same time is one of the most important temples in Taiwan. It was constructed in a way that it has an exterior that is quite similar in design to the Hakka-style homes of that era (of which there are quite a few well-preserved specimens in nearby Jhubei) and while it is much larger than any home of that era would have been, its interior is very much like other temples that you'd see around Taiwan only a bit simpler.

To give a little more detail the temple is constructed in a specific style consisting of two main halls, two corridors and two side halls. (二殿二廊二橫屋). The hall at the entrance has help desks on the sides with a large courtyard and a large incense pot in the middle where there are often large groups of people paying their respects. The rear hall is elevated and by a few steps and is where the shrines are located. In the main shrine there is the Yimin spirit tablet with two shrines on the sides dedicated to the Three Mountain Kings (三山國王), Guanyin (觀音菩薩) and another dedicated to Lord Shennong (神農大帝) who acts as a patron to farmers.

The corridors to the side of the main halls lead to separate rooms filled with beautiful art and the cool-looking lamps that you see in almost every temple (光明燈) which are used as a way of collecting donations from patrons of the temple who get to have their name on a lamp for good luck and spiritual wellbeing.

Behind the temple is a small mountain where a beautiful park has been constructed. The walk up the hill during the winter months is especially nice because you get to see beautiful cherry blossoms. The important thing to notice behind the temple though is the tomb that is set up for the Hakka warriors who protected their lands and are the reason why the temple exists in the first place.

To the left of the temple there is a man-made lake with a bridge and a lot of cool things to see and the forest area behind it. Truthfully though the lake area seems a bit kitschy to me so I rarely spend a lot of time around there checking it out.

If you visit the temple during the week it can be surprisingly quiet and peaceful while on the other hand if you visit on the weekend it is usually quite busy with people doing their thing. The last time I visited when I went specifically to ask a few questions about the history of the Pigs of God festival I thought it was really cool to see a group of old men sitting at a table while a younger guy was sitting down recording the way they spoke which seemed like an attempt on his part to not only learn the Hakka language but also record the way that the older generation of people speak the language. If you visit the temple during Lunar New Year or during the Yimin Festival you're going to have a very different experience as the temple will be so busy and there will be so many things going on that it seems a little like sensory overload.

For me, I love visiting this temple, especially during the busy times because it is not your typical religious place of worship. There is so much more going on there than that and that's what makes it special - its a temple dedicated to the preservation of culture and as someone who is interested in the cultural anthropology of Taiwan, it is a great place to visit to not only learn about Taiwan's history but also experience it at the same time. If you find yourself in the Jhubei area or in Hsinchu, make sure to visit this temple.