At a time when the gap between rich and poor is growing, housing is increasingly out of reach for the middle class, and the government seems to favor large corporations, it’s no surprise that the story of “Taiwan’s Robin Hood” (台灣羅賓漢) still resonates.
Xia Hai City God Temple (霞海城隍廟), located in Dadaocheng’s (大稻埕) historical Dihua Street (迪化街), will hold events on Monday to pay homage to Liao Tien-ding (廖添丁), a celebrated outlaw active in Taiwan over a century ago who was the bane of Japanese authorities and wealthy families that benefited from the colonial government’s largesse.
A prayer ritual will also be held at 10am on Sunday at Hanmin Temple (漢民祠) in Bali District (八里), New Taipei City. The temple was built in Liao’s honor.
Photo courtesy of Xia Hai City God Temple
Xia Hai temple spokesperson Titan Wu (吳孟寰) said Liao’s exploits, which include killing a police informer in Keelung (基隆), robbing tea merchants in Shilin (士林) and stealing guns and ammo from a police station in Dadaocheng, have led many to dub him “Taiwan’s Robin Hood” because he stood up to the colonial rulers and divided his booty among the poor.
Wu said that one legend relates how Liao stole money from a wealthy merchant in Dadaocheng and placed the loot under a table inside Xia Hai City God Temple.
“He then told temple officials to distribute the money to the poor people squatting outside the temple,” Wu said.
Photo courtesy of Xia Hai City God Temple
He added that many in contemporary society could learn something from Liao’s public-spiritedness.
“Today’s social order is extremely chaotic, and people have little sense of morality. [Liao] can serve as an example for people to follow,” Wu said.
Monday’s events kick off at 10am with a prayer ceremony to Liao at Xia Hai. At 12pm, the temple will distribute red turtle cakes (紅龜粿), a pastry made from glutinous rice and sugar that many believe can ward off evil and bring prosperity, Wu said.
Celebrations end with an opera by Yihsin Opera Troupe (一心歌仔戲劇團) relating the life and times of Liao. The free performance, located next to the temple at Yongle Square (永樂廣場), begins at 7pm.
Born in 1885 to a peasant family in what is now Greater Taichung, Liao is said to have mastered martial arts at a young age before embarking on his adventures throughout northern Taiwan. Police eventually caught up with him at his hideout on Bali’s Guanyin Mountain (觀音山) in November 1909, where he was gunned down in a shootout.
June 23 to June 29 After capturing the walled city of Hsinchu on June 22, 1895, the Japanese hoped to quickly push south and seize control of Taiwan’s entire west coast — but their advance was stalled for more than a month. Not only did local Hakka fighters continue to cause them headaches, resistance forces even attempted to retake the city three times. “We had planned to occupy Anping (Tainan) and Takao (Kaohsiung) as soon as possible, but ever since we took Hsinchu, nearby bandits proclaiming to be ‘righteous people’ (義民) have been destroying train tracks and electrical cables, and gathering in villages
This year will go down in the history books. Taiwan faces enormous turmoil and uncertainty in the coming months. Which political parties are in a good position to handle big changes? All of the main parties are beset with challenges. Taking stock, this column examined the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) (“Huang Kuo-chang’s choking the life out of the TPP,” May 28, page 12), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (“Challenges amid choppy waters for the DPP,” June 14, page 12) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (“KMT struggles to seize opportunities as ‘interesting times’ loom,” June 20, page 11). Times like these can
Dr. Y. Tony Yang, Associate Dean of Health Policy and Population Science at George Washington University, argued last week in a piece for the Taipei Times about former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) leading a student delegation to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that, “The real question is not whether Ma’s visit helps or hurts Taiwan — it is why Taiwan lacks a sophisticated, multi-track approach to one of the most complex geopolitical relationships in the world” (“Ma’s Visit, DPP’s Blind Spot,” June 18, page 8). Yang contends that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has a blind spot: “By treating any
Swooping low over the banks of a Nile River tributary, an aid flight run by retired American military officers released a stream of food-stuffed sacks over a town emptied by fighting in South Sudan, a country wracked by conflict. Last week’s air drop was the latest in a controversial development — private contracting firms led by former US intelligence officers and military veterans delivering aid to some of the world’s deadliest conflict zones, in operations organized with governments that are combatants in the conflicts. The moves are roiling the global aid community, which warns of a more militarized, politicized and profit-seeking trend
RSS