A Catholic church with Confucius and the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin)? When you walk into the main part of the Hualien Catholic Museum off Hualien City’s Chungmei Rd, the first thing that catches your eye is two large portraits of what look to be Confucius and Guanyin. Early in this former church’s history, apparently for missionary work, the appearance and clothing of Jesus’ parents — St Joseph and St Mary — were altered to bring them closer in line with Taiwanese culture.
The museum — previously the Catholic Diocese of Meilun — first opened as a Catholic church in October 1958. At the time it was the tallest building in Hualien City’s Meilun area, which had not yet been developed and was still quite desolate.
More than half a century later, the Catholic Church Hualien Diocese now has a new church. The church bishop Philip Huang began renovating the old church in 2010 to turn it into a museum and also applied for it to be designated a local cultural museum.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者花孟璟
When you walk into the cathedral you immediately see what appear to be portraits of Confucius and Guanyin on two side walls, causing confusion for many tourists about whether this is indeed a Catholic cathedral. The museum says that visitors often mistake the two portraits for Confucius and Guanyin. However, the alterations were actually made by Catholic missionaries to conform to local culture, the museum says, adding that on one side the portrait that looks like Confucius is actually Christ’s father St Joseph, while the other portrait resembling Guanyin is Christ’s mother St Mary. Hopefully locals will feel a sense of familiarity when they see these pictures, which helps make Western religions more accessible, the museum says.
The collection at the museum is actually quite extensive, preserving missionary materials used by clergy members in the early days of the Hualien diocese, including clothes, the church’s Aboriginal-style decorations and carvings, and a number of photographs. All of the artifacts originally belonged to the priests who first came to these remote parts and serve as useful source materials for researching how Hualien has changed over the years.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者花孟璟
天主教堂也有孔子、觀世音菩薩?花蓮市中美路的「花蓮天主教文物館」,走進大廳赫然發現牆上竟有巨幅的「孔子」、「觀世音」畫像!原來是早年傳教為了融入台灣文化,因此基督的義父、聖母才「變裝」穿上中式服裝。
花蓮天主教文物館位於中美路,前身是「天主教美崙主教座堂」,一九五八年十月落成,時為美崙最高的建築物,當年花蓮市美崙尚未開發,仍十分荒涼。
經過一甲子光陰,天主教花蓮教區已有新的天主堂,天主教花蓮教區主教黃兆明二0一0年將閒置的主教座堂翻修,成為花蓮天主教文物館並申請成為地方文化館。
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者花孟璟
走進主教座堂內,兩側牆壁上的畫像竟神似孔子、觀音菩薩,讓遊客一頭霧水「這不是天主教的教堂嗎」?館方解釋,常有參觀民眾「誤認」這是孔子、觀世音菩薩,其實是天主教傳教為了順應在地文化,而做出的修正,一邊貌似孔子的是耶穌基督的「義父」聖若瑟、一邊則是聖母瑪利亞,希望讓在地人看到感覺親切,增加民眾對西方宗教的接受度。
事實上天主教文物館館藏頗豐,保存花蓮教區早年神職人員傳道的物品,包括服裝、教堂內有原住民風格的裝飾品、雕刻等,還有許多攝影圖片,都是神父進入偏鄉傳道時留下的第一手資料,也是研究花蓮地方變遷的素材。
(自由時報記者花孟璟)
Jumping rope has long been considered an excellent form of exercise. It not only burns calories but also improves cardiovascular health and __1__ core muscles. Anyone who has used a traditional jump rope, though, knows that it requires a certain level of skill and coordination. However, with the development of the cordless jump rope, this is __2__ the case. The cordless jump rope is an innovation in the fitness industry that has gained popularity in recent years. As its name suggests, it doesn’t have a cord connecting the two handles. Instead, each handle features a short cord with a
A: Wow, three Taiwanese restaurants just won the 2024 “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” awards. B: Awesome! Which three restaurants? A: Taipei’s Logy at No. 22 and MUME at No. 34, and Taichung’s JL Studio at No. 33. B: Actually, there are many more great establishments in Taipei. How about other Asian cities? A: Singapore claimed nine spots this year, making it Asia’s new “food capital.” A: 2024「亞洲50最佳餐廳」名單揭曉了,台灣有3家餐廳上榜。 B: 好厲害,哪3家? A: 台北的Logy和MUME分獲第22和34名,台中的JL Studio獲第33名! B: 其實台北還有很多好餐廳,那其他的亞洲城市呢? A: 新加坡今年入選9家,可說是亞洲美食之都。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Let’s explore another delicacy primarily known to Tainan locals: floating milkfish in thick soup. Despite its peculiar name, this dish is another Tainan specialty that showcases the popularity of milkfish, which is made into fish paste and served in thick soup. Unlike the version with tutuo fish, which also adds other ingredients to its thick soup, the floating milkfish version primarily features the “floating fish” itself in its thick soup, ensuring that the fish paste remains the star of the dish. 讓我們來探索另一道台南人熟悉的美食:浮水魚羹。這道菜名奇特的美食,再再展現了台南虱目魚料理的多樣。浮水魚羹是用虱目魚漿做成的羹品,雖然和𩵚魠魚羹一樣是羹湯,但不像𩵚魠魚羹會在湯中加入其他食材,而是讓虱目魚漿成為這道料理的主角。 peculiar (adj.) 獨特的;古怪的 The belly of a milkfish is considered the most
The practice of freezing embryos as part of in vitro fertilization (IVF) was thrown into chaos in Alabama this year, when the state supreme court ruled that such embryos should be considered children, exposing clinics to wrongful death claims in the event they are destroyed in the thawing process. In 2021, more than 80 percent of US IVF procedures involved the transfer of frozen embryos, according to a recent report by the US Department of Health and Human Services. HOW IS EMBRYO FREEZING USED IN IVF? IVF uses high doses of hormones to stimulate ovaries to produce as many eggs as possible. Once