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Tainan unveils plan for 347th Koxinga festival

The Tainan City Government yesterday unveiled details of this year’s Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成�?ulture Festival to celebrate the 347th anniversary of the Chinese general’s successful campaign to drive the Dutch out of Taiwan.

Better known in the West by the name “Koxinga” (國姓爺), the Ming loyalist established the Kingdom of Tungning (東寧國) in Taiwan as his base to overthrow the Qing dynasty.

While Koxinga has often been touted as evidence of the historical link between Taiwan and China, Taiwanese historian Lee Shiao-feng (李筱峰) has said that documents from the Koxinga period contradict the claim by China that Taiwan has been part of Chinese territory since ancient times.

The Tainan City Government, which is organizing the festival for the eighth consecutive year, named this year’s festival “The Return of the King” to celebrate the recent relocation of Koxinga’s golden statue to the 300-year-old Koxinga’s shrine, the earliest shrine built to worship Cheng in Taiwan.

The statue had been lost for about 40 years before it was found earlier this year.

“This year’s Koxinga cultural festival centers on traditional and educational activities,” Tainan City mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (�?]) said.

Tourists will be able to experience local culture through a series of activities separated into three categories: cuisine, performance and exhibitions.

Performers will include groups from Kinmen, the Chinese cities of Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen as well as some from the Japanese city of Hirado, Hsu said.

The nine-day festival will run through Sunday.

Hsu Keng-hsiu (�?�), director-general of the city government’s Cultural Affairs Bureau, said that the main task of this year’s festival was to invite performance groups for cultural exchanges.

Plans include a southern Fujian folk art exhibition and a conference to discuss ancient art and literature.

“The festival is not just about religious worship, but also about the combination of cultures, which is a major feature of Tainan City,” Hsu Keng-hsiu said.
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