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Ma presides over ‘imperial’ rites

Students perform a traditional dance at the Confucius Temple in Taipei yesterday to mark the anniversary of Confucius’ birth. PHOTO: CNA

The Taipei Confucian Temple marked the 2,558th anniversary of the birth of Confucius yesterday amid criticism from some city councilors that the temple performed the bayi dance — traditionally performed to pay homage to an emperor — to “fawn” over the presence of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

Each year, the temple performs the liuyi dance, a ritual performed by 36 schoolchildren to pay respect to feudal barons and to celebrate Confucius’ birthday. This year, however, it performed the classic eight-row ceremonial dance, known as the bayi dance, which is carried out by 64 schoolchildren.

Taipei City Civil Affairs Department Commissioner Huang Lu Ching-ru (黃呂錦茹) denied that the bayi dance was performed specifically for Ma. She said the department decided to present the dance to celebrate the completion of a restoration project at the temple early last month.

Yesterday’s ritual, which began at 5am, was presided over by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), with Kung Chuei-chang (孔垂長), the 79th lineal descendant of Confucius, serving as the “sacrificial official” of the ritual.

Ma burned incense, delivered a eulogy and presented an inscribed board in praise of Confucius during the rite, marking the first time since Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) in 1968 that a president has attended the ceremonial ritual at the Confucian Temple.

A feast of 193 courses, including dried peach and prune, bamboo shoots and goose, was offered as a sacrifice at the ritual.

Other participants and attendants were requested to stand at attention and were not allowed to sit down, eat, drink or move around freely.

The students participating in the ceremony spent the night at the temple and had to get up at 3am to attend preparations that began at 4am.

The ceremony began at 6am.

Twenty-four minutes into the ceremony, Taipei City Cultural Affairs Department Director Lee Yong-ping (李永萍), who served as the master of ceremonies, became dizzy from the heat and her heavy traditional clothes and was helped to the side.

Around 6:45am, around 20 of the student dancers and musicians, as well as the girl scouts assigned to maintain order, also showed signs of dizziness and had to sit out the rest of the ceremony. One junior high school boy surnamed Lin (林) stumbled and fell on his chin when he walked down a set of stairs, and had to be taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital for care, where it was ascertained that he had only bruised his chin.

Referring to a Confucius saying about propriety and virtue, independent Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) slammed the city government and the Presidential Office for ignoring criticism “regarding the impropriety of holding an imperial ceremony,” which mobilized hundreds of students while ignoring their discomfort in the heat.

This showed insensitivity on the government’s part and was a sign of regressing democracy, she said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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