Hundreds of members of the Mongolian community in Taiwan, joined by visiting Mongolian prosecutors, gathered in Taipei yesterday to commemorate Genghis Khan.
Standing in the middle and facing a portrait of Genghis Khan perched atop nine layers of offerings of fruit and flowers, Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission Minister Kao Su-po (高思博) presented incense, wine and fine silk in a gesture of respect to Genghis Khan.
Chief secretary of the commission Chien Shih-yin (錢世英) said later that nine was the most auspicious number in the Mongolian culture. Nine items were placed on each of the nine rows.
Standing behind the minister were prominent members of the Mongolian community in Taiwan, most of whom came to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in 1949, prosecutors visiting from Mongolia as part of a training program and representatives from other government agencies.
Descendants of the first generation of Mongolians who came to Taiwan and Mongolian university students studying in Taiwan also attended the ceremony.
After the main ceremony, the ritual was performed a second time by Mongolian members of the public.
“It is a tradition that was established by Chiang Kai-shek [蔣介石] in 1941 for the commission to hold a ritual showing the government’s respect for what Genghis Khan accomplished,” Chien said, adding that it was a gesture of respect by the KMT government, which was then located in China, toward Mongolians.
Many Chinese, including Chiang and his followers, have viewed Genghis Khan as a great ruler in Chinese history instead of an invader whose descendants later occupied and ruled China.
“Aside from the political aspect, many people from Mongolia were surprised and happy to see a foreign government showing respect to a man they consider a national hero,” Chien said.
However, when the Taipei Times asked a Mongolian student studying at National Chengchi University how he felt about a government that long considered Mongolia part of its territory holding a ceremony in honor of Genghis Khan, he declined to answer.
The student declined to spell his name in the Latin alphabet.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS