The pilgrimage of eight days and seven nights in the footsteps of the famous Tachia statue of the goddess Matsu ended April 21. The journey marked the beginning of the religious activities of the third lunar month (April 13 to May 11), known as the "third month Matsu craze" (
In the last few years, frenzied media reports and the involvement of politicians have focused widespread attention on the pilgrimage. This has also resulted in many folk beliefs and cultural traditions being turned upside down.
Today the pilgrimage's sacredness and rituals have become enlarged, commercialized and politicized because of media competition and "cultural marketing." Cultural intellectuals are spot on in their description of this phenomenon as the "post-modern culture of localized Taiwanese society."
As a cultural worker originally from Tachia township, I feel honored by discussion of the topic in the media and I am glad that today's society is focusing on traditional culture. I am particularly glad to see the cultural organizations of local governments adapting their strategies to "cultural marketing," arranging different art and cultural activities in an attempt to adjust and deepen the cultural aspects of public religious activities.
We cannot, however, shy away from the fact that some disturbing phenomena have appeared as a result of media coverage and the marketing of these popular and increasingly important religious activities. This is something that needs to be considered and widely debated.
First, political intervention has exaggerated the presentation of religious activities. This runs the risk of detracting from their pious-ness, sacredness and traditional character. In particular, the gulf between traditional Taiwanese folk beliefs and political activities is a longstanding characteristic of society in Taiwan. It is worth considering whether this increase in political and civil activities might eventually also strengthen vulgar, populist beliefs, and create a new Taiwanese character involving different folk customs and the "charismatization" of politics.
Second, complex cultural and artistic activities are ill-served by superficial reporting that lacks either depth or understanding. The Show the unsurpassed Tachia changes-changes-changes (秀出大甲超級變變變) performance arranged by Taichung County's Cultural Affairs Bureau, for example, was exceptional, but only a few people would know that, since it was buried in piecemeal media reporting.
Because reporters don't do their homework, reports on cultural events fail to give a complete understanding of events. Often the stories are inaccurate or miss the main points of the event or celebration. Presentations and descriptions of the historical and cultural sources and appreciation and understanding of traditional performing arts that have been one of the main themes in traditional activities are even rarer.
Third, a generally fuzzy understanding of cultural artistic activities often results in the exhibition of an "inferior" deviating culture. Disorganized and misleading reports from muddle-headed reporters create a vicious circle which aggravates the situation.
The mysterious and mighty "eight generals" (八家將) characters, for example, which in the past were part of traditional performances, all had names, and their masks, dresses and props were godlike. In recent years, however, professional teams, each with their unique style of performing the "high government officials and generals" (官將首) characters, have formed. Dresses and props depart from the originals in an effort to be more impressive and "cooler" than the competition. The godliness of the characters is obscured in a manner which amounts to a betrayal of the historical and cultural origins of the performance.
This year's Matsu pilgrimage was certainly interesting in many ways, including the exquisite fresh-flower car processions and the integration of the "flower drums" parade (花鼓) with the Wusung performance (蜈蜙陣). These are examples of the kind of creative break-aways from and developments of tradition that should be encouraged.
As an educator and cultural worker, however, I prefer art that is deeply rooted in tradition to art that is superficial, and I would hope that a consensus for thorough consideration and discussion of the above issues would be considered more important than the social mission of cultural marketing and mass media.
Chou Means is a professor of Taiwan folk arts at Tunghai University.
Translated by Perry Svensson
As China steps up a campaign to diplomatically isolate and squeeze Taiwan, it has become more imperative than ever that Taipei play a greater role internationally with the support of the democratic world. To help safeguard its autonomous status, Taiwan needs to go beyond bolstering its defenses with weapons like anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. With the help of its international backers, it must also expand its diplomatic footprint globally. But are Taiwan’s foreign friends willing to translate their rhetoric into action by helping Taipei carve out more international space for itself? Beating back China’s effort to turn Taiwan into an international pariah
Typhoon Krathon made landfall in southwestern Taiwan last week, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and flooding, cutting power to more than 170,000 homes and water supply to more than 400,000 homes, and leading to more than 600 injuries and four deaths. Due to the typhoon, schools and offices across the nation were ordered to close for two to four days, stirring up familiar controversies over whether local governments’ decisions to call typhoon days were appropriate. The typhoon’s center made landfall in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) at noon on Thursday, but it weakened into a tropical depression early on Friday, and its structure
Since the end of the Cold War, the US-China espionage battle has arguably become the largest on Earth. Spying on China is vital for the US, as China’s growing military and technological capabilities pose direct challenges to its interests, especially in defending Taiwan and maintaining security in the Indo-Pacific. Intelligence gathering helps the US counter Chinese aggression, stay ahead of threats and safeguard not only its own security, but also the stability of global trade routes. Unchecked Chinese expansion could destabilize the region and have far-reaching global consequences. In recent years, spying on China has become increasingly difficult for the US
Lately, China has been inviting Taiwanese influencers to travel to China’s Xinjiang region to make films, weaving a “beautiful Xinjiang” narrative as an antidote to the international community’s criticisms by creating a Potemkin village where nothing is awry. Such manipulations appear harmless — even compelling enough for people to go there — but peeling back the shiny veneer reveals something more insidious, something that is hard to ignore. These films are not only meant to promote tourism, but also harbor a deeper level of political intentions. Xinjiang — a region of China continuously listed in global human rights reports —
RSS