Tue, Apr 04, 2000 page2

• Tomb sweeping a time to reflect

  YEARLY RITUAL About a dozen members of the Canadian expatriate community descended on the historic Tamsui Foreign Cemetery yesterday. While tidying up the graveyard and repainting tombs, it was an occasion to ponder the past 100 years of history

  • By James A. Mitchell / STAFF REPORTER
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  The tiny, weathered headstone, engraved with the surname "Cheng" (鄭), would not have been noticed had it not been pointed out, leaning against a far wall.

  "That was the first one, a little girl," said Michael Hurst, a long-time Taipei resident and a member of the Canadian Society. There was no date on the stone, but Hurst guessed it would have been from sometime in the 1870s.

  Hurst, along with a dozen or so expatriate Canadians, worked quiet-ly yesterday in the garden-sized plot of land known as the Tamsui Foreign Cemetery -- putting headstones back into their places, repainting some of the lettering and raking fallen branches and other debris from the ground.

  

  Canadian James Morley brushes off a year's worth of soot and moss from a 111-year-old headstone.

  PHOTO: JAMES MITCHELL

  The traditional Tomb Sweeping day has become an annual ritual for Hurst and other members of the Canadian Society, which adopted the graveyard in 1984 and has since taken responsibility for maintaining the garden and its many 19th century tombs.

  Hurst said the known history of the graveyard dates to 1867 -- the year of Canada's confederation -- and was originally under the care of the British consulate in Tamsui.

  "The foreigners at that time did what most Chinese did, which was to find a hill and bury people there," Hurst said.

  

  Retired missionary teacher Jack Geddes takes a moment's rest from tomb sweeping to reflect on the cemetery's history.

  PHOTO: JAMES MITCHELL

  The graveyard holds about 80 graves, the most famous being that of missionary pioneer George Mackay. Mackay, who arrived in Taiwan in 1872, established a hospital next to the site and began a legacy that lasts to this day -- Mackay Memorial Hospital.

  The British arrangements with the graveyard began in 1890 and continued until Britain switched diplomatic ties to China in 1972. After that, responsibility fell to Australia and then, until 1979, the US.

  "It sort of fell into no-man's land for a while after that," Hurst said, until the Canadian Society agreed to stewardship in 1984.

  

  Albert Chen, a school administrator from Vancouver, British Columbia, repaints Chinese characters on a headstone yesterday at the Tamsui Foreign Cemetery.

  PHOTO: JAMES MITCHELL

  For some participants yesterday, such as fellow Canadian James Morley, the tomb-sweeping provided both a historical lesson and an opportunity to do something for the community.

  "It's a little bit of Canadiana," said Morley, who has been living in Taiwan for only six months. "And it helps to fit in a little."

  For others, such as long-time resident and educator Jack Geddes, the graveyard is just one part of the Mackay legacy.

  "When Mackay bought the land here, it was a Chinese cemetery," Geddes said.

  Geddes said he first came to Taiwan in 1959, as a missionary teacher, and has worked in various capacities at a number of institutions, including Tamkang University, where he helped set up the history and English departments.

  "I wanted to teach a course in Taiwan history back then, but the head of the department, who was an old mainland scholar, told me it wasn't necessary, because it was all part of the history of China," Geddes said.

  Unfortunately for the historical record, many of the graves and headstones at the foreigners' cemetery have been damaged or destroyed by the ravages of time, weather and grave robbers.

  Last year, an ancient Banyan tree also collapsed onto several graves, further obscuring the record. The tomb sweepers were kept busy yesterday, lifting several toppled crosses and headstones back in their places, while meticulously painting in the lettering chiseled into the stone.

  On one grave, a testimonial to the life of a missionary from Winnipeg, Manitoba stares down from its granite frame.

  "Have fought a good fight / have finished my course / have kept the faith / henceforth there is laid up / for me a crown of righteousness," the dedication reads.

  As the team of foreign tomb sweepers went about their work yesterday -- ensuring the longevity of the memories of the dead -- the moment was mirrored neatly by a Chinese family looking over the wall at the activity.

  The family -- all three generations -- appeared to be bound for their own family tomb, somewhere up the street, armed with gloves, clippers and ghost money.
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