Commemoration ceremonies for the mythical “Yellow Emperor” (黃帝, Huangdi) promoted by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) are part of Beijing’s united front tactics, as it seeks to use “religious activities” to create a dubious imagined community among people across the Taiwan Strait, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday.
The TAO-run Taiwan.cn Web site yesterday published an opinion piece from the Chinese state-run **Fujian Daily** titled “Together worshipping Huangdi on Tomb Sweeping Day, people across the Taiwan Strait are connected by blood.”
In Chinese folklore, Huangdi is believed to be the progenitor of Han people.
Photo: Reuters
Several Huangdi ceremonies held in Taiwan showed that “Chinese of both sides of the Strait” share the memory and respect for the Chinese people’s ancestors, the article said.
Hung Chin-fu (洪敬富), a professor of political science at National Cheng Kung University, said the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) united front tactics do not usually stress Han identity, but it is using activities such as the Huangdi commemoration ceremonies to advocate the idea that “people on both sides of the Strait are all Chinese.”
Ceremonies that view the legendary character Huangdi as the root of the origin of Han culture are creating a dubious, imagined community among people in Taiwan, Hung said.
Through the attendance of public figures to such ceremonies — such as former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) paying tribute to Huangdi during a visit to China last year — the CCP seeks to shape the idea that the root of Taiwanese culture is in central China, Hung said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) on Monday last week attended a ceremony for Huangdi in China’s Henan Province, where he told local media that “we are all descendants of emperors Yan (炎帝) and Huang, so we should continue to have exchanges that would greatly benefit both sides of the Strait.”
TOA Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) on March 26 said that a commemoration event for Huangdi in Shaanxi Province’s Huangling County on Friday last week would include a “Taiwan compatriots root-tracing tour."
The ceremony has significant meaning for inheriting and continuing traditional Chinese culture, bolstering Taiwanese’s sense of national identity, belonging and honor, he added.
On Monday last week, Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) officiated a ceremony for Huangdi at the Emperor Temple (黃帝雷藏寺) in Taoyuan’s Luzhu District (蘆竹), which was attended by a team representing KMT Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭).
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