Taipei is mixing Confucianism with soap opera and gourmet food in the hopes of attracting independent Chinese tourists, government officials said yesterday.
Confucianism, an ethical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (孔子), is considered a quasi-religious philosophy that has influenced the culture and history of East Asia.
Through a modern interpretation of Confucianism, Taipei can present to Chinese tourists a traditional culture that was largely demolished in China during the Cultural Revolution, but which is still well-kept in Taiwan, city officials said.
“Confucius is a great cultural icon cherished by every tourist,” said Chao Hsin-ping (趙心屏), -commissioner of the city’s Department of Information and Tourism.
“What we are doing is giving a little bit of background to let tourists experience Confucianism themselves,” Chao said.
In its latest tourism promotion campaign on Confucianism, the department launched a film production in which a couple falls in love because of their common passion for Confucius’ teachings. The story starts with a light quarrel, with the boy and the girl disagreeing on the manner of drinking coffee.
It is a refreshing way to illustrate how Confucian principles dictate not only how the dishes are cooked, but also the order in which they are brought out, project supervisor Su Yu-chin said.
Since the characters in the film were based on the different -personalities of Confucius’ disciples, Su said the love story makes the educational material accessible for Chinese tourists who want to pursue in-depth travel in Taiwan.
Besides the short film, the city also offers Confucian cuisine, which reflects Confucianism by following strict rules governing different classes of banquets according to the status of attendees and the specific event.
Prepared with specific -nutrition, flavor, color and aroma under Confucian rules, all the dishes are named after great people in Chinese history, including revered poets.
“We want to succeed in making a name for Taipei as a source of Confucius’ legacy,” Chao said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
RSS