Photographs of human skulls and bones laid out on a sunny rooftop in Lugang Township (鹿港), Changhua County, perplexed some netizens and frightened others as they were circulated on social media sites recently.
A Greater Taichung resident surnamed Lee (李) saw the skulls and bones sitting in plastic crates on the roof of a house when he visited Lugang last week. Intrigued by the sight, he photographed the bones and posted the pictures online, generating a tidal wave of commentary.
“This is just awesome. Human skulls are sunbathing on the roof,” one netizen wrote, while others said it was “unbelievable” that skeletal remains were on public display on a street.
Photo retaken by Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
Lee later found out that the crates belonged to bone collector (撿骨師) Huang Ming-hsien (黃名顯), who lives across the street.
Exhuming ancestral remains to clean, dry and rebury the skulls and bones is a tradition known as khioh-kut (撿骨) in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).
Huang said the custom enables the spirits of the deceased to rest in peace by helping the “fallen leaves return to the roots” (落葉歸根).
“In the past, the remains had to be dried out under the sun in the courtyard of the place where the deceased used to live. However, this is now done at a site chosen by the bone collector,” he said.
“Some collectors perform the ritual at graveyards, or in open fields. I do it on the roof of a relative’s house,” Huang added.
“Foreign tourists often come to take photographs of the bones,” he said, adding that his family had a billboard reading “Bone Aftercare” in English made to explain the practice to visitors.
“Tour guides also bring Japanese visitors here to have a look. We are quite used to the curiosity of outsiders,” he added.
Huang, 45, is part of the fourth generation of his family to make a career out of collecting bones.
Huang learned the trade by accompanying his father to work when he was young.
“I was a bit scared in the beginning, but I gradually built up courage until I was able to do it by myself,” he said.
“Bone collecting is an important service and its practitioners are helping others. As long as we remain morally righteous, maintain a good character and don’t do anything unethical, then we have nothing to fear from ghosts and evil spirits,” Huang said.
“Bones are just human skeletons. Everyone has a set, so what is there to be scared of?” he said.
Local residents say they are accustomed to the sight.
“It is just like drying clothing in the sun, no need to be alarmed,” a neighbor surnamed Chen (陳) said.
Some netizens agree, saying that as long as the practice does not jeopardize drivers’ or pedestrians’ safety, people should respect it.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS