Following Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu’s (徐熙媛) passing earlier this week, public opinion has been polarized. Some people have strictly adhered to the principle that the dead deserve respect by reminiscing about her classic performances, while others are conducting their own “posthumous trials” by accusing Hsu and her younger sister, TV presenter Dee Hsu (徐熙娣), of being pro-China and degrading Taiwan.
The coexistence of these extremes, while contradictory, actually reflects the health of Taiwanese society.
Paying respect to the dead is not a practice unique to Taiwan — it is normal. After all, a funeral is a social event meant to honor the deceased.
If we were to discuss a country that respects the dead to an unhealthy degree, it would not be Taiwan, but South Korea. The suicide rate in South Korea is extremely high, with one of the many reasons being that when a controversial figure takes their own life, it can be seen as atoning for their sins and quickly restoring their reputation.
After finding himself at the center of a multimillion-dollar corruption probe, former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun wrote a suicide note and jumped off a cliff. Surprisingly, public opinion about Roh improved significantly afterward. A film portraying Roh was released years later, titled The Attorney, which focused on his background as a human rights lawyer.
However, South Korean society does not tend to respect the dead to such extremes for a lack of “posthumous trials” — such as the case of former South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan — but rather because the expectation of respecting the dead leads to a notion that the living are inferior.
During the Joseon Dynasty, King Sejo, also known as Grand Prince Suyang, seized the throne in a coup and became the dynasty’s seventh monarch. Six academics later plotted to assassinate him and were subsequently executed. The academics are known as the “six martyred ministers.” Today, Seosomun History Park in Seoul commemorates the six martyrs. In contrast, Sin Suk-ju — a politician who sided with King Sejo despite having served as his personal linguistic expert prior to the coup — was ironically given the nickname “Suk-ju bean sprout” in Korean to mock his betrayal, as bean sprouts are known to spoil easily.
The rule of King Sejo came to be considered one of success and excellent governance thanks in part to Sin. King Sejo himself compared Sin to Tang Dynasty Chinese Emperor Taizong’s (唐太宗) adviser — politician and historian Wei Zheng (魏徵) — saying: “Taizong had Wei Zheng, and I have Sin Suk-ju.”
However, despite his contributions, there is a stark contrast between the honored “six martyred ministers” and the lowly “Suk-ju bean sprout.”
Taiwanese society is relatively healthy, because respecting the dead is not necessarily accompanied by the notion that the living have less value. Today, the victims of the 228 Incident and the White Terror era are commemorated, but former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) — who respected former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) — is also highly regarded. He did not earn himself a nickname like “Teng-hui bean sprout.”
Likewise, the respect for and the criticisms of Hsu are not like two warring gladiators fighting to the death — they are more like the opposite ends of a seesaw. The coexistence of opposing views is nothing to fret over.
Jimway Chang has a master’s degree in history from National Tsing Hua University and is a high-school history teacher.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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