CULTURE
‘Hakka boss’ dies aged 89
Chen Yun-tung (陳運棟), a pioneering authority on Hakka culture and history in Taiwan, has died at the age of 89, the Hakka Affairs Council said on Thursday. Born in Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) on Aug. 23, 1933, he was only 21 days short of reaching 90. Chen’s lifelong dedication to the study and preservation of Hakka culture and history had a palpable impact, Hakka Affairs Council Minister Yiong Con-ziin (楊長鎮) said. Chen also played a role in cultivating talent to expand the horizon of Hakka culture, Yiong added. Chen’s contribution to Hakka culture also resulted in him being given the honorary nickname “Hakka boss.” He published more than 40 books and wrote more than over 160 papers on Hakka culture, the council said. The publication of Chen’s Hakka People (客家人) in 1978 and Taiwan’s Hakka People (台灣的客家人) in 1989 had such an impact that he was thereafter considered an important pioneer in the field of Hakka research. He also shared his research and insights as the host of a Hakka cultural program on Taiwan Television. By profession, he was a teacher who taught at elementary and high schools.
ENTERTAINMENT
NTCH hosts jazz exhibition
A free jazz-themed exhibition, built around classic albums that have been categorized into five distinct moods, is on show at National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH) in Taipei until Oct. 1. At the exhibition titled “The Healing Chamber of Jazz: Sunlit Beginning,” attendees are prompted to take a psychological test, displayed on a wall, which seeks to analyze their mood as they enter the NTCH Performing Arts Library. Based on the analysis, they are then guided to one of five sections that feature the classic jazz albums that match their mood. The five sections reflect delight, romance, inspiration, rebellion and solitude, and contain titles by jazz legends such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Chet Baker, Bill Evans and Ella Fitzgerald, among others. NTCH has also planned two guided listening sessions at the library hosted by jazz saxophonist Lucy Lin (林映辰) and US jazz singer Aubrey Johnson, who is among those performing in the NTCH’s Summer Jazz Project: Jazz Love Songs concert on Aug. 26. The listening session hosted by Johnson is to be held on Aug. 21, from 7pm to 8:30pm, while Lin’s session is scheduled for Sept. 3 from 2pm to 3:30pm.
SOCIETY
Canadian returns rock
A Canadian man has returned a rock he took from Penghu County during a 2007 trip to Taiwan, the Penghu County government said. The county’s agriculture and fisheries bureau said in a statement on Friday that it had received a package from Canada on July 14 that contained a rock and a letter from a Canadian citizen whose cursive signature on an accompanying handwritten letter identified him as “Mr Redhead.” The Canadian said the enclosed rock was removed from Penghu during a visit to Taiwan 16 years ago. He said he wanted to return the rock to its rightful home, because he thought the arrowhead-shaped stone might be of cultural significance to Penghu locals. The Canadian then apologized to the people of the county and the forefathers of the area, as well as to the natural habitat. He signed off his letter with the words “in reconciliation.” The stone is a basalt rock and is approximately 7cm in size. The bureau said there is an investigation into whether it is a relic. The regulations on preserving and conserving nature in Penghu were previously not as stringent as they are now, the bureau added.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
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