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).
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
RSS