Taiwan in Time: The evolution of Tomb Sweeping Day

According to the Ministry of Culture's Taiwan Encyclopedia, settlers from Zhangzhou in Fujian Province would sweep their ancestor's tombs on the ... Home Features Sun,Apr05,2020page8 TaiwaninTime:TheevolutionofTombSweepingDay WhileHanChineseinTaiwanhaveconductedgrave-worshippingritualsinthespringtimeforcenturies,aunifiedholidaywasonlyestablishedaftertheKMT’sarrival ByHanCheung/Staffreporter April6toApril12 HanChinesesettlersfromZhangzhouandQuanzhouweresuchfiercerivalsthatsimpleactivitiessuchasbuyingsuppliesforfestivalswouldoftenresultinarmedviolence.It’ssaidthatthiswasespeciallyseverejustbeforeTombSweepingFestival,andtopreventbloodshedQingDynastyofficialsorderedthemtoconducttheirritualsondifferentdays. Thisisnotunlikethegovernmenturgingpeopletovisittheirancestors’gravesondaysotherthanyesterday’sofficialTombSweepingDay,alsoknownastheQingmingFestival,tocurbthespreadingoftheCOVID-19pandemic.WhiletheChineseNationalistParty(KMT)establishedNationalTombSweepingDaywhileitstillruledChinaandcarrieditovertoTaiwan,theideaoftheentirenationsweepingtombsonthesamedayonlybecamearealitywhenitwasdeclaredapublicholidayin1972. HanChinesesettlersfromQuanzhouandZhangzhouhaveahistoryofarmedconflict,leadingthetwogroupstoconducttomb-sweepingritualsondifferentdates. PhotoCourtesyofYangYing-feng In1975,whenformerKMTleaderChiangKai-shek(蔣介石)diedonApril5,thegovernmentsawitasanopportunityforpropagandaandfixedtheanniversaryofhisdeathtotomb-sweepingday.SincethepracticeadherestothesolarcalendarandcouldfallonApril4,5or6,theanniversaryofChiang’sdeathwasnotalwaysobservedonthedayhedied. Today,itisusuallycombinedwithChildren’sDaytomakealongweekend,whichisanotherholidaythattheKMTestablishedwhenitwasinChinaandcarriedovertoTaiwan. EARLYSOCIALDISTANCING Familymembersgathertosweeptheirancestors’gravesnearTamsuiaround1970. PhotocourtesyofWikimediaCommons Oneoftheearliermentionsoftomb-sweepingactivitiesinTaiwancanbefoundinaChinesereportpublishedin1799,whichshowedthatthesettlerscloselyadheredtothetraditionsoftheirhomeland. AccordingtotheMinistryofCulture’sTaiwanEncyclopedia,settlersfromZhangzhouinFujianProvincewouldsweeptheirancestor’stombsonthethirddayofthethirdlunarmonth,whichthisyearfellonMarch26.TheonesfromQuanzhou,alsoinFujianProvince,didtheirsonthestartofQingming,whichisequivalenttotoday’sTombSweepingDay.ThispracticewasnotedinLienHeng’s(連橫)GeneralHistoryofTaiwan(台灣通史),whichwascompletedin1918. HostilitiesbetweenZhangzhouandQuanzhousettlerswereoftenescalatedastheyfoughtoversupplies—usuallymeat—fortomb-sweepingrituals.AccordingtoTaiwanEncyclopedia,someaccountssaythattheyhatedeachothersomuchthattheyrefusedtoconductthesameritualonthesameday,whileotherssaythatthegovernmentmandatedthattheydoitseparately. TheanniversaryofChiangKai-shek’sdeathwasobservedeveryTombSweepingDaybetween1976and2007. PhotocourtesyofNationalCentralLibrary Hakkapeopleweremoreflexibleastheycouldconducttheirritualsanytimebetweenthe15thdayofthefirstlunarmonthandtheQingmingFestival.ManyHakkasstillfollowthistoday. Thepracticeoftomb-sweepingcontinuedunderJapaneserule—atleastintheearlydays,asthereisscantinformationonthetopic.InIshuMomiyama’s1903Chinese-languagepoemsoflifeinTaiwan,hecriticizedthepracticeofburningspiritmoneyinfrontofgravesduringQingmingaswasteful. IntheRepublicofChina’searlydays,thegovernmentdesignatedQingmingasArborDaysinceitsfounderSunYat-sen(孫逸仙)wasaproponentofafforestation.AfterSundiedonMarch12,1925,thegovernmentmovedArborDaytohisdeathanniversary,whichisstillobservedinTaiwantoday.Itwasn’tuntil1935thatthegovernmentdeclaredQingmingas“NationalTombSweepingDay”andheldanofficialceremonyonApril6atthetomboftheYellowEmperor,thelegendaryprogenitorofallHanChinese. QINGMINGGETSPOLITICAL AfterWorldWarII,agroupofTaiwan’seliteandintellectualsheadedtoChinatomeetwiththeKMTandtocommemoratetheliberationofTaiwanfromJapaneserule.OneoftheirobjectiveswastoworshipattheYellowEmperor’sgrave.However,becauseitwasdangerouslyclosetotheChineseCommunistParty’sbaseinYanan,theyconductedtheritualfromadistanceatanearbycity. In1950,thesamegrouppetitionedthegovernmenttodesignateadaywherethenationwouldworshiptheYellowEmperor’stomb.OnApril5,1951,thefirstsuchceremonywasperformedinTaiwanattheNationalMartyr’sShrine.Itwouldtakeplaceeveryyearuntilitwascanceledin2017. “SinceChinahasfallen,wecanonlyworshipourprogenitorfromadistance…Wemustsolemnlyswearbeforeourancestorsandpredecessorsthatwewillsurelyreclaimourhomelandandsaveourcompatriots,”a1953propagandabrochurelamented. TombSweepingDaybecameanationalholidayin1972.Itwaspartofthegovernment’sChineseCulturalRenaissanceMovement,whichwaslaunchedin1967asanantidotetotheCulturalRevolutioninChina,whichsoughttodestroyallthingstraditional. ChouChun-yu(周俊宇)writesinRecreatingTombSweepingDayunderChineseNationalistPartyRule(中國國民黨政權下的清明節再製)writesthatthegoalwastoencouragepeopletoconducttheirtombsweepingactivitiesonaunifieddaybygivingthemthedayoff.EvenAborigines,whohadtheirowntraditions,beganparticipatingduringthistime. Threeyearslater,ChiangdiedonApril5.OnJuly15,then-presidentYenChia-kan(嚴家淦)declaredthateveryTombSweepingDaywouldalsobeobservedastheanniversaryofChiang’sdeath.ThiswouldstrengthenChiang’simageasthesaviorofthenationasitputhiminleaguewiththeYellowEmperor,Chouwrites. SinceTombSweepingDayfellonApril4thefollowingyear,theanniversaryofChiang’sdeathwasobservedadayearlier.Thestate-runCentralDailyNews(中央日報)quotedaceremonyattendeeassaying,“Wewillreturneveryyear,becauseonlyundertheleadershipof[Chiang]hasTaiwanbecomeasafeandprosperousanti-communistbase,andonlybecauseofthisdowehavetheluxuryofsweepingourancestor’sgraves.” SinceTombSweepingDayfellonApril5everyyearbetween1975and2007,besidesleapyears,manythinkthatTombSweepingDaywastiedtoChiang’sdeath.ButaccordingtoCentralDailyNewsreports,itwastheotherwayaround.OldarticlesshowthattheanniversaryofChiang’sdeathwasindeedobservedonApril4duringleapyears—exceptin1988,forunknownreasons. TheanniversariesforChiang’sbirthanddeathwereabolishedasnationalholidaysin2007. TaiwaninTime,acolumnaboutTaiwan’shistorythatispublishedeverySunday,spotlightsimportantorinterestingeventsaroundthenationthathaveanniversariesthisweek. Commentswillbemoderated.Keepcommentsrelevanttothearticle.Remarkscontainingabusiveandobscenelanguage,personalattacksofanykindorpromotionwillberemovedandtheuserbanned.FinaldecisionwillbeatthediscretionoftheTaipeiTimes. MostPopular 1ZoonoticLangyavirusfoundinChina,CDCsays 2GermandelegationtovisitTaiwan 3What-ifwargamemapshugetollofafutureUS-ChinawaroverTaiwan 4Taiwan‘willneverbowtopressure’:Su 5Militaryfollowinginternationalrules Youmightalsolike Arehumantranslatorsbecomingobsolete? 2022-08-09 ChrisFindlersaysthattheintroductionofneuralmachinetranslationsoftwarehasreducedthedemandforhumantranslators. “Iampessimisticaboutthefutureoftraditionaltranslationjobs,”saysFindler,alectureroftranslationandinterpretationatNationalTaiwanNormalUniversity(NTNU). 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