culture.tw Articles
Here are some articles that I have published for culture.tw
If any of the subjects interest you, click on the link to the full article.
Door Gods 門神
The highlight of writing this Door Gods article was when I serendipitously stopped at the Chendejyu Shrine (陳
Xiaolin Plains Aboriginal Night Ceremony小林平埔夜祭
My heart aches every single time I drive through what was once Xiaolin Village. During Typhoon Morakot In 2009, a catastrophic failure in the mountain above completely destroyed this historic village. In two movements, thirty million tons of mud crashed down on the village at speeds of up to 180kph. Today only one house of the once 300 households stands. That household belongs to a good friend of my wife’s family, and one of the few remaining Pingpu elders from Xiaolin. In this article I write a bit about the tragic event and what it means to the Pingpu of Xiaolin, how the somewhat arbitrary terms ‘High Mountain’ (高山) and ‘Plains’ (平埔 Pingpu) Aboriginals came about and the particulars of the Xiaolin Plains Aboriginal night ceremony.
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Liuchongsi Pingpu Night Sacrifice六重溪部落平埔夜祭
Tainan’s tourism director invited me to this small pingpu gathering the night following the Xiaolin ceremony. This was a much more intimate event, several neighborhood families, and I write about the Siryan Pingpu Tribes in general as well as assimilation into Han culture and more specific details about the night ceremony.
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Cishan Confucius Ceremony 旗山釋奠典禮(祭孔大典)
I write about Kaohsiung’s Confucius Day Ceremony. Tainan’s ceremony is much more traditional while Kaohsiung’s is grander.
Caoshan Moonworld 草山月世界
A must see in Tainan.
Ten Drum International Festival 臺南國際鼓樂節
An annual event held for the first time concurrently in Ten Drum’s new Kaohsiung base and Tainan sugar refinery base. Ten Drum Percussion troupe rocks, but the Japanese Wild Samurai Taiko Percussion Groups (野武士太鼓團) performance blew me away. A great festival to attend over Chinese New Year.
Santaizi – Evolving from Traditional God to Culture Icon 哪吒三太子(中壇元帥)
My favorite Taiwanese god. I wrote about some of his origin legends, his place in the Chinese god pantheon, and a bit about his evolution.
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Kaohsiung International Lion Dance Festival 高雄市戲獅甲藝術節活動
I had intended to sit in the stands of Kaohsiung’s K-Arena and enjoy the Lion Dance Festival but it was a sold out show so, worried I would not be able to deliver the promised article, I wangled myself into this event as media (usually the editor will arrange entrance beforehand) and was free to roam. This picture was taken the previous day at the preliminaries for national teams. The lighting was much easier than in the arena.
Nanying International Folklore Festival 南瀛國際民俗藝術節
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