A Japanese Shrine to change history
A couple of days ago I posted about my day out to a memorial park in Taiwan that commemorates the Russo- Japanese war in 1904. You can read the post here. On the way up to the park, I passed by the Tongxiao Shrine. This is another piece of interesting history on this small island and is the centre of this post "A Japanese Shrine to change history?"
前兩天介紹過台灣虎頭山公園裏的日俄戰爭紀念碑和四周風景。到虎頭山必須經過通霄神社。這座神社建於1937年，當時台灣被日本統治。而日本在台灣建了超過二百多座神社。
At the turn century when Taiwan was colonised by Japan for about half a century, the Japanese built over 200 shrines all over the island. This particular one was built in 1937.
WHY CHANGE HISTORY THROUGH A SHRINE?
After the second world war and when the Japanese left, the Tongxiao Shrine was destroyed by the new KMT government. They wanted to detach themselves from the Japanese rule period. In a way, they wanted to change history and remove any sign of colonialism from the past 50 years. These other buildings next to the shrine are the administrative buildings and suffered the same fate. They have been left to derelicts over the years. In my previous post, I have talked a bit more about these derelict buildings.
二次世界大戰後，"通霄神社成為國民黨政權眼中一種蘊藏敵國傳統意識型態與東洋奴化遺毒的建築物空間，所以採取刻意的毀壞與消滅，神舍任何與「昭和」或與日本有關的字樣均被刮除"。 而旁邊兩座宿舍及事務所也不能逃過厄運，之前我在帖子也有寫過。
TONGXIAO SHRINE TODAY
Today, the shrine has been rebuilt and is now a historical protected building. It is usually used to promote arts and culture. During my visit, there was an exhibition of various traditional musical instruments on display.
經過半個世紀後，通霄神社已被重建，現今已被列為歷史保護建築。平常神社會用來作產業文化。 就如我當天到達時正有一個樂器展覽。 你看我在彈古箏像嗎?其實我是不懂的，只是在扮彈而且喔! 。
Here's me playing the guzheng. Do you think I look professional? I'll tell you a little secret, I have taken lessons many years ago but I couldn't play it to save my live today. Posing is still ok I think!
I particularly liked this device. It's made of ceramics, shaped like a nest of birds. You can see there are holes down the pipe and on the birds' head. There was a photo which showed an old lady blowing into it at the top. I would love to hear what it sounds like.
FOLLOW ME FOR A WALK
I'm going to leave you with a video that I've made during my day out. From the shrine, it's short 15 minute walk uphill to the Hutaoshan park. I've condensed it to a 3 minute video and the view gets better and better as I approach the top of the park. Enjoy.
探訪完通霄神社後，我到上次介紹的斧頭山公園。步行約需15分鐘，我拍了視頻剪輯成3分鐘片段跟大家分享。希望你會喜歡這個漫步。
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://livinguktaiwan.com/a-japanese-shrine-to-change-history/
Check out all my travel posts here on Steemit Worldmap, and also my latest project @LadiesOfAsia where we share fun and cultural diversity across Asia Pacific.
 | |
|---|---|
Congratulations! Your high-quality travel content was selected by @travelfeed curator @rimicane and earned you a reward, in form of a 100% upvote and a resteem. Your work really stands out! Your article now has a chance to get featured under the appropriate daily topic on our TravelFeed blog.
Thank you for being part of the TravelFeed community!
Learn more about our travel project on Steemit by clicking on the banner above and join our community on Discord
Thanks @travelfeed!
I don't mean to nitpick, but the first character of 斧頭山公園 seems like a Cantonese pronunciation of 虎頭山公園 (In standard Cantonese 虎頭 is pronounced fu2 tau4). The video title should be “Hu tOu shan in Taiwan”, shouldn't it?
You're absolutely correct, I keep on getting some cantonese and mandarin sounds mixed up particularly when writing pingyin as I am focusing on zhuyin now. Thanks
Interestingly, when the Soviet Union has seized to exist, people tried to get rid of everything that reminded of that period. Lenin was the first to go! Sure, for the younger generation it raises fewer questions, but the older ones would forever remember the past!
Whenever there is a new government, they tend to want to start with a clean slab, perhaps they feel it would be better if there's no comparison. And you're spot on with the older generation. Many of them in Taiwan felt life was much better under the Japanese colony days as the Japanese really treated Taiwan as part of their country. When the new KMT came along, there was a lot of me vs you, which resulted in Taiwan entering decades of martial rule. Its no wonder that today there are still many here who reminisce the old days.
沒想到這麼多日本神社還保留著，新政權不是應該趕緊拆掉嗎哈哈
曾经被统治过五十年，
我认为其实有某部份已经不知不觉的被同化了，
或许已不再被视为领略来看待了，
再说，
这些历史文物是无辜的。
从古到今，
人们说已经变成了一个文明社会，
我倒觉得，
不过是一个穿着，谈吐，行为看起来像是高度文明的野蛮人，
依然是动不动以各种名义来蹂躏别人，
一样是导致别人国破家亡，妻离子散。
Posted using Partiko Android
人類從來不會從歷史吸取任何教訓 😔
确实，
不知接下来的大型军演会不会再度开创历史新一页。
Posted using Partiko Android
那是"以前"的新政權!
Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=livinguktaiwan
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=ajapaneseshrinetochangehistory-vk813u5zyb
Want to have your post on the map too?
Congratulations @livinguktaiwan! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPDo not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
The musical instrument near the end of your post resembles a series of ocarinas linked together. Each tube seems to link to a single one, but maybe the sounds become blended.
[an ocarina: PD image by parkbonggyu0]
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by livinguktaiwan from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
Hi @livinguktaiwan!
Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 4.530 which ranks you at #1896 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has dropped 8 places in the last three days (old rank 1888).
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 270 contributions, your post is ranked at #69.
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server
Here in Daegu, South Korea there are still dozens of temples, schools, and other works of architecture built during the Japanese colonialism period. To me, it's sad to know that some many other ancient buildings were destroyed during that time so I'm always to see them still standing today.