December 19-25, 2011
Headline News
Tamsui Presbyterian Church hosts seminar open to the public at old Mackay Clinic
Reported by Lin Yi-ying
Written by Lydia Ma
Tamsui Presbyterian Church and Mackay Good Neighbor Association have been co-hosting seminars every Thursday this December inside the old Mackay Clinic in Tamsui focusing on the history of Taiwanese culture. On December 15, 2011, the topic of discussion was “Appreciating Indigenous Culture Through Century-Old Photographs” presented by Tamkang University Department of History Professor Chou Tsung-hsien. Chou used postcards and photos to present the culture of indigenous peoples in the past century.
“Did you know that in the film Seediq Bale, the protagonist, Mona Rudao, had travelled to Tokyo with some Atayal tribe chieftains before the outbreak of the Wushe Incident?” said Chou. “They also visited the University of Tokyo and took a photo in front of the building housing the Department of Science.”
Chou elaborated that the reason Mona Rudao had gone on a tour of Japan was because the Japanese government had invited them. However, its ulterior motive was to intimidate them with the sight of its newest jets, cannons, and military schools. It hoped that these chieftains would be too afraid to incite a revolt after they had seen the strength of the Japanese army. To their dismay, Mona Rudao still led a resistance attack against Japanese imperialist rulers later on. He lost his life in the Wushe Incident and became a hero.
Chou showed his audience photographs of chieftains wearing coral studs and clothes made from Taiwanese Leopard skin. He also showed them pictures of musical instruments and embroidery made by indigenous peoples and went on to explain the origin and meaning of human hunting, an important theme in the movie Seediq Bale.
According to Tamsui Presbyterian Church’s pastor Rev. Lu Ping-heng, the church began hosting seminars in February of this year to celebrate the end of reparations made to the old Mackay clinic. The first round of seminars was on Taiwanese musicians and the church received very positive feedback from the community. This inspired church leaders to schedule another round of seminars on another cultural topic.
Lu hopes that these seminars will enable the church to engage on a deeper level with its surrounding community and keep Mackay’s legacy alive, as well as share the gospel of Christ.
