Wu Feng ( Chinese 吳鳳 , Wu Feng; February 17, 1699 - September 9, 1769 [1] ) is a 17th-century Chinese preacher who contributed to the development of Taiwanese Aboriginal culture. The reality of Wu Feng's existence is disputed, the life story of Wu Feng is also controversial, according to some opinions, it is a myth or a late fake. The story of Wu Feng is primarily disputed by representatives of Taiwanese aborigines who consider it offensive [2] .
Content
- 1 Life by Feng
- 2 An image of Feng in the 20th century
- 3 References
- 4 Literature
Fan Life
Wu Feng was born in China in 1699 in Fujian , moved to Taiwan and settled in Chiayi (then the city was called Chulosian). He received a good education and received a high official position, began to study the languages of Taiwanese Aborigines, and then began to help them resolve disputes. He was considered fair and incorruptible, and he became respected by two warring groups of Aboriginal people around Alishan Mountain. He tried to persuade the Aboriginal people to abandon the custom of bounty hunting and sacrifices, but at first unsuccessfully.
When the natives began an epidemic, they wanted to sacrifice one man from the valley. Wu Feng allowed them to kill one person, and announced that tomorrow they would meet a rider in red robes, it was this person who should have chopped off his head, but on condition that this was the last head that they chopped off. The next day, the natives saw the man in red, attacked him and chopped off his head, and suddenly found that it was Wu Feng himself. Amazed and frightened, they stopped the practice of bounty hunting [3] .
There is a Wu Feng Buddhist temple near the city of Chiayi , built in 1820 , in which Wu Feng is revered as a bodhisattva .
Feng's Image in the 20th Century
Presumably, the myth of Wu Feng took shape during the Japanese colonization of Taiwan, but it was most widely spread during the Kuomintang reign. Wu Feng entered school books as a national hero who was able to bring Aboriginal people to civilized norms of dormitory [2] .
In the 70s, based on the story of Wu Feng, a dance performance of the Yunmen Theater was staged as a variation on the theme of the ballet "The Rite of Spring " [4] .
After 1989, when the provisions on the rights of Aboriginal people were revised in Taiwan and measures were taken against discrimination of Aboriginal people and the protection of their culture, a series of Aboriginal protests against the cult of Wu Feng and the dissemination of the story of Wu Feng in school textbooks took place. The natives said they would destroy Wu Feng's statues wherever they were found. [5]
The story of Wu Feng as a result of mass protests was removed from school textbooks.
Links
- ↑ 中華民國 中央研究院 計算中心 中西 曆 轉換 工具
- ↑ 1 2 Shepherd, John R. Statecraft and Political Economy on the Taiwan Frontier, 1600-1800. - Stanford University Press, 1993 .-- P. 475 n . 55 . Reprinted 1995, SMC Publishing, Taipei. ISBN 957-638-311-0
- ↑ Lonely Planet: Taiwan
- ↑ Yang, Meng-Yu. Cloud Nine: Lin Hwai-Min and Cloud Gate Dance Theater. - Taipei: Tian xia yuan jian chu ban gu fen you xian gong si, 1998 .-- P. 111.
- ↑ “Minority, Not Minor.” Archived on March 13, 2007. Dignity, Respect & Freedom website: Government Information Office, Republic of China. Accessed 8/17/06