Xia-Hai City God Temple Festival-Cruise trip with
the City God!
by Tammy Hsieh
You might have joined the celebration of City God’s birthday but how about crusing along Tamsui River with the City God? Since 2001, Xia-Hai City God Temple Festival has extended the parade to a cruise trip along Tamsui River to revive the tradition of dragon boat racing on Tamsui River instead of Keelung River, where it is held nowadays.
On today’s tour, we were fortunate to go on a boat to observe dragon boats rowing while listening to traditional Chinese music performed by Chin-Yuan Chinese Orchestra(琴園國樂團). Whenever our boat came close to the dragon boats, we cheered loudly for the hard labored paddlers under the burning sun. With the statue of City God held at the end of the dragon boat, we doubt that they would dare to loaf on the job!
Tracing back the history of Dadaocheng, the development began after 1853, settlers from Tong’an county (同安縣) lost Dingxiajiao Conflict (頂下郊拼) to people from Sanyi(三邑) and escaped from Manka to Dadaocheng. Later on, the village expanded and Xia-Hai City God Temple was built to worship the City God and the 38 martyrs who guarded the statue of the City God during the escape. Tradition has it that the new appointed city governor has to worship the City God before he begins his term. The religion is so closely related to people’s life that Xia-Hai City God Temple remains one of the three most renowned temples in Dadaocheng and probably the most popular one. Every May 13th on Lunar Calender, the celebration of City God’s birthday is the largest event in the area. Besides the City God, the temple has many young worshippers praying to the match making god, hoping to meet their Mr. or Ms. Right.
The Match Making God
Even though Tong’an immigrants were defeated in Dingxiajiao Conflict, they gain more fortune than Sanyi settlers after Dadaocheng replaced Manka as the main port in late 19th century. Generating half of the export revenue, tea was the dominant industry in Taiwan at that time and thus the center of tea industry, Dadaocheng, became the most prosperous district. Gui De Street(貴德街), the marketing spot of tea, thus gathered the wealthiest businessman.
Interestingly, tea industry in Taiwan was actually started by an English merchant, John Dodd. He was called “Father of Taiwanese Oolong Tea” because he transplanted the plant from Fujian Province, China, to Taiwan and introduced it to western countries. His right-hand man, Li Chun-Sheng(李春生), also gain great fortune and became a distinguished leader of the community.
The Church donated by Li Chen-Sheng
Standing in front of the house of Chen Tien-Lai (陳天來), we imagine the life of the rich in Dadaocheng in 1920s: living in a three-floor-building on Gui De Street, facing Tamsui River, and small canals winded through valleys, the house was decorated in western style with a garden at the back, unlike traditional Minnan architectures: first floor was for business, second floor was to host guests and on third floor the family rest themselves from the busy crowds.
As frequent trades with China and other countries prospered the area, it became a hub for artists, singers and entertainment activities. Li Lin-Chiu, the writer of a famous Taiwanese song, Longing for the Spring Breeze(望春風), also lived here. Our tour guide Kay even dubbed him as Taiwan’s Frank Sinatra. On the other hand, Intellectuals often meeted here to discuss important issues, deciding the future of Taiwan.
House of Li Lin-Chiu
Yet as the center of Taipei gradually moves from west to east, Dadaocheng is no longer the shinest star of the city and the families who still live on Gui De Street is not prominent as before as well.
Leaving Gui De Street, the high-class neighborhood, we entered Di Hua Street, where common people live. Composed of traditional medicine shops, tea shops and other stores, Di Hua Street is still vibrant with ongoing business. Strolling along the street, it’s easy to picture the life a century ago, when modern medicine hadn’t been introduced to Taiwan. Unlike other old streets which are merely tourist attractions, people are still living and doing business on Di Hua Street. So we saw not only the remains of bricks but the residents and their lifestyle.
Another interesting fact about Di Hua Street is that the buildings are a mix of Western and Asian styles, influenced by Neoclassicalism. Ever since the Meiji Restoration, Japanese were eager to immitate western culture in every aspect, including architecture. However, rejected by traditional Japanese society, they had to experiment the new style in Taiwan, their colony, instead. As a result, most of the offical buildings during Japanese colony were westernized, as well as the Presidential Building.
On a Sunday morning, we followed the City God to Tamsui River and walked around Dadaocheng, reliving the life a century ago. By glancing the past, we understand more about the history of Taipei and hopefully have more ideas to protect these cultural assets. It would be a meaningful gift to the City God, we believe.