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Eryk said to John, "All the traditional festivals celebrated in Taiwan have sad -- or even horrific -- backstories!" John said, "Really? Hmm... I doubt that." And so we recorded this episode, in which we tell the tales behind traditional festivals from Moon Festival to Tomb-Sweeping Day... and we'll let you be the judge, but it seems like Eryk won the debate.
Plus: John quizzes Eryk on forgotten or lost holidays that were once part of the ROC calendar
Cover image: The Nian Monster of ancient Chinese lore. This monster was found to be afraid of the color red and loud noises...which is why we use a lot of red and make a lot of noise during Chinese (lunar) New Year. Via CLI.
Below: A Chinese painting depicting Jie Zitui - the loyal servant who gave his master meat from his own leg, and was later "rewarded" by being (unintentionally) burnt to death. This is the origin story of Tomb-Sweeping Day.
NOTE: Some sources give the date of the founding of the Republic of Formosa as May 25th, 1895...we used that date in a previous episode. However, Wikipedia and others say May 23rd, 1895. In this episode we use May 23rd. Below: The flag of the short-lived Republic of Formosa.
Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became was famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
