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Twenty-five young women and girls drowned after a severely overloaded ferry capsized in 1973. The deaths spurred changes in public transport safety in Kaohsiung, and the victims became part of a social debate over women's rights.
Cover (left) shows the original graves of the women and girls who died in the 1973 sinking of a ferry crossing the harbor from Qijin (Cijin) Island (The Cemetery of Twenty-five Ladies 二十五淑女墓 via Wikimedia Commons) Cover Right: A report from Taiwan’s Central Daily News on September 4, 1973. “On the morning of September 3, 1973, the ‘Gao Zhong No. 6" transportation ship, which was only allowed to carry 30 passengers, violated the regulations. The ship was carrying 73 passengers. The cabin and outside were full of passengers, and there were even passengers standing on the top of the ship.”
Source material/John Ross book recommendation:
HAUNTED MODERNITIES: GENDER, MEMORY, AND PLACEMAKING IN POSTINDUSTRIAL TAIWAN by Anru Lee
Video made by Eryk Michael Smith on February 21, 2024.
1. The original cemetery, the "Twenty-five Ladies’ (or Maidens') Tomb. Via Wikimedia Commons.
2. On April 28, 2008 the Kaohsiung City government formally renamed the Twenty-five Ladies’ Tomb the Memorial Park for Women Laborers.
3. A screenshot from Google maps shows the location of the current memorial
4. Image shows police officers controlling the number of people getting on a ferry. The 1973 fatal accident sparked transportation reforms in Kaohsiung, especially with regard to ferries. United Newspaper Department File Photo (1987/09/10 Photography by Xie Mingwang)
5. The current ferry used by most people to cross from Gushan to Cijin (Qijin). Via the Kaohsiung City Shipping Co. Ltd. A schedule for the ferry can be found HERE.
6. As the diesel-powered ferries (like the one above) retire, they are being replaced by electric ferries (such as the one in the picture below). Via Facebook/Kaohsiung Ship Watchers.
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.
