What started this post was this video posted to facebook by one of my former students. It was filmed at our school: ___
___ So, let’s back up a little, first what is 台客 (tai ke)?
This is actually quite difficult to answer. I’ve heard the term “tai ke” could be likened to the term “redneck” or “white trash.” Meaning it is a certain subculture that is looked down on by the mainstream culture because of class, economic standing, and/or beliefs.
Lawrance also likened it to the hip hop culture–a subculture that is proud of who they are and where they come from that sets trends in music and clothing.
The New York Times says it is “a phrase that originally meant ‘redneck’ but has now come to encompass a youth-focused lifestyle that celebrates both the déclassé (flip-flops, Long Life cigarettes) and the haute (Gucci, Macallan).”
But, this seemingly simple term for subculture also is seeped in socio-political, historical implications. Historically, tai ke was “used by those post-1949 mainland Chinese arriving in Taiwan with the KMT regime.” At that time, “the term connoted ethnic discrimination towards native Taiwanese and was used specifically to articulate perceptions of their unsophisticated outlook and behaviour” (Taike rock and its discontent).
See, literally “tai ke” means “Tai guest.” So, the mainlanders were calling the Taiwanese and Hakka people who had been on the island longer than them–guests.
But, now, thanks to Wu Bai, who has been called the king of tai ke, and the commercial efforts of music companies, the term’s negative meaning has “been subverted and is now given a positive touch to mean ‘coolness’ and confidence” (East Asian Pop Culture). Wu Bai sees tai ke as a “direct expression of national culture.”
However, if you ask local Taiwanese people about what is “tai ke” they won’t refer to the historical or political implications. And, most won’t tell you that it means “cool and confident.” Instead, they will begin describing stereotypical actions of the people they consider to be “tai ke,” telling you how they drive, speak, and even chew.
Here are some things that are stereotypically thought to be “tai ke”–people who wear white and blue plastic slippers outside, have low education, chew betel nut, smoke and drink heavily, have cheaply dyed golden hair, wear imitation name-brand clothing, and hang out around temples or internet cafes, and participate in temple parades. There are even more stereotypical characteristics and behaviors; but, more than actions and behavior, being “tai ke” is a possessing a certain attitude.
So, nowadays, telling someone who is not “tai” they are “tai” is meant to be an insult. It would be like telling someone they have no class or are being disrespectful. But, those who actually are “tai” find pride in being “tai.”
And, while most people in Taiwan look down on things that are “tai ke,” there is also a sense of pride across Taiwan for some of the things that have come out of the “tai ke” subculture because it is uniquely Taiwanese (This is especially true in southern Taiwan).
“Tai ke wu” is one of these things.
OK. So, that brings us back to what is 台客舞 (tai ke wu)?
It is a group dance–similar to country line dancing in that lines of people do the exact same moves at the same time. And, that lots of people know how to do the dance.
And, like the fact that the subculture is mostly about a embodying a certain attitude so is the dance. As I was searching for videos, I saw one Taiwanese celebrity explain that although the foot work is easy, the arm movements and attitude that one has to portray is what makes the dance so special and difficult.
Lawrance pointed out to me that since the dance originated from people who participate in temple parades and hang out at temples, they naturally incorporated certain movements and feeling from temple parade marches that are made when carrying an idol down the street.
There are several videos on youtube showing students doing the “tai ke” dance. Here is what seems like the most watched “tai ke wu” video on youtube. It starts off as a group dance, but dancers back off one by one because one guy is so much better than the rest. All the shouts and screams coming from the sidelines are people expressing their admiration for how great he is doing. This was funny to me at first because originally I thought he was doing a poor job (kinda sloppy on the moves), but the more I learned about tai ke wu the more I realized it was all about embodying a certain attitude–and this guy’s got it.
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___ I liked this one that invited their teacher to join in, and she did. Throughout the video, everyone is impressed with the middle student’s dancing ability–again, she’s got a certain attitude going. ___
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And finally here is a modified tai ke wu (an aerobic exercise version) on the news . . . with all ages participating and the mayor of Kaohsiung promoting it. In this video, you can see people in costume dancing as gods on stage–this is what Lawrance was talking about . . . and we’ll get into more in depth tomorrow. ___
Honestly, there seemed to be no real purpose for this stop other than to just claim we had stopped by. However, Lawrance took advantage of the opportunity to find out just how many generations of Wu’s have been in Taiwan.
After counting on the ancestor tablet, Law’s dad found that he is the 10th generation of Wu’s in Taiwan and that Lawrance is the 11th generation.
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After this brief stop, we drove about 5 minutes to a grave area tucked between some fields.
Entrance to the tomb area:
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The tomb area was actually quite large. It was a two level area. This photo was taken standing in front of the main “ancestor” structure looking back to the entrance gate.
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Around the outside of the lower area was two tomb like structures. I assumed these were tombs–Lawrance informed me that these were for the gods who protected the tomb and the spirits of the ancestors. One was female and the other male.
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Behind this structure there were 120 people buried.
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The people who gathered to worship at the Wu burial site at 10 in the morning were are all part of the Wu family–so they are all distant relatives. But, for the majority of the people present, Lawrance has no idea how they are related. Some, who had immigrated to the States, traveled from New York City and some from Colorado just to worship their ancestors.
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A few minutes past 10, incense was passed out and everyone (but Lawrance and I) took some. Someone at the front prayed aloud for a few minutes, everyone bowed a few times then they went to leave their incense in the front.
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Then they lined up to leave more incense on the “tombs” of the gods who protect the site and the ancestors.
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Then two stacks of paper money were set on fire–one stack for the ancestors and one stack for the gods.
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After all was done, at about 10:20 or 10:30, firecrackers were set off.
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One thing that dawned on me as we were there waiting for the firecrackers to be lit and were conversing with some of Law’s uncles is that even in death the difference between individualism and collectivism can be seen. In America, we value individualism–being one’s self–we don’t mind doing things alone (ie, it is not necessary to go in a group to get a hair cut).
But, in Taiwan (and many other Asian countries) collectivism is valued–who you are is defined by your relationships. You aren’t “LeEn;” you are “classmate,” “big sister,” and “wife.” And, you probably do feel more comfortable if you could go with a group to get a hair cut–why would anyone want to do that alone?
And so those values can also be seen in how the dead are buried. In America we have graveyards and tombstones for each individual who has lived. In Taiwan, while I guess there may be some wealthy few who do have their own individual tombs, most are buried in mass graves marked with their family names.
Last Monday was Qing Ming Jie (清明節), known in English as Tomb Sweeping Day. If I am remembering correctly, it is the only holiday in Taiwan that is not based on the lunar calendar–here it is observed every April 5th. But the Wu family observes this holiday a week early. It was my first time to see a family as they worshiped their ancestors at their tombs.
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We woke up early and were on the rode before 7 AM on Sunday, March 28th. About an hour later, we arrived at the temple that houses the urns of Lawrance’s paternal grandparents.
__ It was already quite busy with other families worshiping.
__ While waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, I snapped a few photos. This is a tree that is worshiped right outside the temple.
__ Families would start by placing their offerings on the altar.
__ Then they would light incense–making sure everyone had at least three. First, they would bow facing away from the temple–this would be to the worship the “god of heaven.” This here is a photo of our family worshiping.
__ Here is what worship to gods and ancestors looks like in Taiwan. This is called “bai bai.”
__ Next, they would move to the inside incense holder in front of the “main god” of the temple to worship. This might also be one of the only times an entire family worships together. Corporate worship is not commonplace in Taiwan.
__ Then they would move on to the side rooms and/or the back rooms depending on how many sticks of incense they were holding. The back rooms house other idols.
__ Since it was the proper time to be worshiping ancestors, the rooms where the urns were kept were actually off limits because there would be too many people present. So, the side rooms served as another location to leave offerings to ancestors.
__ After everyone in the family had deposited their incense, we waited a few more minutes and then Lawrance’s dad declared it had been enough time, and everyone went back to retrieve the paper money they’d brought to burn and the offerings, this time namely fruit.
__ Then we headed over to an open pit for them to burn the paper money.
__ Here Lawrance explains some of what we were seeing:
__ In this video, he explains one of the papers that was being burned to the ancestors:
__ After all the paper money that our family had brought was burned, we return to Lawrance’s dad’s car and drove about 10 minutes to the home where his dad was raised. But, getting out of the parking lot proved interesting. The photo below was taken from inside L’s dad’s van . . . yeah, it was just a tad crowded at the temple that day. What you can’t see is that there are cars parked on both sides of the road–the woman in red got of the red car to help her husband . . . AND we both (our car and their car) and MORE cars lined up behind us. It was one of those surreal “only in Taiwan” moments for me.
__ I plan to show photos from the rest of the day, which includes how the Wu family worshiped the 9 generations before grandma and grandpa, as well as reflect on some of the implications a holiday like this has on Christian believers later this week in other blog posts.
First, thanks for the feedback earlier this week. We appreciate it!!
Second, Lawrance and I are praying about moving, and so I spent yesterday afternoon looking through some apartments online.
It’s kinda of fun being able to do this a husband. It was always just stressful before. Also, I’m thankful we found an online site to peruse first to see what is out there before we go looking in person.
Here is what we have decided we are looking for:
around 25-35 ping (approx 890-1,250 sq feet)
3 “bedrooms”
functioning kitchen (providing our own stove top & gas is ok, but we don’t want to have to provide counters, cabinets, and sinks)
not top floor of apartment building (too hot to cool down)
if higher than 4th floor, an elevator would be nice
allows pets
no or little furniture included (specifically, I want to bring our own mattresses, our own fridge, and our own washing machine–other than that I’m quite flexible)
Things that make the apartment more attractive to us but are not necessary:
ceiling fan(s)
a bath tub (Amanda’s choice)
elevator (Lawrance’s choice)
location (close to subway, school/parks, a market)
more than the standard tiny Taiwanese kitchen
wooden floor room (we think this would be a great place to have groups over for worship since they’d feel comfortable sitting on a wooden floor*)
There are several we rejected for various reasons, but I thought I’d show you some of the more “interesting” rejects. (Images can be clicked to be viewed full size.)
This is not the reason this one got rejected, but it is definantly a “half bath” ;)
This would be an example of a “non-functioning kitchen”
Again not the reason why rejected . . . but this kitchen so totally would need a Hello Kitty Theme. ;)
Now, this one looks ok small, but I don’t think I could last very long in this apartment due to the effect the wallpaper has on me.
Come down 3 stairs and then up a flight–huh?
Tiles on bedroom walls is not an immediate reject, but dark green ones? Yes.
*Outside shoes are taken off at the door, and slippers worn inside. But even slippers get taken off before entering a room with a wooden floor. Making it the “cleanest” floor in the home.
When I was at our local walmart/target-like store, I found these: 3M sticky idols.
I was truly taken aback at first, but then I remembered that this is Taiwan, the island of a thousand gods. Father, please continue to have mercy on the Taiwanese people giving them more time to respond to your grace. Soften their hearts and open their eyes. Set them free from the idol worship that binds them.
I don't have much knowledge of the Sung Chiang battle array (a form of martial performing arts) beyond what I observed the day I took these photos. I took these photos not long after I moved to Taiwan and lived in Meinong in Kaohsiung County. Two of my students invited me to a "fair" which turned out to be in reality a temple activity. They had taken me to the annual Goddess GuanYing Festival at the Neimen Zihjhu Temple in Neimen, a city north of our school.
Neimen has reportedly around forty or fifty different battle array "troupes." Several different troupes performed one right after another. Each troupe had weapons and preformed to beating drums and gongs. Some troupes had young and old alike all performing; some didn't include children. Nearly all the performers were male.
Here are some of the facts about Sung Chiang battle array that I learned by reading this article online:
"Unlike many other traditional Taiwanese folk arts, the Sung Chiang
battle array has never been recorded as existing in mainland China; it
is purely Taiwanese."
"Many of the weapons used in the Sung Chiang battle array are actually
farm tools–rakes, sickles, hooks, umbrellas–used by the early
peasantry."
"The performances declined during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan
(1895-1945) and today they are seen only during festivals, especially
the birthday celebrations for Matsu (Goddess of the Sea), Emperor
Paosheng (God of Medicine), and Cheng Huang (City God)."
"A full-size Sung Chiang team has 108 members; smaller ones have 72 or, at a minimum, 36."
"The performances vary but all include the same tactics, which add up to
a total of 108."
"All team members must pray to Sung Chiang before a performance starts;
and, at both the beginning and end of a performance, the performers
gather at the temple gate (most often, performances take place in
temple courtyards), raise their weapons high, and shout 'Ho! Ho! Ho!'"
Here are some of the videos I took of one of the troupes we watched:
The video below is of the troupe worshiping after performing. They start by worshiping the idol in the center, then move to the right and then to the left to worship the idols to the right and left of the center god.
Like I said yesterday, sometimes at temple performances there is a crowd watching and sometimes not. At this particular event, the crowd was huge! Here is only part of it:
Many Taiwanese worship a variety of Buddhist, Taoist, and folk deities. One of the ways Taiwanese people use to celebrate a god's birthday is a presentation of some sort to entertain the idols. I've seen people showing god's live "opera like" drama performances, demonstrations of "the art of war," movies shown on screens stretched between poles, women scantly clad singing and dancing, and puppet shows.
Recently, I also saw a mechanical version of what is shown in the very short video below. Actually, there were five different mechanical stages set up around a traffic circle.
Sometimes there is a human audience watching as well and sometimes not.
No time to comment tonight, so I will simply give you a photo of one of my all time favorite signs in Taiwan!! I love that the construction worker is wearing a pointy hat! :)
And, these guys below who are cleaning the street . . . I just love that their pointy hats are covered in bight-can't-be-missed reflective material! Classic!
Some things–like men waiting at a shopping mall or women giving "the look"–seem to be universal and transcend culture.
I saw this scene when I was riding an escalator at Dream Mall in Kaohsiung City. I thought it was so funny because these guys were doing the exact same thing their counterparts around the world do at malls–wait on their women. :)
Dream Mall (夢時代) is one of the largest malls in Asia–and opened about a year ago. It is HUGE!! And, there is even a Hello Kitty ferris wheel on top of the mall. Including the "roof" (where the ferris wheel is) and the two basement levels, this mall has 12 floors in all!
Malls–as we know them in America–are not common here in Taiwan. Instead there are "department stores." So, Dream Mall is actually very special.
There are very few things I don't like about Taiwan. But, I seriously hate tossing the trash in Taiwan (and I consider hate a very strong word, so I'm not using it lightly here).
At different times though out the day a trash truck will drive through every neighborhood. Each trash truck announces their presence by playing an electronic version of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise," which to the unknowing American sounds like an ice cream truck.
Each neighborhood/city is a little different, but each has their own trash truck traditions.
At my old house, people from two apartment complexes all gathered along the alley in front of the buildings, the trash truck stopped and literally about 100 people tossed trash into the back in about 5-10 minutes each night. We all knew that the truck would arrive at about 7:30, so at about 7:20ish people started heading downstairs and gathering out front to wait. I, however, lived on the 2nd floor near the front entrance, so I would wait till I heard the tinny melody to grab my trash and head out the door.
The nice thing about that neighborhood was that about 30 minutes later another truck drove down a side street, so if I missed the 7:30 trash truck, I could meet the 8:00 trash truck. Now, the 8:00 trash truck didn't stand still. People would stand outside their "townhouse-like" homes with their trash, and as the truck slowly drove by they would toss in their trash.
This phenomenon is something that can't be captured by words and photos alone, a video is necessary to help you experience this. So, without further adieu, here is a trash truck I got stuck behind while on my moped one night.
I always wondered what in the world I would do if I always worked nights and could never be home to take out the trash between 7:30 and 8:00. In some neighborhoods, the trash truck comes during the day . . . and I do wonder what people who don't work from home do about their garbage. Hmmm . . .
Ok, now let me just take a second to further justify my hatred for tossing trash. It is not just that I have to be responsible for taking out my trash and tossing it myself. That's ok. But is the fear that I've done something wrong and will have to dig in the trash to undo my mistake. You see, they have strict mandatory recycling polices here. And, if you throw out something that should be recycled, the garbage guys (aka trash nazis) will tear open your bag, and make you take care of it the right way.
Once, right after my neighborhood started to recycle food scraps, I included egg shells in my food waste pile. I thought egg shells were supposed to be good for compost piles. Except, I later learned food scraps collected on the back of the trash trucks in blue barrels are not for composting but for feeding pigs. So, when the trash nazi saw my egg shells in the blue barrel, he made me dig through the pile of food scraps to remove them. All the while, people were tossing their garbage bags over my shoulder as I diligently stuck my hand into that disgusting mess of pig slop and dug out all the egg shells big enough to see with a naked eye. YUCK!
Recycling trucks tag along behind trash trucks on certain days of the week–playing a different song (yes, at the same time). But, that's a story for another day.
For now, here are four more Taiwanese trash truck videos I found online. Enjoy!!!
There were many times I told my cousins “you’ve not really been to Taiwan if you haven’t ________.” And, one of those “fill in the blanks” was “eaten cuo-bing” (剉冰, shaved ice).
Cuo-bing is a wonderful Taiwanese delight!! Cuo-bing is shaved ice topped with yummy stuff. I like it topped with either fruit or an assortment of chewy things. And, traditionally it is topped with things like peanuts, beans, sweet potatoes, or taro pieces. In addition to these yummy things, a sweet syrup water is poured onto the ice and sometimes sweet condensed milk is also added.
The above photo was taken at a self-serve cuo-bing shop at a night market. You fill up the bowl, they weigh it, and then top it with ice and the brown sugar water.
Here are some fruit topped bings I’ve enjoyed:
~*~*~ Here are some of my students enjoying a great big bowl of fruit bing:
~*~*~ This one is a more traditional bing one of my friends enjoyed–it is topped with green beans, herbal jelly, and peanuts:
~*~*~ These girls are enjoying ice covered with green beans. Yeah, I prefer mango too. ;)
In order to keep carts on supermarket grounds, they are chained together.
To use one, you need to insert a 10NT coin (a coin about the size of a quarter worth about 33 US cents) into the gray device and then the red part of the chain unlocks and lets you pull the cart away.
When you are done using the shopping cart, you can return it to any location that has another "red handle device." Once you plug the red thing back into the gray thing, your money is returned to you.
I suppose this also helps to discourage shopping carts from being left abandoned throughout the parking lot.
This is the nicest "squatty potty" I've ever seen. It has a fish tank at eye level once you are squatting! Yes, there were live fish swimming around inside!!
Some homes have squatty potties, but mostly homes are equipped with western style toilets. However, when out in public you are most likely to encounter squatty potties–like the ones below. The one from the left is from McDonald's and the one of the right is most likely from a train station.
To flush a squatty potty you will either step on something–like the photo above and the photo below to the right. Or, there is something to pull that will be hanging from the tank somewhere on the wall above the squatty potty.
Oh, yeah, and most places would prefer you put your toilet paper in the trash can rather than flush it. And, just in case you are wondering, there is a front and a back–the "hooded" part is the front.
Now, you might be able to find a western style toilet out in public . . . but, beware, people will stand to squat on these too. So, just be careful before you choose to sit.
~*~*~*~ Thanks for the input/comment on the last post . . . it is quite helpful. And, I still welcome more suggestions, questions, or ideas. :)
Something new for following an unknown path is about to start . . .and I need your help.
Recently, I've been uploading my older photos onto my flickr account. Photos I took before I had a blog, and so have gone largely unseen by others besides myself. Also, life here is getting a little more busy–it always is a little more hectic at the end of the semester than at the beginning. In other words I have no time to compose thoughtful, relevant posts.
So, I'm going to try something new. For the next 46 days at least (that is till I get to go home, Lord willing), I'm going to be doing a series of simple posts featuring photos I've taken while living in Taiwan for the past five years. (I may or may not post other kinds of posts during this time . . . I've yet to decide.)
But, I'd like your help.What are some things you'd like to see photos of? So, you wanna see food? bathrooms? public phones? mail boxes? people? temples? flowers? landscapes? You name it or ask about it, and I'll search my photo archives, and if I don't have a photo of it already–I'll see if I can take one just for you. :) Be as specific or as general as you'd like.
The other thing I'd like to do is answer questions you might have about life here in Taiwan. Awhile back, Deborah, from Cup of Joy, interviewed me for her March missions month, and I really enjoyed answering her questions. It allowed me to talk about things that are close to my heart but that I don't think about mentioning anymore because they seem so common place now. So . . . what would you like to know about life in Taiwan? Ask away, and I'll try to answer.
welcome to wuhoo!
Hi! We are Lawrance and Amanda Wu.
We live in Taiwan--a little tea leaf shaped island in Asia.
Amanda is from Texas and Lawrance from Tainan. We met, fell in love and married in 2008.
We both teach English and both love to tell others about Jesus. We also both really enjoy laughing, and we both just happen to enjoy "ching cha," a type of fabulous green tea.
This is actually quite difficult to answer. I’ve heard the term “tai ke” could be likened to the term “redneck” or “white trash.” Meaning it is a certain subculture that is looked down on by the mainstream culture because of class, economic standing, and/or beliefs.
