The activity featured the Hakka lion dance and drumming performance, livening up the Liudui tricentennial celebration.
Deputy Minister Chung said that “Liudui” is of great significance in Taiwan’s reclamation history, noting that 300 years ago the Hakka ancestors in Kaohsiung and Pingtung established Liudui—a joint defense organization to protect their homeland—and later developed settlements in the region. Three centuries later, Liudui Hakka people are closely connected and unified in local communities, passing down their own language and culture from generation to generation and maintaining their cultural identity, Chung said, hoping that these celebratory activities for local people to partake can achieve a high degree of solidarity in the Hakka settlement.
Deputy Minister Chung said that Neipu Matsu Temple, which was initiated by the then Liudui leader Chung Lin-chiang (鍾麟江) in 1803, was not only a religion center that brought spiritual strength and social stability but also a meeting place for the Liudui militia.
Liudui people from various fields took part in the Nov. 15 activity, performing the Hakka lion dance, offering ceremonial Hakka plate flowers to Goddess Matsu, and raising Liudui flags to show the united spirit, which echoes Hakka ancestors’ commitment to protect their homeland, said Chung.
The Council extends a warm invitation to people from all over the country to join the Liugdui 300th Anniversary Event. More information can be found on the event’s official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/liudui300/.