December 7
< motorcade touring the streets >
The campaign entered the penultimate day of the final sprint.
In accordance with the practice of Taiwan's election culture, in the next few days, all the candidates will be fully mobilized, organize a big and smelly convoy, and carry out a campaign activity to sweep the streets and go around the border in an all-round way; just like the competition between the leaders of the temple fairs, the noise of shorter captains, gongs and drums, and firecracker smoke and dust. In a word, this is a tough battle between more money and less money; those who have more money will have a good momentum; and the voters who are waiting to sell their votes will also have a basis for selling for the price. Conversely, the no-money man is naturally powerless; the opportunistic voter naturally does not vote for him.
We are well aware of this traditional law of election campaigns. But we have not lost our minds because of such restrictions, and we are too poor to be short of breath; as a young, progressive, and cultural campaign, we are determined to try to create a new electoral culture in the face of adversity. As for how to create, under the objective reality that the material conditions are inferior to those of man, our only principle is: If others can do it, we must not be able to do it, and we will absolutely not follow it; if we want to do it, we will do something that others cannot do. The question is, what can't people do? Honestly, until the evening, when the Aboriginal singer Dhaka came down the mountain again to help, we really didn't have a score.
In the morning, according to the established itinerary, depart from the headquarters and first go to the community in the Beimiao area that has not yet been visited to visit the street to pray for tickets. We still had to do our propaganda campaign in the form of street lectures; the only difference was the addition of a propaganda vehicle. At first, because of the news shooting requirements of the local television station, the order of the team's action was a little chaotic, and the distance between the front and rear propaganda vehicles was also very long. Near the train station, a convoy of hundreds of vehicles suddenly staggered head-on with the green camp candidate who refused to argue with me. Witnessing their drumming, firing cannons in the air, and whizzing through, our team looked like a group of defeated stragglers, vulnerable. Zhenguo, as the commander-in-chief, and I were anxious. At the moment we reorganized the team and started again, and everything entered the situation again.
At the Sheliao Street Community Activity Centre, I gave my first street talk on the publicity bus, while other working partners and volunteers delivered propaganda at a nearby home. Just after the lecture, Ah Ling came up to the propaganda car and said to me: Just now, there is an old gentleman who has been standing at the entrance of the alley listening to your speech; I handed him the text, and he told me that when you finished speaking, I would say a few words to you. So I got out of the car, followed Aling, and walked up to the old gentleman and greeted him. The old gentleman clasped my hands and said with a little excitement: I am ninety-one years old this year, and I have listened carefully to what you have just said; we have never had a candidate speak like you. I have personally experienced the war, and I not only agree with the words you said against the war, but also thank you in person! ......
The warm winter sun shines on the earth. A group of elderly people sat under an old tree in front of the activity center, bored with the sunlight that penetrated through the branches.
We continue onwards, bypassing the traditional market of Beimiao and turning to the new fish market on Guohua Road. In the two old and new markets, I gave street lectures to the small traders who sold vegetables, fish or meat who set up stalls along the street or rented market stalls. Words were forced into the ears of the people selling and buying vegetables through the penetrating force of the horns; from the smiles on their faces, I felt a warm reward.
Two propaganda vehicles, together with a convoy of "action rooms", carrying candidates and all the staff, continued slowly along the street. Zhenguo sat in the driver's seat of the leading propaganda car and constantly shouted politically, and Ah Ling and I stood on the car in a high wooden box, constantly waving to the people on both sides of the street; some housewives who were drying quilts on the balcony or basking in the sun and chatting in the open space in front of the house also waved and cheered us in a friendly way.
The convoy crossed the Touwu Bridge across Houlongxi, drove into the territory of Touwu Township, circled several main streets, and drove to the final stop of the morning trip--- Mingde Reservoir, where they could eat and rest. After the meal, we set off from the Mingde Reservoir, crossed a long, curved, and uninhabited mountain road, turned into the Taiwan Third Line Highway, and then went to the Dahe Village Activity Center in Sanwan Township to hold a new book launch meeting < Red Hakka Village - the political storm at the bottom of the Big River>.
Immediately after the new book launch, we left this legendary and tragic "Red Hakka Village" and continued to roam the streets. We followed the Taiwan Third Line Highway through the narrow Sanwan Countryside in the middle of the mountains, and through the first part of the city, we transferred to the campaign service office in Zhunan.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the convoy set off again. Aboriginal singers Dhaka And Zhenguo, who had just arrived from Hsinchu's Spire Hill to help, stood on the leading propaganda bus. Aling and I waved to the crowd on either side of the crowd in the second car that followed closely behind. At this time, the sky is slightly darker, and the cold wind blowing from the sea brings some chills. In the middle of the car, Dhaka's loud singing accompanied by a guitar sounded in the air of the slightly desolate street with houses on both sides; he improvisedly sang aboriginal songs, old songs of Chinese, Hokkien pop songs and Hakka mountain songs filled with new words of political appeal such as "anti-military purchase", "save children", "make Miaoli different", "anti-war" and other political appeals. At first, the reaction of pedestrians on the side of the road was a bit stunned! I think they must be wondering: How did someone do this to an election? However, when they heard the lyrics of the Dakar Ho, most of them smiled knowingly; some enthusiastic people even opened their five fingers to us and made the No. 5 gesture high to show their support.
As I slowly advance through the streets of the dark night, watching the street lamps shine on the long silver-white hair tied in ponytails and the back of the cold wind in Dhaka, I suddenly felt as if he were a migratory bird leading the south; I thought that in the next few days, as long as his song was forerunner, we would not be afraid to face the convoy of rich candidates roaring by.
Because a new, culturally conservable election team has been born in Miaoli.
< red Hakka >
We arrived at the Dahe Village Activity Center in Sanwan Township, a secluded mountain, before 2 p.m.
During the White Terror of the 1950s, Dahe Village, Sanwan Township, formerly known as "Dahedi", was purged in the style of "Qingxiang", and almost none of the adult men in the village were spared, either in exile in the mountains, or arrested and imprisoned, or even killed in Taipei's Babachi Execution Ground. Through long-term interviews and research, I sorted out the historical testimony of the nine parties, reproduced this forgotten history of blood and tears, and handed it over to the Printing Press under the name of < Red Hakka Zhuang, the political storm > at the bottom of the Great River.
For a long time, Taiwan's new book launches have always been held in elegant or grand venues in Taipei City, Shoushan District. The new book launch held at the historical site of a remote mountain village can be said to be unprecedented. This is also what I have always wanted to achieve for a long time to follow the history of the victims of the White Terror. However, the years are merciless, and over the past few years, many of the parties mentioned in the book have died of illness one after another, and they have no chance to tell their fellow villagers about the long-unspeakable historical story. The three remaining witnesses of history--- Luo Qingzeng, who was imprisoned for thirteen years, Liao Hongye, and Liao Shaochong, who were imprisoned for twelve years and five years respectively, although they were both 70 or 80 years old and had white hair, they still attended the new book launch meeting. In addition, there are many survivors of the victims.
I began by making a brief opening statement to the media reporters and the public present: history can be linked to the "present", the "past" is a record of events, and therefore can also guide us to the "future". Investigating and studying the history of the White Terror of the 1950s is not intended to expose the scars of a regime or to retaliate against the so-called "perpetrators." In essence, the historical tragedy of the white terror that occurred on the whole island of Taiwan in the 1950s was a historical product of the dual war structure of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and the Chinese civil war. To understand the truth of history, the purpose is to let us learn from history and not to repeat the mistakes of the national civil war. So much for!
Then I put on a twenty-minute historical documentary about this "Red Hakka Village" that I had made in the past.
Then, I introduced Luo Qingzeng and three other historical witnesses in order, as well as the widow of Huang Fengkai, who was shot, and invited them to tell the bitterness of their own experiences and witness the historical tragedies of the past. Before their arrest, these predecessors were farmers who could not read a few big characters. However, through the integrity of those generous and righteous refugees, and the tempering of "Burning Island University", they are, like Gorky's "eternal revolutionaries", "humble people who believe in their own strength". Through their understanding of history, they have been able to stand in a higher historical perspective and look at the misfortunes they have encountered. As a result, they have long since "no personal resentment" and have been able to "go beyond themselves and overcome the desire to take revenge on those who have tormented and suffered him—this small, vicious desire." Because of this kind of cultivation, they only lightly carried out the tragic situation of their families and deaths after they were arrested and imprisoned; on the contrary, they strongly appealed to the villagers: support Lan Bozhou, who has long studied the white terror and done many good things for the victims of the white terror, to enter the legislative yuan; because a person like him who persistently pursues the historical truth will certainly be able to supervise the people in power well for the common people.
Mr. Luo Qingzeng, who always views things from a simple class point of view, even took his own historical experience as an example, and pointed out in a serious tone: Like the previous Chiang kai-shek regime, the rulers of today regard Taiwan as a pawn in the strategic interests of the United States and constantly provoke the mainland with Taiwan independence actions, and this will eventually lead Taiwan into a national civil war that will never be repeated. We cannot but learn from the tragedies of history! ......
These old people in the "red Hakka villages" in the mountains once again let me see the "faint flame" full of hope.
【Voice of the People】
Sender: Miao Middle School Sister
Main: Finally
I will come to your website every day to see, every day there are different touches and feelings! I looked at your election diary and saw so many people blessing you and cheering for Miaoli. As a member of Miaoli, I was so touched!
I didn't have the right to vote for a long time, but before I had the right to vote, I was already bored and helpless about Taiwan's election culture. I thought I would never care about taiwan's elections again. But this time is different, how I hope you can bring hope to Miaoli and our next generation of children!
It's not far from polling day, and I'll pray for you every day, like all those who bless you! Again, that sentence... Come on! (2004)
Editorial Management: Taiwan People's Culture Studio