Rescuing the Tamsui Sunset: 525 Arts and Cultural Event Dedicated to the Mother River
"Dedicate to the Mother River, Don't Say Goodbye to the Tamsui Sunset" event
Arts and academic circles speak out together, refusing to build the Tamsui River Bridge
Time: May 25, 2013 (Saturday) 3-6 PM
Location: Tamsui riverbank (next to the old street's main post office, past the riverside bronze statue of Mackay landing)
Content: arts performances, scholars speaking out, street petition signing
Initiated by: Culture Year One, Love Tamsui Front
Co-organized by: Hong Hong, Hsieh Tung-ning, Yang Chih-ming, Yu Hao-wei, Chang Lei, Huang Ching-cheng, Pei Li-nung, Lin Yu-hsiang, Tseng Hsiao-hou, Shih Yun
Contact:Shih Yun Sophie Seeing, [email protected]
In support: Li Min-yung (poetry), Yin Ni (poetry), Chu Pi-tou + Hsiao Fu-te + Rock'n'Roll Lord Jesus Band (performance), Lo Ssu-jung (performance), Hsieh Yun-ya (performance), Wang Yu-chun (performance), Chang Hsin-jou (performance), Chang Lei (performance), Ah Ren (performance), Huang Ching-cheng (performance), Tseng Tao-hsiung (opera singer), Chuang Hua-tang (novelist), Wang Yu-lin (film director), Wu Chung-liang (theater director), Tsui Su-hsin (documentary director), Hu Yung-fen (curator), Chang Sheng-hsiung (transportation scholar), Chao Chin-yung (archaeologist), Zhuwei Workshop, Tamsui Culture Foundation, Tamsui History Workshop, Bitan Suspension Bridge Guardians Alliance…….etc.
Signatories:the above + Huang Jui-mao, Wang Chao-hua, Pi Heng-ta, Ko I-cheng, Wu Yi-feng, Wu Peng-feng, Chang Tieh-chih, Chang Chuan-fen, Venerable Shih Chao-hui, Hsu Shih-jung, Shih Ming, Hsu Ching-chun, Weng Chia-ming, Ying Wei-min, Chen Ming-chang, Lai Chien-te, Chen Wen-pin, Chung Chiao, Liao Mi, Yao Jui-chung……and more (in order of signing)
Signing organizations:Black Eyes Culture, Fire Thief Theatre, Assignment Theatre, Elf Magic Dance Troupe, Taiwan Yueqin Folk Song Association, Mountain Dog Band, OURs Urban Reform Organization, Green Party Taiwan, River BOOK, Yongle Bookstore, Crazy Theater Music Studio, Si Image Studio, Sanzhi Culture Foundation, Free Communication Association, North America Taiwan Hakka Association….and more
Notes:
1. Please refrain from other off-topic demands or flags or banners with political party colors
2. Participants please make their own handheld signs such as "No Tamsui River Bridge, Just the Tamsui Sunset"
3. Please bring your own stool or cushion, mosquito repellent, and take your garbage away with you
4. Please use public transportation as much as possible to avoid traffic chaos in Tamsui
5. The event will be canceled if it rains; please watch the weather or the petition webpage for announcements
Opening
Taiwan that I cherish with all my heart, my youth I have all given to you
Taiwan that I cherish with all my heart, all my joy in life is here
I see the mountain ridges in the mist and clouds, gazing at the whole land through the gaps in the clouds
The distant shore across the waves of the great sea, I love to gaze there without rest
Taiwan that my heart cannot part from, my life I have all given to you
Taiwan that my heart cannot part from, my happiness for a lifetime is all here
I hope the final stop of my life will be amid the sound of great waves striking the shore
Within the swaying shadows of the bamboo grove, finding my last home in life
"The Last Residence" is the posthumous work of Dr. Mackay, written before his death from illness in 1901. This missionary from Canada entered northern Taiwan by boat from the Tamsui river mouth in 1872, and from then on devoted his whole life to this land. His cherishing and deep love for Taiwan are truly expressed in this poem.
The Issue
On the long-disputed question of whether to build the "Tamsui River Bridge," a decision was originally made more than 10 years ago after an environmental impact assessment that it should not be developed, yet in the 99th year of the Republic (2010) it was unexpectedly re-approved. On April 24 of this year (102nd year of the Republic, 2013), the third environmental difference review meeting passed at the Environmental Protection Administration. It is expected that, urged on by some local figures, the likelihood of it passing the environmental impact assessment conference is extremely high, and by then Tamsui's important cultural landscape, the "Tamsui Sunset," will become a thing of the past!
The "Tamsui Sunset" has been a famous Taiwanese scenic view since ancient times. With the two banks of the Tamsui river mouth facing each other and the broad river surface as its foreground, it adds color and beauty to the sunset scenery. How many literati and artists have written lyrics and songs for her, such as Yeh Chun-lin's "Tamsui Twilight," or painted to express their feelings for her, such as Chen Cheng-po's painting "Tamsui Sunset," which once set an auction record of 210 million. Both took her as creative inspiration, and to this day they remain widely praised and immortal. She is the natural scenery and cultural landscape that Tamsui people are proud of, and most of today's tourists also come for her. She is Tamsui's important tourism and cultural resource.
Unfortunately, today under the government's improper urban development, not only is the Tamsui landscape becoming more and more chaotic, the skyline more and more narrow, urban pressure more and more rampant, and natural scenery more and more rare, but now even this precious historical and cultural asset is about to be destroyed because of the "Tamsui River Bridge." Such an absurd and mistaken decision will surely make current officials bear the stigma of history in the future, and will also surely cast a shadow over Tamsui, this "potential World Heritage site"! Arts and academic circles have decided to step forward, inviting the public to speak out together and calling on the government not to let a tragedy happen!
In addition to the online petition now underway, on Saturday, May 25, from 3-6 PM on the Tamsui riverbank, the arts world will offer its most heartfelt performance, dedicated to the mother river of northern Taiwan – the Tamsui River, thanking and blessing her, just as Dr. Mackay cherished and deeply loved Taiwan in those days.
Petition website: http://campaign.tw-npo.org/sign.php?id=2013042609163500, or please search online: Don't let the Tamsui Sunset become a thing of the past, the Tamsui River Bridge must not be built!
Demands
1. The Ministry of Culture should immediately designate the "Tamsui Sunset" as a "cultural landscape," and regulate landscape restrictions on both banks of the Tamsui river mouth.
2. Cancel the "Tamsui River Bridge" construction project, and properly carry out investigation and protection of the environmental ecology and human archaeology of the Tamsui river mouth.
