Residents of Shezi Island in Taipei celebrate the Lantern Festival with a tradition known as Bombing the Earth God, an event that honors Tudigong. The festivities continue despite the area facing an uncertain future due to proposed development plans.
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00:00You come and go as you please.
00:03Every spring, on the 15th day of the first lunar month,
00:07an isolated community in western Taipei
00:09has reason to celebrate.
00:11Families separated by the demands of modern life
00:14return from across the country to Taipei's Shizuoka Island
00:17to eat, drink, and celebrate
00:19one of Taiwan's most unique deities,
00:21Turigong, the earth god,
00:23as part of Lantern Festival.
00:25When we are in charge of the Lantern Festival,
00:29we will invite Turigong to come out and put on a show
00:31and serve everyone.
00:33The more firecrackers we set off,
00:37the more firecrackers we emit.
00:44On the final day of Lunar New Year,
00:46the annual bombing of the earth god
00:48honors Turigong,
00:49a deity known for protecting the land.
00:52In Taiwan, he is so widespread
00:54that he is often compared to a neighborhood chief.
00:57Despite having an estimated population of just 10,000,
01:01Shizuoka Island is home to many shrines
01:03and hosts four processions of the god each year,
01:07testament to both the community's traditions
01:09and the challenges it faces.
01:11We use Turigong
01:13to drive away the plague
01:17so that it can be repaid every year.
01:21It will take care of us.
01:22Our Turigong,
01:24our Shizuoka Island Turigong,
01:27is the ancestor of a shepherd's son.
01:29He had a calf.
01:31He went to the shepherd's son
01:33and asked him to come and pick it up.
01:34He picked it up, and it became a god's spirit.
01:37That's why it keeps coming back.
01:41People here prepare for this event weeks in advance.
01:45For residents of Shizuoka Island,
01:46it's one of the most important cultural
01:48and religious events of the year,
01:50and that's partly due to geography.
01:53The thing is, Shizuoka Island
01:55isn't actually an island at all.
01:57Once an island,
01:58Shizuoka became a peninsula
02:00after the city changed the river's course in 1965
02:03and reclaimed land in 1975.
02:06Sitting just 2.5 meters above sea level,
02:09it remains prone to floods.
02:11A typhoon in 1963 devastated the area,
02:14and in 1970,
02:16the government restricted development of the area.
02:19Despite periodic protests,
02:20Shizuoka was historically excluded
02:23from several major flood control projects,
02:26leaving many residents feeling abandoned and exposed.
02:30We want to take care of the people here,
02:33but we don't have a solid foundation.
02:35But if we want to
02:37address the development and non-development issues,
02:40we have to turn things around.
02:41What the people need is life.
02:43If we can get a stable life here,
02:46that's what we need the most.
02:48Over the past few decades,
02:50the city has built a seawall around Shizuoka
02:52and improved river management,
02:54reducing the frequency of flooding.
02:56However, this newfound stability brings its own challenges.
02:59Occasionally, lawmakers propose redeveloping the area,
03:02suggesting it could be turned into an upscale
03:04residential neighborhood or even a park,
03:07ideas the community fears do not consider their interests.
03:11If you just want to make it a park,
03:14don't you think it's a bit of a waste?
03:16Because its height
03:18is the problem of the designer.
03:21Do you want to make it a park?
03:23Or do you want to make it a cultural place?
03:26Because it's all planned,
03:27and we might all be kicked out.
03:3060 to 70 percent of the residents
03:34will be kicked out of the Shizuoka Island
03:36because they can't afford to buy a house.
03:39The residents of Shizuoka Island
03:41continue to practice their cultural traditions
03:43while facing an uncertain future,
03:45wary of government plans
03:47that may push them out of their homes.
03:50Still, for one night each year,
03:52they put their worries aside,
03:54come together,
03:55and celebrate bombing the earth gone.
03:58Fu Hua-hung,
03:59Hichy Chuang,
04:00and Bryn Thomas for Taiwan Plus.