The Bombing of Master HanDan (part II)

With all the detours, we didn't arrive in Taidong city until around 7:00 pm. Feiona's relatives live in a rural area, mostly farmers. I was amazed by the linguistic diversity - within 2 hours I heard at least 5 languages. First of all, most of the family members (including Feiona's father) are trilingual in Mandarin, Hakka and Taiwanese (culturally considered Chinese dialects, but linguistically as different as French, Spanish and Italian). Also, due to the common practice of Taiwanese farmers marrying Vietnamese brides - many with family roots in Guangdong - I also frequently heard Vietnamese, and I conversed with her uncle's wife in Cantonese. In addition, the area is also home to a few major Aboriginal tribes - each with their own language.




After a traditional Hakka meal with a Vietnamese green papaya dish, we headed downtown to see the bombing event.



When we arrived, the mayor was making a speech, and when she announced "Let the festival begin!" the whole crowd rushed towards the stage. People climbed onto on ladders and bleachers, and we couldn't see a thing! Scanning my surroundings, I found an opening - there was just enough space under a large metal platform to crawl through to the very front of the crowd. Without really thinking, we squeezed in. When I looked up, BOOM! A firecracker exploded right in front of me. I couldn't breathe, and I thought I was going to go deaf. What I saw, though, was too unbelievable for me to turn back - a topless man tied to a high seat was being paraded around in circles while people mercilessly threw firecrackers at his body. The only protection he had was goggles, a red cloth around his mouth and nose, and a banyan tree branch to shield his face.



They would stop every 10 minutes, let the poor guy down, and another man would take over. It was seriously the craziest thing I'd ever seen. After about 3 or 4 rounds, my ears and lungs couldn't take it anymore, and we crawled back out of the circle.



I heard a few versions of this festival's origins. According to one legend, HanDan is one of the 5 gods of wealth in the heavens. He is extremely afraid of the cold, so whenever he comes to the earth, people have to throw firecrackers at him to keep him warm. Another legend says that HanDan was a local gangster who made life miserable for the residents. One day, he realized his wrongdoings and decided to redeem himself by walking around the streets naked while the angry locals threw firecrackers at him. Finally, he died from the wounds and became a god of wealth. Nowadays, people believe that the bigger and louder the explosions, the more wealth he will bring.




So besides the sake of tradition, why do so many young men volunteer to partake in such a dangerous and painful activity? I had a chance to speak with one of the "bombed" - one of Feiona's uncles went through 2 rounds the night before. He was on his way to the hospital to get a tetanus shot, and he proudly showed me his wounds.



"The first time I volunteered was last year," he said. "I prayed to gods for $30,000 (about $1000 USD) in my bank account if I went through the bombing. 2 days later, my uncle who owed me $50,000 suddenly paid me back! So of course I volunteered again this year!"

Staring at the wounds all over his body, I asked him whether it's too painful of a price to pay. "No, because it didn't hurt at all!"