In 1975, Chiang Kai-shek died of illness in Taiwan, China, ending his life. This man who was once "revered like a god" in Taiwan, China, ushered in a "splendid" moment after his death.
Eight hours after the death of Chiang Kai-shek , more than 20 well-known figures in Taiwanese politics formed a Chiang Kai-shek Funeral Committee to ensure a "glorious burial".
Chiang Kai-shek's son Chiang Ching-kuo specially changed clothes for Chiang Kai-shek. Soong Meiling also put his favorite books as funerary objects in the coffin. In accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's last wish, the funeral procession slowly drove to Cihu.
As early as the 1960s, Chiang Kai-shek happened to pass by Daxi, Taoyuan, Taiwan, China. He found that this place was very similar to his hometown of Zhejiang, so he ordered people to build a palace.
In his later years, Chiang Kai-shek always hoped to be buried in mainland China after his death. However, the relationship between Taiwan and the mainland was complicated, and Chiang Kai-shek's wish was ultimately just a luxury.
Therefore, Chiang Ching-kuo and others could only temporarily keep Chiang Kai-shek's body in Cihu, so that it could be easily moved in the future. At the same time, the political circles in Taiwan, China, began to build momentum for Chiang Kai-shek.
Unlimited glory
When Chiang Kai-shek passed away, the power of the Chiang dynasty in Taiwan, China, could not be underestimated. Therefore, for a long period of time, Chiang Kai-shek was "unlimited glory". In order to let the people remember Chiang Kai-shek, the Kuomintang did everything possible.
After Chiang Ching-kuo gave an order, hundreds of Chiang Kai-shek statues rose from the ground in Taiwan, China. They were located in schools, squares, streets and other areas, almost everywhere.
In order to show the nobility of Chiang Kai-shek, the relevant departments have imposed strict restrictions on the specifications of the statue. First of all, the height of Chiang Kai-shek's statue cannot be less than one meter and seventy meters, so as to show Chiang Kai-shek's "tall" image.
Secondly, the appearance of the statue should be kind, kind and approachable. In addition, the statue's standing, sitting, and even clothing must comply with relevant red tape: The clothing of the seated statue can only have three buttons carved.
If the statue maker fails to carve in accordance with the regulations, he will be subject to certain penalties. At the same time, if anyone dares to disrespect or damage the statue of Chiang Kai-shek, he will be charged with "rebellion".
In 1975, under the arrangements of Chiang Ching-kuo and others, the ground-breaking ceremony of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was held. Over the past five years, the Kuomintang has invested huge manpower, material and financial resources, and the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in memory of Chiang Kai-shek has finally been completed.
In the center of the memorial hall, the Kuomintang specially invited the famous sculptor Chen Yifan to build a 6.3-meter-high bronze statue weighing as much as 21 tons. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek's relics are also placed in the memorial hall.
In order to "recognize" Chiang Kai-shek's "contribution", recordings and videos of "praising his virtues" were played in a loop in the memorial hall. During his lifetime, Chiang Kai-shek attached great importance to "hierarchy". After his death, his descendants also fulfilled this dream for him.
Relevant departments have stipulated that no matter on any occasion, as long as they hear Chiang Kai-shek's name, the people need to pay the highest respect.
When leaders speak in public, if Chiang Kai-shek is mentioned, everyone in the audience must stand at attention and take off their hats. When students learn about Chiang Kai-shek's life in class, they must not laugh and must sit upright and straight.
Prior to this, Chiang Kai-shek had always had the dream of "lasting fame forever". In order to realize his wish, the Kuomintang specially found musicians Li Zhonghe and Zhang Ling.
Not long after, a song called "Chiang Gong Memorial Song" was widely circulated in the streets and alleys of Taiwan, China. In the 1980s, "Song in Memory of Duke Jiang" was also included in teaching materials as a key learning content for children.
"President Chiang Kai-shek, you are the savior of mankind, you are the great man of the world... You seek the rejuvenation of the nation..." The words between the lines are full of compliments and flattery, but there is no truth at all.
The political circles in Taiwan Province beautify Chiang Kai-shek and vigorously promote his image of "integrity" and "democracy", which is completely contrary to reality.
Some people at the bottom of Taiwan Province hate Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorship. Is the way the Kuomintang "misses" Chiang Kai-shek another form of thought control?
Such a suffocating cultural atmosphere has also made the masses complain. However, huge oppression will inevitably lead to more intense resistance.
was hit hard and was in chaos
After the death of Chiang Ching-kuo, the era of the Chiang family dynasty that once dominated the political circles in Taiwan, China, came to a complete end. At the same time, the Democratic Progressive Party and others are emerging in the political world.
Not long after, in the turbulent political circles of Taiwan, China, various forces engaged in tit-for-tat struggles.
After Lee Teng-hui came to power in 1996, he devoted himself to removing the influence of Chiang Kai-shek and others in Taiwan Province and began to demolish the bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek for the sake of his own ruling interests and power.
With the collapse of some bronze statues of the two Chiang Kai-sheks, the political world in Taiwan, China has ushered in earth-shaking changes. The two Chiangs have gone from being respected by everyone on the surface to being beaten by everyone.
Chiang Xiaoyong
The series of difficulties encountered by Chiang Kai-shek's mausoleum and memorial hall in Taiwan made the descendants of the Chiang family anxious and uneasy, so they decided to speed up the pace of moving the souls of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo.
The Chiang family specially established the "Preparatory Committee for Moving Spirits to the Mainland" to handle related matters.
Later, in order to facilitate the transfer of souls between the two Chiang Kai-sheks as soon as possible, Jiang Xiaoyong, the son of Chiang Ching-kuo, specifically contacted the mainland government and expressed his request for soul transfer. The mainland expressed goodwill, but the political circles in Taiwan Province blocked it in every possible way. .
On December 22, 1996, Jiang Xiaoyong died of cancer, and the Jiang family's hope for a soul transfer had to be put on hold again.
In 2000, Chen Shui-bian came to power and began a comprehensive plan to eliminate "Chiang". In order to consolidate his power and promote fallacies, he did his best.
Chen Shui-bian
In 2005, with Chen Shui-bian's secret encouragement, Chiang Kai-shek's diary was released by Stanford University in the United States, which immediately aroused intense discussion among the people in Taiwan, China.
Since he developed the habit of keeping a diary at the age of 28, Chiang Kai-shek has been disguising himself in front of everyone for decades, and can only pour his true thoughts into his pen. For this reason, if you want to know the true face of Chiang Kai-shek, diary is the best tool.
However, the Chiang Kai-shek in the diary was irritable, suspicious, withdrawn, and narcissistic... This was contrary to the "perfect" image that Chiang Ching-kuo and others had worked hard to create. For a time, the people in Taiwan, China, criticized Chiang Kai-shek endlessly.
In 2006, Chen Shui-bian decided to intensify his efforts to eliminate "Chiang". Soon after, the Taiwan Provincial Army canceled the tradition of paying homage to Chiang Kai-shek's mausoleum for the first time since his death.
Later, Chen Shui-bian ordered again to withdraw the patrol team on duty in front of Chiang Kai-shek’s mausoleum. Since then, Chen Shui-bian, with ulterior motives, officially launched an all-out attack on the Kuomintang.
In 2007, under the orders of the Democratic Progressive Party, more than 400 armed police officers drove toward Kaohsiung City in vehicles. Their main target is the "Zhongzheng Cultural Center" there. After arriving at the scene, the police boarded the crane and removed the word "Zhongzheng" from the six copper characters of "Zhongzheng Cultural Center".
During this process, the person responsible for guarding the Zhongzheng Cultural Center rushed in and tried to stop the police, but was expelled.After the disassembly of
was completed, the police officers seemed to be upset and cut the two words 中正 into more than 30 large and small pieces. The scene was once very chaotic.
In addition, streets, schools and other places established in memory of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo, such as Zhongzheng Road, Jingguo Road, Chungcheng University, Zhongzheng High School, etc., are also facing the fate of changing their names.
Tainan Mayor Lai Qingde said that relevant departments will remove 14 bronze statues in the city from the campus. In this way, the "education for future generations" that the descendants of the Chiang family were proud of disappeared without a trace.
In order to carry out the campaign to remove Chiang Kai-shek to the end, the DPP has taken "great pains". Prior to this, Chiang Kai-shek's face was printed on the coins of Taiwan Province for the masses to "pay their respects".
Taiwanese government officials were dissatisfied and put the revision of banknotes on the agenda in an attempt to create Chiang-free coins. However, this reform is very expensive. Conservative estimates suggest that the government needs to invest NT$45 billion.
Lai Qingde
What is even more frightening is that the anger of some people towards Chiang Kai-shek's legacy has gradually evolved into "violent" incidents.
Since the Democratic Progressive Party took power in Taiwan Province, the bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek has been attacked by evil hands many times.
In 2015, the 68th anniversary of the February 28th Incident, news spread from various cities in Taiwan, China, that more than 20 bronze statues of Chiang Kai-shek were attacked to varying degrees, including spray paint, hanging white cloth strips and other means.
Among them, a stone statue of Chiang Kai-shek in Keelung, Taiwan, had its head chopped off and placed at the feet of the bronze statue. It looked shocking.
Not long after, Keelung police announced again that a bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek on Qiuling Mountain in Longshi had its feet and right hand cut off. As for the head of the bronze statue, it was beaten to pieces by the assailant and put into a garbage bag.
On December 21, 2017, the bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek located in Zhongzheng High School in Taipei City was "beheaded" with a sharp weapon and sprayed with white paint. It read: "If you don't remove it or change its name, you will behead it." And the copper statue The head of the statue is missing.
The Taiwan Provincial Police learned of the incident and quickly dispatched police forces, but found the lonely head of the bronze statue in a tent where separatist forces were stationed next to Taiwan's legislative body.
In 2018, the attack on Chiang Kai-shek by some people in Taiwan Province entered a fierce stage. On the morning of February 28, Cihu Cemetery opened as usual, waiting for tourists to visit.
However, not long after, several young people suddenly rushed into Cihu Cemetery and approached Chiang Kai-shek's coffin. Before anyone could react, they took out the paint they had prepared in advance and poured it directly on Chiang Kai-shek's coffin.
At the same time, several young people took out their mobile phones and frantically took pictures of the unrecognizable Chiang Kai-shek's coffin, shouting slogans of "transformational justice". What is "transformational justice" in ?
Transformational justice is the "Regulations on Promoting Transformational Justice" passed by Taiwan Province in 2017, which stipulates:Remove symbols of authoritarianism and preserve unjust sites.
China’s Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party claims that in order to ensure democracy and oppose human rights rule, public items appearing in public places should be removed and transformed as long as they have the characteristics of commemoration or commemoration.
It is for this reason that bronze statues of the two Chiang Kai-sheks, memorial halls and other items in Taiwan have become the number one targets. Among all the buildings, Chiang Kai-shek’s mausoleum in Cihu bore the brunt.
The wish to move spirits is full of difficulties
After the news came out that paint was thrown on Chiang Kai-shek's mausoleum, the descendants of the Chiang family were worried. Some people even cried and shouted, hoping to move the spirit of Chiang Kai-shek.
Since then, the topic of how to deal with the two Chiang Kai-shek coffins has once again become the focus of discussion.
Currently in the political circles of Taiwan Province, the Democratic Progressive Party and the Kuomintang are engaged in a tit-for-tat struggle.In the view of some separatist forces, Chiang Kai-shek, as the leader of Taiwan Province, should not return to the mainland.
For this reason, they tried every means to prevent Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo from moving their mausoleums.
The two Chiang Kai-sheks wanted to return to the mainland, but faced many political difficulties. At the same time, there are also conflicts within the Kuomintang regarding the issue of spirit transfer.
Jiang Weiguo and other descendants of the Chiang family believe that since the wish to move to the spiritual continent cannot be completed in a short time, it is better to let Chiang Ching-kuo and Chiang Kai-shek bury him in peace as soon as possible.
However, in the opinion of other descendants of the Chiang family, where Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo should be buried should fully respect the last wishes of the deceased. Jiang Wanan, the fourth generation descendant of the Chiang family, is a typical representative.
Shortly after paint was thrown on Chiang Kai-shek's mausoleum, Jiang Wanan, the fourth generation descendant of the Chiang family, felt anxious and went to Cihu Mausoleum to check the situation.
Before the arrival of the group, the relevant personnel of the Taoyuan management team stepped up the restoration of the tomb. Therefore, when Jiang Wanan arrived, everything in Cihu had been basically restored to its original state.
At the same time, the staff promised that patrols have been set up around Chiang Kai-shek's mausoleum to strengthen security measures. Members of the management team also planned the tour route for tourists again to ensure the future safety of Chiang Kai-shek’s mausoleum.
Even so, it still cannot change the fact that Chiang Kai-shek's mausoleum was attacked.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Jiang Wanan, a descendant of the Chiang family, was also very sad and said: "Taiwan is a society full of tolerance and mutual understanding, only social harmony."
These were just Jiang Wanan's words. Before the vigorous de-Chiang movement, after all, Just in vain.
Judging from the current situation in which the DPP has the right to speak, it is almost impossible for Chiang Kai-shek to transfer his soul in a short period of time. The days when the two bronze statues and mausoleums of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Kai-shek are under attack may still be long.
References
[1] "Zhejiang Daily", "Chiang Kai-shek's coffin was splashed with paint: it has been restored to its original appearance and the reopening time of the mausoleum is unclear"
[2] "China Taiwan Net", "Chiang Kai-shek's Mausoleum "228" was splashed with paint Chiang Wanan and his parents went to Cihu to check it out"
[3] "China News Network", "Chiang Kai-shek's mausoleum will be opened at the end of June at the earliest after paint was thrown on it, and the number of tourists dropped by half"
