The First Southern Fujian Culture Festival Weaves Nanyang Cultural Sentiments Through Films and Cuisine

Text by MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network, compiled and reported by Chen Guanxin

Is Malaysia’s Bak Kut Teh part of Southern Fujian culture? And how are Taiwan’s god-carrying palanquin processions and Kinmen’s god-bearing sedan chair events—both part of Southern Fujian heritage—yet so different from one another? The first World Southern Fujian Culture Festival will be held from April 28 to May 5, featuring activities such as academic seminars on Southern Fujian culture, film forums, Southern Fujian cultural film exhibitions, and Southern Fujian food experiences. These will allow the public to engage with this longstanding culture—originating in the Central Plains' Heluo region, later spreading to Fujian, and crossing the seas to Taiwan—through all five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.

In the early 17th century, European colonial powers forcibly seized Southern Fujian’s coastal areas. Zheng Chenggong used Kinmen as a base to launch his expedition, landing in Tainan and reclaiming Taiwan from the Dutch. He attracted large numbers of immigrants, introduced Han Chinese culture, and developed the island; meanwhile, Kinmen also served as a frontline base over a thousand years ago for Southern Fujian people heading to the Nanyang (Southeast Asia), as well as the homeland of Southeast Asian immigrants. This helped shape Southern Fujian culture with its dual characteristics of “maritime culture” and “overseas Chinese hometown culture.” Additionally, the north-south dual-center development trend that emerged in Taoyuan County during the Qing Dynasty led the Taoyuan Plateau—located at the intersection of Minnan and Hakka cultures—to develop its own unique “Northern Minnan, Southern Hakka” cultural identity.

The “2012 World Southern Fujian Culture Festival” will launch a series of events across Tainan, Kinmen, and Taoyuan. In the Tainan area, activities will be integrated with the “World’s Tayouan—2012 Zheng Chenggong Culture Festival.” 'The series includes events commemorating the 351st anniversary of the Sacred King Zheng Chenggong’s arrival in Taiwan. In addition to an international academic seminar on Southern Fujian culture, a film forum, and a Southern Fujian cultural film exhibition, there will also be cultural tours of Zheng Chenggong’s harbor temples on February 28–29 and May 5–6. These tours will take participants to explore cultural sites such as the ruins of Fort Zeelandia in Anping, Taiwan’s Poetry Road in Yanshui, and the Yanping Prince Shrine, offering a deep understanding of the historical context—from European colonialism in the early 17th century to repelling the Dutch, reclaiming Taiwan, and introducing Han Chinese culture.

What does Malaysia’s Bak Kut Teh have to do with Southern Fujian culture? Over a hundred years ago, when Chinese people ventured to the Nanyang, hardworking ancestors picked up medicinal herbs that had fallen on the docks and pooled resources to buy meaty bones. They simmered them into a soup with more bones than meat, paired it with the millennia-old Chinese tea culture, and thus created today’s Bak Kut Teh. During the Southern Fujian Culture Festival in Kinmen, alongside the 332-year-old Gue Dao Welcoming the City God series of events, there will be performances by Southern Fujian folk art troupes, the Xiamen Gezi Opera Troupe, and demonstrations where participants from Malaysia and Singapore prepare traditional Southern Fujian dishes such as Bak Kut Teh, Fujian shrimp noodle soup, and shrimp crackers on-site—allowing the public to savor Southern Fujian cuisine while reflecting on the historic journeys of Chinese people across the seas.

The Taoyuan area has planned performances by local groups from Guishan, Taoyuan, and Luzhu, and will also invite acts such as the Jiutian Folk Arts Troupe, Pastoral Music Ensemble, and Golden Branch Performance Society to present Southern Fujian songs and dramas. Local dignitaries and elders will also be invited to participate in a “Common People’s Culture Forum” to discuss the development of Southern Fujian culture in Taoyuan.

Southern Fujian Culture Festival official website: www.gacc.org.tw/min-nan

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