Film sheds light on Hakka yimin legacy

This interesting article was written by Rita Fang and published by the Taiwan Journal on September 9, 2005. It features a documentary titled "Yimin Grandpa -- Ride the Wind to Battle". It is the first documentary ever made in Taiwan -- and perhaps in the whole world -- about the Yimin Festival, which is the most important traditional observance in Taiwan's minority Hakka community.

Currently there are about 4 million Hakka people in Taiwan. About 50 million other Hakka people are scattered around the world.

In Hakka culture, the expression "yimin" means righteous people, in particular those who sacrifice their lives for the welfare of their communities. The root of Taiwan's Yimin Festival can be traced back to the Lin Shuang-wen Insurrection against the Ching imperial rulers in 1786. In that event, local Hakka communities, who already settled in Taiwan and developed their lands and homes, resisted the takeover of the Manchu army from Mainland China for over two years. A temple was later built in Hsinchu County's Fangliao Township to honor those who died defending the welfare of their communities.

The Yimin Festival is the biggest Hakka religious festival in northern Taiwan, observed by local Hakka communities for the past 170 years. This documentary provides many details on how the Yimin Festival is celebrated in Taiwan. Every year, many Hakka residing overseas also come back to Taiwan to participate in the festival.