Kudos to AP for correctly labeling Chiang a 'dictator' as President-elect Ma Ying-jeou went to the Tomb of the Dead Dictator to pay his respects...Taiwan's president-elect bowed in front of Chiang Kai-shek's mausoleum Saturday to commemorate the anniversary of the dictator's death, a departure from the outgoing government's efforts to distance itself from the late leader.
Ma Ying-jeou said Chiang's faults and achievements should be decided by historians - but that there was no denying he was part of the island's rich past.
Since Chiang Kai-shek's son Chiang Ching-kuo passed, the KMT has been struggling to decide who has retained the Chiang charisma. Both James Soong, now in political eclipse, and Ma Ying-jeou have attempted at times to claim they are the real inheritor of the Chiang charisma. Religious movements frequently split over whether the leader's charisma is passed down to the True Family or the True Followers -- thus we have the conflict between the Sunnis and the Shi'ites, or between the main Mormon church, run by disciples who went with Brigham Young, and the tiny Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints, run by Smith's son, and possibly, the struggles between James and Paul in early Christianity. The secession crisis is twofold, not merely a question of Who Owns the Church? but also a question how the charisma of the leader is to be institutionalized and used to legitimate the structures and individuals who carry on (see Weber).
One key component of the KMT's quasireligious structure is the Return to China theology, but another important part is the personality cult that the party fostered around Chiang Kai-shek. Jeremy Taylor1, the Australian scholar who has written several pieces on the cult aspects of KMT rule, observes:
"In any case, while the nature of Nationalist rule under Chiang can be debated, there is little question that it shared with its Soviet and fascist contemporaries a tendency to promote the mass adoration of leaders. This included the manufacture and distribution of images of Chiang, the naming of streets in his honour, the celebration of his life through textbooks and public events; and in some cases, the attribution to Chiang of superhuman power and wisdom."
Ma, who navigates in these waters with a sure hand born of his many years as a believer himself, immediately goes to pay his respects to the cult, showing both his deference to the received religion to conservatives within the KMT, and also, representing an attempt to appropriate that cult to legitimate his own rule. Recall that Ma is widely detested, for different reasons, by KMT elites. While at the Tomb -- a shrine that institutionalizes the charisma of the Cult Leader Chiang -- Ma comments that Chiang's role will have be decided by historians -- a comment that looks balanced, but which everyone around understands is directed at Outsiders *wink wink*. We know what Ma thinks since he is there at the shrine....
UPDATE: Taiwan News has a blistering commentary on this. Here's an excerpt, but don't miss the whole thing:
Ma's action and his declaration that he will continue to visit Cixi annually on the anniversary of Chiang's death on April 5, 1975 are unmistakable signals that the president elect intends to resurrect the former virtual state religion of the Chiang personality cult that is enshrined in the Cixi facility and the even more imposing imperial temple, once known as the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, in the middle of Taipei City as well as streets and facilities all over Taiwan.
Ma stated that the judgment of history on Chiang and the autocratic rule of his son Ching-kuo, who is interred at Touliao in Taoyuan County, is "open to discussion" and maintained that his visits to the mausoleums were "individual actions" and should not be branded as an acts of "worship."
Ma thereby willfully ignores the fact that the very existence of these publicly-funded shrines marks nothing less than a campaign by the KMT to use state power to "coerce" all of the 23 million Taiwan people into "adhering" to its own Chiang cult.
Chiang's personality cult, which was launched by the KMT regime on the China mainland during its "New Life Movement" in the 1930s and imposed on Taiwan in the late 1940s, is thought by some to rival the cult of the German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler as well as the quasi worship of the Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong in the People's Republic of China after 1949.
All citizens, especially members of the KMT party, government, military, secret police and intelligence and security forces, were required to first "forever support the Leader" and, after his death in April 1975, "forever cherish the Leader," while the educational system was used to propagate Chiang's feudal-dictatorial values of obedience to patriarchal authority and Chinese national chauvinism.
1"The production of the Chiang Kai-shek personality cult, 1929-1975", The China Quarterly, 185, March 2006, 96-110.
[Taiwan]
Excellent points.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the Mao cult in China was very similar, where youth during the Cultural Revolution would make pilgrimages to Beijing just to touch Mao. Check out this site:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.morningsun.org/
Yesterday on the news it seemed like there was a lot of coverage, more than usual, of Ma's exercising, a focus on his body. And then I guess there is always discussion about how charismatic he is. Then there was a story, not necessarily negative, of his serving as Chiang Ching-kuo's secretary. Did we hear much of that on television during the campaign. Interesting that now it would become a story. I remember a taxi driver in Taipei telling me months ago that Ma would lose because he had been Chiang's secretary. But that fact barely made it into the news--until now. Interesting. Then, you might also consider some of those Ma campaign posters that you have displayed on this site. They likely fit into that pattern of the charismatic leader, the continuity of the orthodox and legitimate line that was temporarily broken by the DPP usurpers.
Of course, we could also consider the rise of the photo-op presidency during the Bush years in America.
Thanks. Wonderful Taiwan News editorial up in a moment...
ReplyDeletePeople just seem unmoved here by the killings and by Ma's past. I don't think the association with CCK really hurts Ma, since CCK was so popular.
Talk about rewriting history, soon to be coming to a theater near you:
ReplyDeleteThe Running Ma(n)
In 2012, the economy has collapsed and society has become a police state, while censoring all cultural activity. The government pacifies the populace by broadcasting a number of game shows in which ex-DPP members fight for their lives. The most popular and sadistic of these shows is The Running Ma(n), controlled by the deep blue KMT Chinese nationalists. Unknown to them is a double cross where the real PRC puppet masters put the KMT dupes into the same game.
Staring:
Stalker ChuiYe - The Assbitch of Ktown
Stalker LeinChan - The Traitor of Taiwan
Stalker Diane Lee - The C U Next Tueday Grrl.
Stalker Ma Yingjeou - The Spineless flipflopper
Admission in Taiwan: 20RMB
Most memorial line from a former DPP'er: "I'll be back."
.
ReplyDelete.
.
I remember visiting that tacky shrine a little over a year ago and was amused to find a sign to the right of his tomb saying, and I paraphrase (since it was such a forgettable experience), "Please bow to pay your respects."
Of course, my wife and I refused to obey the sign. Spitting on a statue of CKS is more customary.
As for the posters, wulingren, I think you have a very good point. I would go further, though. There is a strong, but subtle, authoritarian aspect in those posters. Michael displayed one on here that made him look like a gangster. All he needed was a gun in his right hand.
In fact, I am actually surprised how much Ma has NOT sanitized his true intentions with respect to Taiwanese identity issues. I'm getting the feeling that these subtle changes towards a return to authoritarianism and unification are not going to be as subtle as we had thought in these first few years. I, for one, have a tremendous sense of dark foreboding in these past few weeks.
.
.
.
There is an interesting thing about leaders who have real charisma. They govern with decisiveness. Whether it be Mao, Hitler, Chiang, Castro, Bush, Reagan, de Gaulle, Thatcher, Lincoln, Washington or whoever (it doesn't matter if the person is a butcher, a nasty of nasties, or a saint), they are all decisive. Their charisma, whether you like them or not, comes from the fact that they have a personality that they maintain and that people can get caught up in. Furthermore, they do not swerve from that personality.
ReplyDeleteMa is anything but. Oh yes he is "handsome" (bleh) and knows how to talk out of both sides of his mouth, but a decisive leader he is not. His campaign showed that clearer than anything.
Leaders who try to please too many people may make it through their leadership, but they can have no legacy based on personality, and any attempt to appropriate such a legacy just makes them look foolish.
I wonder how many deep blues are actually more shocked than impressed simply because Ma can't even be a shadow of Taiwan's own Dear Leader.
One more thing. I, like Stop Ma, also have a sense of dark foreboding.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but notice the number of sweeping statements I am hearing out of the Ma-Siew camp at the moment.
Ma will go to the US and Japan before his election.
Siew will meet with Hu
There WILL be direct flights within a few months
It is all rather ballsy. The man is not even in office yet.
.
ReplyDelete.
.
Thomas,
I completely agree with your assessment about Ma vs. a wet paper bag. However, let's not forget that war-criminal Bush is just as useless. Read up on his distinct "lack of success" in his previous years before becoming president. With Ma, as with Bush, it is the dark forces behind the scenes that I would be most worried about.
.
.
.
.
ReplyDelete.
.
I saw this photo by the CNA and it inspired me to use it as my avatar. Thanks to "The Foreigner" for guiding me to it. It might have been even more symbolic if he had turned around.
.
.
.
This is the KMT version of Japan's Yasukuni Shrine, which of course they criticize the Japanese for. Could CKS not be considered a war criminal by international standards?
ReplyDeleteChiang Kaishek was a criminal both in war and in peace. He killed people, lots of them, and though he claimed to kill in the name of the Great China religion, he was really killing to maintain his own power.
ReplyDeleteI tend to disagree with the points you make. The "modern" Republic of China as it is was ideologically founded on Dr. Sun Yat Sen's writings, which after seeing the disarray that results when trying to set up a democratic system, included a period of political tutelage. Between Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek and his son, there were steps towards a more democratic system. This led to the free elections that Taiwan ROC enjoys today and the peaceful transition of power between opposing parties. I disagree fundamentally that the Chiangs were trying to set up a "cult" and have people worship them. To them, following Dr. Sun's plans was the wise thing for Taiwan ROC, and that is what they tried for.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, to say that Ma Ying Jeou is "worshiping" at the tomb is as absurd as saying that people who have pictures of their dead loved ones which they bow to are worshiping their ancestors. It is a custom of paying respect, something that many people do not have anymore. Dismantling memorials and tarring the dead does nothing to improve the nation-state. Instead it is just a ploy to unleash any pent up anger or frustration against history. Ma Ying Jeou is not only educated in the modern sense, but also classically educated, which means he understands that there is a certain obligation to, if not honor, at least respect the dead. Bowing at a tomb of a leader he respects is not out of order.
Bearing in mind, I do not "worship" the Chiangs, in reading this article, I get the impression that it is severely biased in its opinion of the Chiang family. Also, although I understand that the critiques of Ma Ying Jeou have been few because they focus on his charisma, I also understand that it does not mean that he is inherently flawed more than any other politician. I would argue that he has tried to better himself and has shown that he has an actual plan in helping Taiwan ROC become a part of the international economy, rather than alienating a significant powerhouse.
ROFL. God I love ROC trolls.
ReplyDelete