NewRBGs 新型竹筷槍 - Open the capsule of time (sequel)

Open the capsule of time (2nd.)

The coincidence of events in successive often makes people wonder if providence or some invisible force is arranging something! As I mentioned in the original article [Open a Time Capsule a Hundred Years Ago]. In the early summer of 2015, because of the filial piety of our children, they took us to travel to Kyushu, Japan.

I had never gone abroad before and had to go to the household registration office to apply for a passport. During the process I discovered many unknown family disasters in the 1915 "Tapani Incident," coinciding with the 100th anniversary. Due to the expansion of the Tainan City Government to hold a series of commemorative activities, I was fortunate to meet several experts and scholars and participate in the seminar held at the Taiwan Literature Museum in Tainan City ( Old Tainan city hall ), I finally realized the whole incident. It's one of coincidence.

At the end of 2021, my oldest cousin – Chang Zhengyi - 張正一 called me and said that the cousin – Zhang Shunliang - 張順良 had arranged for a bone collection for the granduncle – Chang Rongtong -張榮通, who was suffering in the Tapani incident 100 years ago, and it was scheduled on January 5th 2022. I called Shunliang and reminded him to take pictures and record the process of picking up bones. Chang Shunliang, who arranged to pick up the bones is my granduncle's step-grandson; more coincidentally, he is currently the director of the Nanhua police station - 南化分駐所, the same place was called the "Nanzuan Police Station -南庒警察派出所" a hundred years ago.

(Fig. 1) The indict of my granduncle.

In 1915, the most severe anti-Japanese incident during the Japanese occupation period occurred in the mountainous area of Tainan. Because the primary battle was in Tapani (the former name of Yujing District), it was called the "Tapani incident." Seven members of the three households of Chang family suffered, and my granduncle ( grandfather's brother ) - Chang Rongtong - 張榮通 was one of the victims. According to the archives of the Japanese Governor's Office, Taisho 4th year (1915), on the night of August 2nd, Granduncle – Chang Rongtong brought a bamboo gun ( Bamboo gun? I guess that it's could be a bamboo cane with two pointing end, a farmer tool for carrying bush firewood , grass , sweet yam leaves etc. on the shoulder ) and participated in Yu Qingfang and others' attack on the Nanzuan Police Station. on the evening of August 3rd, he participated in the burning down of Chingpuliao police station 菁埔寮派出所- (also called Kulingka police station) and attacked the branch office of Tapani from August 4th to 6th, later he was arrested. See Photo above (Fig.1):

The interim court concluded, via prosecuted, tried and other processes, he and other 5 Chang families had been sentenced to death on October 3rd, 1915 (Figure 2). Nearly 2,000 people were arrested at the time, and 866 people were sentenced to death. They were criticized by the Japanese parliament and international public opinions. After that, the Japanese Governor's Office commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, nominal on the grounds of "Emperor Taisho's enthronement", but he died two years later in Tainan Prison on February 11th, 1918, at the end of the World War Ⅰ.

(Fig. 2) My granduncle - 張榮通, 28 years old had been sentenced to death.

The part of above list were subject to judicial procedures, but there were far more people who were beheaded or shot by the Japanese soldier or police at the scene. According to the research of experts and scholars based on the household registration data of the year, nearly 4,000 people were killed.

4 members of my grandmother's family at Gangzlin village No.154 in Zhongzuo Town had been eliminated on the same day of August 11th ( see table 1). Item 251 李旱( Li Han ) in the table is my great-grandfather ( grandmother's father ): item 249 李吉( Li zi ) is grandmother's cousin, both their name were appeared in the household registration column of my grandmother - 李笑( Li Shiaou ).

The reference source is a paper by Zuozhen anthropologist - Professor Ye Chun Rong - 葉春榮【People without History - Zuozhen and the Tapani incident ]. I asked my father and his brothers if they had ever heard my grandparents talk about that when they were kids? They all said they had never heard about that, but only remember that when grandmother took them back to Gangzi Lin, they always went to an uncle's house. The uncle was my granduncle – 李抱 ( Li Bao ), who would came to see us every Lunar New Year when I was a child; his father is probably one of the documents on the deleted of households. I e-mailed the household registration office in Zuozhen District for verification, but they replied saying that my qualifications did not allow and could not provide information.

(Table 1) The part of deleted list, item 251-李旱 ( Li Han) is my grandmother's father, my great grandfather, died at 50 years old; item 249 李吉 (Li Zi) is my grandmother's cousin.

Among the seven victims of the Chang family (see Table 2), only 張仕君 ( Chang Shijun) might died in the battle or beheaded on the scene; and the other six were arrested and sentenced to death. Although there were commutation issued later, but most of them died within five years. In the Taisho 7 (1918), there were three persons died; my granduncle was one of them. The commutation of the sentence was a pretense; abuse and torture were the truth! When I was a child, I often heard from my father and elders that after my granduncle died, my grandfather drove an ox cart to go to Tainan Prison to bring his brother body home and bury on the hillside of my hometown, granduncle had been crammed into a corpse barrel while he still had weak breath (Note 2).

Table 2. The seven death of Chang family. Courtesy from Professor. Dai and Qiu.

Although my granduncle was married before the incident, he had no children. Later, my grandfather gave my third uncle 張三元 ( Chang Sanyuan ) for him as his stepson. He inherited the property that my granduncle should have and was responsible for managing the tomb. The property includes a hillside land and a paddy field, which is more than an acre. Cause the area belongs to limestone geology, collapses are severe; after over half a century, it's less than half an acre now, and the paddy field are already gone! The grave was on the hillside, only 10 meters from the cliff, and the original path had already collapsed into a sharp ridge. In my elementary school period, when it was rainy days and rivers swelled, I got to take the way to go to school and home (see Figures 3 and 5). The narrowest part of the path is only one foot wide; both sides are cliffs and two rivers below the cliff. It was so scary for a kid. Around the 1960 s, my father led our relatives to open a new road along the backside of the ridge to solve the problem (see Figure 4).

(Fig.3) This picture took from 20th B Taiwan High Way, both the old path and the new road entrance on the left. The grave on the right side top, beside the path and near the cliff.

(Fig.4) In the 1960's, the new road construction was ongoing; all of them were from the Chang family; left 4th is my father. (Courtesy from Chang Chi Shen - 張祺勝)

(Fig. 5 ) Before the new road is constructed, you can see a wooden board on the top of the ridge; the new road passes through the yellow line. (Courtesy from Chang Chi Shen - 張祺勝)

(Fig. 6) The original ridge already collapsed near the new roadbed.

(Fig.7) Beyond the collapsed ridge, looking northeast far away, you can see the Zuliand Temple and the new 20th B Taiwan highway.

On March 5, 2022, I returned my hometown to look after my mother, she fell and got hip joint surgery. On the way home, I went to see current status of the old path by the way. After half a century of weathering, the original dented spot above the yellow line in Figure 5 has completely collapsed. It is almost same height as the existing roadbed. Standing on the collapsed site, you can see the opposite Zhulian Temple -竹蓮寺, and the New 20th B Taiwan Highway crosses the Chailiao Creek - 菜寮溪 and bypasses Xipu Street - 西埔街 towards Nanhua - 南化. Figure 8 shows the old path heading towards the old ancestral home which has collapsed into a sharp ridge, you can see some bamboo with yellow leaves ( In my hometown, bamboo leaves would turning yellow and falling down in the later winter and early spring, every years. ) on the left side, granduncle's tomb is on the right side downhill a few meters. It is hard to imagine that it was a cattle driveway a hundred years ago. Figure 9 shows the new road to the old ancestral home, which open in the 1960's.

(Fig.8) The old path already collapsed as ridge, you can't imagine there was an ox-cart driveway on the top hundred years ago.

(Fig. 9) The new road to the ancestral house, open in 1960's.

Picture 10 is the house of the Fifth Uncle ( The current site of Sansheng Palace - 三聖宮), which is the original site of the old ancestral residence. It was rebuilt in the 1970s by the Fifth Uncle (My father's only young brother). It is a composed structure of bricks, tiles, bamboos, and woods. And the original house moved to the farmland called "Xianyuana - 鹹園仔" by Elder Uncle in 1960 s, at the southeast of the same village. During the movement, the roof and walls were all removed, and the bamboo structure frame was divided into several pieces for easy to carry and relocation and reassembled on site. The foundation, walls, and roof were all rebuilt later. Fig. 11 The photo was taken in 1990 by my nephew – Chang Yuan Cheng - 張淵程 ( the grandson of my Eldest Uncle.) My mother told me that I was born in the right side of old ancestral home.

Around the end of 1990 s, the uncle's family moved to Tainan City, and the old house was destroyed and demolished many years later. Fortunately, there were photos taken at the time by my nephew.

(Fig.10) 5th Uncle's house, the original spot is my ancestral house, now is the Chang family temple too.

(Fig. 11) The bamboo frames of this old house was moved from my ancestral home, I was born in the right side room of ancestral house, sixty years ago.

View from the Google Earth, the hometown of "Zhutoukia -竹頭崎仔" is a peninsula surrounded by the upper stream of Chailiao Creek and it tributary, forming a peninsula that looks like a domestic dog or Snoopy. two rivers converge at the Nine Hole Bridge - 九空橋 (Figure 12), the old ancestral home is the current place where the Fifth Uncle lived, and it's also the current site of the family temple "Sansheng Palace - 三聖宮."

In the Tapani Incident, seven victims of Chang family all from the same village. The new ancestral house was built in 1956, I was a two-year-old toddler, and there was originally a bamboo forest path between the old and new ancestral house, which has been abolished for decades. And a new road from No. 20th B Taiwan highway, passing by the Zulian Temple and go though the Pien Hol bridge - 平和橋 to my new ancestral home.

(Fig. 12) My home village view from Google Earth, it's looks like a Snoopy surrounding by two up stream of Chailiao Creek.

Third Uncle - Zhang Shan Yuan - 張三元 passed away on February 23rd, 2020, at the age of 90. Before his death, he had distributed all property to his two sons. Cousin Chang Shunliang - 張順良 got the hillside land which granduncle's tomb located, Third Uncle instructed the cousin to pick up the bones and move to the Pagoda as soon as. Chang ShunLiang had planned to discuss collecting bones with our whole family during the Qingming tomb-sweeping, but it was delayed due to the death of the Third Uncle.

Figure 13.14 shows while picking bones on going (provided by Zhang Shunliang). Since it was in the early winter morning, the sky was still dark, bone picker had a headlamp on his head. The fire behind the bone picker was a sacrifice and burning paper money before excavation, Fig.14 is granduncle's remains; we all guessed before that there might be nothing in the grave at all! Surprisingly, after more than 100 years, there are still some skeletons; the reason should be that a layer of charcoal in the bottom of the bone urn protects the bones.

And why the bone urn is used for burial instead of a coffin? Guess there are only two possible reasons. granduncle was crammed into a corpse barrel in Tainan Prison when he still had weak breath, the body was sitting in the barrel. When my grandfather received the notice and drove an ox-cart over 30 km went to Tainan Prison to retrieve the body and back, at least three days, the body was already stiff, it's impossible to put him in the coffin, so it is possible to bury it directly in a pottery jar; another possibility is to bury the corpse directly in the barrel. years later, there was a bone collection.

My grandparents married in 1914, and the incident happened next year. After nearly ten years my First Uncle was finally born in 1924, without pregnant and had a baby near ten years, the ancients were more superstitious and suspected that some reason might cause it. later, I asked Shunliang to ask the bone picker, and the picker replies that it was confirmed!

(Fig. 13) The bones collect on going. (Courtesy from Chang ShunLiang.)

(Fig. 14) The collected bones. (Courtesy from Chang ShunLiang.)

The collected Granduncle's ashes were put into the Pagoda named Siqin Hall (思親堂) in the northwest of Nanhua District, and two years ago, my third uncle was put into the same place, on the first floor opposite the same passage. Although the stepfather and stepson never met during their lifetimes (uncle was born in 1931 and died in 2020; granduncle died in 1918), they can finally take care of each other after they die.

More coincidentally, the step-grandson Chang Shunliang (my cousin) is currently the director of the "Nanhua Police Station - 南化分駐所 ". A hundred years ago, his step-grandfather was involved in the attack at the same location, the "Nanzuan Police Station - 南庒警察派出所" (Figure 15). and sentenced to death by the Japanese. Now, the director of the same location police station (picture 16), arranged to collect bones of step-grandfather who died from attacked the same police station; how could it be so coincidental?

When my third uncle's family divided many years ago, they are two brothers family, so the property was divided in two, and there were two lots for draw to decide who would get which portion of the property? The older brother took one lot at first, and the other should belong to Chang Shunliang; he got the portion of the property where his step-grandfather was resting, and the responsibility of tomb management was his too.

At the time, he was a policeman in the Nanhua Police Station; later, he entered the Central Police Officer University in northern Taiwan. After graduation, he was assigned to the director of Yujing police station. Later, he was transferred back to Nanhua Police Station as the director and arranged to collect the bones of his step-grandfather. But when the family divided many years ago, he would never know one day he would direct the Nanhua Police Station, where his step-grandfather ever attacked hundred years ago.

※ How different about 派出所 and 分駐所 ?

Both them are called police station in English, but as I know, when a district or township population is not enough to set a Police Branch - 警察分局, then the district combines other district branch and the district sets one 分駐所, and others 派出所. both them are belong to another district police branch. For example, the NanHua 分駐所 belongs to Yujing Police Branch. And the 分駐所 director should be a police officer from the police university. The chief of a 派出所 could be a sergeant - 巡佐. So the organization of a 分駐所 is bigger a little bit than the 派出所. (Reference source from Chang Shun Liang - the director of NanHua Police Station.)

(Fig.15) The NanZaun police station had been attacked and burned down, hundred years ago.

(Fig. 16) The Nan Hua police station now.

※ Note 1: The Japanese Governor's Office archived the case of the Tapani incident. After Taiwan returned to R.O.C, the Taiwan Provincial Government Document Committee appointed Cheng Dar Shuie - 程大學 and others to translate and edit it into a total of 8 volumes book, named [ The Whole Archives of the Anti-Japanese Revolution of Yu Qing Fang].

(Fig. 17) The archive of Tapani Incident.

※ Note 2: It is not known what the corpse barrels looks like which used in Tainan Prison during the Japanese occupation period, but the Japanese "Lushun Prison - 旅順監獄" in Northeast China during the same period was preserved and became the "Lushun Prison Museum - 旅順監獄博物館", which exhibit various prison facilities. The corpse barrel is made of wood, and the size is about the height of a person sitting down, and it's convenient for carry and bury than the coffin. The corpse barrel is put under the prison gallows, and executed prisoners are placed directly into the corpse barrel after execution.

If you look at the corpse barrel under the gallows carefully, the upper board of the barrel didn't fix; when the prisoner's corpse is put in the barrel, the head and neck of the prisoner should be force crammed into the barrel, then cover the lid. That's why the upper barrel of the left side one wider than the empty one. (See Figures 18 and 19).

(Fig.18) A corpse barrel exhibits at Japanese prison in China.

(Fig. 19) A gallows exhibits at Japanese prison in China.

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