The gate to Taiwan

鹿耳門鎮門宮

[Left: The shoeless Dutchmen door guards of 鹿耳門鎮門宮 (address: 台南市媽祖宮一街345巷420號).]

鹿耳門 (Luermen or Lakjemuyse) was where Koxinga's fleet sailed through at high tide in 1661 into the then Tai Bay, bypassing the defense of Ft Zeelandia, and landed north of Ft Provincia. The Dutch did not anticipate such a move. Ft Provincia quickly fell and Ft Zeelandia under siege for almost one year before capitulating. [For more, see here.]

A tiny shrine located in An-Ping honoring Koxinga and his mother was built in 1990 to commemorate the feat [better late than never]. It was aptly named 鎮門宮Gate-anchoring Palace, for 鹿耳門 was indeed the gate to Taiwan.

The temple fell into disrepair and was re-built in 2006. There are three sets of double-door gates and one of them features a pair of shoe-less Dutchmen. Bare feet跣足 symbolizes the POW status. They were therefore the defeated Dutchmen now guarding doors to the shrine. Their facial depiction is of modern origin, in fact painted by Mr 林中信Lin Chung-Shin. In 2003, the City Gov't of Tainan officially named them 鹿風Lu-Feng and 耳順Er-Shun, and conferred both of them citizenship, complete with shoe offerings. A popular petition to re-paint them with shoes on (so they can travel long distance - back home to the Netherlands) was not approved by the deities, however.

Traditionally, these paired door guards are high ranking generals known for their martial mights. Among them, the very original and the most famous are 秦瓊 (?-638AD) and 尉遲恭 (585-658AD), both Tang generals. Legend has it that the second Tang emperor 唐太宗 [李世民 599-649AD] was disturbed at night by the spirits of those he had murdered. The emperor ordered these two trusted generals to guard the palace gates that indeed effectively warded off the ghosts. Their full-length fully armored and armed portraits were then painted on the doors and found to be equally effective.

With no exception, all Buddhist and Taoist temples of Chinese origin are built with three double-door gates and each gate is guarded by a pair of door gods. The selection of these deities now varies according to the history of each temple.

The photos below show before, during, and after the re-construction of the 鹿耳門鎮門宮:

 

[We thank Ronnie for calling our attention to the Dutchmen door guards in Tainan.]

A cowardly attack on Boston

Eyedoc reporting from Boston:

It is Boston Marathon Day today. Since the E Africans always win, there is no point of following the progress on TV [addendum: and they did]. We still watch it, albeit only half-heartedly, hoping for surprises. Then all of a sudden, there are reports of two explosions near the finish line at around 3:10PM. Apparently, there have also been casualties.

It is still unclear as to what had really happened, certainly not who was responsible if this had been a terrorist attack.

3:28PM: The explosions took place across Boylston Street from Lenox Hotel and Boston Public Library.

4:55PM: Clearly two explosions, one city block apart, on Boylston Street. A third one occurred at JFK Library, a few miles south of Boston, off I-93 [6:05PM: now it is unsure if this is related to the explosions]. There is a 4th bomb discovered somewhere on Huntington Ave (where Boston Symphony Orchestra is located). It is still very confusing especially if Boston is now shut down. If so, then this is similar to 9-11. It is a holiday here today, the Patriot's Day. Many went downtown to cheer on the marathon runners.

5:35PM: We maybe under attack, There maybe bombs along the marathon route. We are asked to stay home/indoors. Boston police urge people to stay out of the city.

5:48PM: Suspect in custody near Boston Common. Good. Let's all see who is behind this monster.

6:07PM: No suspect is in custody. Information changes by the minute, probably should wait a bit longer to see exactly what is going on. Various speeches by politicians, adding no new info.

8:27PM: 3 dead, one an 8-year-old boy. At least 134 hurt. This is a cowardly attack on Boston.

 

[Scene of the first explosion site - directly across Boylston Street from Boston Public Library]

8:45PM: Governor's press conference: nothing new added, no suspect(s) yet. Hotline for families of victims: 1-(617)-635-4500, and for witnesses who may have information, please call 1-(800)-494-TIPS.

11:25PM: Local media reporting significant police and feds presence at an apartment building on Ocean Ave in Revere, a town north of Boston, populated by new immigrants.

Overnight, now 7AM, 4/16/2013: Copley Square area in Boston downtown is still closed, now a crime scene. Heart-breaking stories of the victims begin to emerge, disruption of normal innocent family lives by pure evil that will forever tarnish Boston Marathon.

4/17/2013: More details on the pressure cooker bombs, designed to maim and kill. The hunt for the bomber(s) is on and is no doubt conducted in high earnest. Bostonians have never retreated in the face of adversity, certainly are not at all intimidated by this cowardly act.

Of the three who perished: The 8-year old victim is Martin Richard of Dorchester. The 2nd is Krystle Marie Campbell of Medford who had worked at Jimmy's Steer House on Mass Ave in Arlington. And the 3rd, a Chinese graduate student at Boston Univ (the family has requested that the name be withheld, even though it has already been widely reported in the Chinese press - update: BU finally disclosed her name, Lu Lingzi; she was from Shenyang).

1:42PM: Cable Channel 13 [Fox 25] reports a suspect has been identified through the surveillance camera records at Lord & Taylor, and the arrest is imminent.

7:04PM: A whole afternoon of confusion. No one was in fact arrested although two men carrying bags matching the description of the bombs were identified from photographic records. Their faces are clearly recognizable, the identities are still unknown, however.

4/19/2013 3:30AM: Disturbance at MIT, off Vassar St, one campus policeman shot and killed. Then gunfire and detonation heard on Mt Auburn St in Watertown. Huge police presence there. Boston Globe now reports one Boston marathon bomber in custody, the 2nd still at large. Apparently one event has led to another in the past few hours. The situation is still "fluid" as the reporters put it.

5:05AM: After much confusion, it now seems that after the MIT shootout, the 2 bombers hijacked a car and let the driver off at a gas station off Memorial Drive. This explains why Watertown which is at the end of Memorial Dr. One suspect was then shot by the police and died in custody. The hunt for the 2nd suspect is now going on.

7:06AM: The 2 bombers are brothers from Chechnya having lived in the US for at least one year.

8:50PM: After one full day of manhunt, it is now over. The 2nd bomber is wounded and captured. A greatest relief to all Bostonians.