Postwar tolerance
When you step off Heping Island, there is also a “corridor” of cultural tourism that links the Keelung French Military Cemetery, Taiping Steamer Memorial Park, the Keelung Fort Commander’s Official Residence and housing for officers’ families, all within 15 minutes’ walking distance. This convergence of more than 100 years of history fills the place with a rich sense of cultural heritage. And that century began with the Sino-French War—also known as the Tonkin War—which broke out in 1884.
Historians recount that in the late 19th century the Qing Dynasty and France were at loggerheads over which empire would exercise suzerainty over northern Vietnam (Tonkin). At the time, Keelung possessed precious coal resources, and this triggered France’s attempt to invade Taiwan.
On April 13, 1884, the French cruiser Volta opened fire on the Qing army’s coastal batteries in northern Taiwan, igniting the Sino-French War, with the first battle fought at Dashawan. The following August, Admiral Amédée Courbet, who had tasted success in earlier conflicts in Asia, initiated a months-long battle with the Qing army. He took Keelung for a time and then moved the theater of operations to Penghu (the Pescadores), but ultimately there was no victor. Both sides suffered heavy losses, and the admiral died of illness in Penghu’s Magong, myriad leagues away from his French homeland.
Visiting the French graveyard to pay tribute to soldiers now resting in peace, one is reminded of a line from a Tang-Dynasty poem: “Since ancient times, / How many warriors have returned home alive?”
Chan I-chung, a member of the Keelung City Cultural Affairs Committee, expresses his personal view that Keelung residents are big-hearted and welcoming toward outsiders, because most Keelungers are themselves migrants from elsewhere.
Even their worship of gods and spirits shows their generosity and sense of universal brotherhood. For example, at Keelung’s Ci’en Temple, in addition to the Qing army’s General Liu Mingchuan, Admiral Courbet is also venerated.
Ghost Festival ceremonies are not just held for people of mainland origin, such as those who died in the armed struggles between Zhangzhou and Quanzhou migrants, they are also conducted at the French Military Cemetery, where red wine and baguettes are used to pay homage to the French soldiers who were buried in foreign soil more than a century ago, casualties of the Sino-French War.
French Military Cemetery on Zhongzheng Road: Casualties of the Sino-French War were laid to rest here in foreign soil amidst subtropical greenery.