The third annual Ruifang Torch Festival will be held on Feb. 11

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/09
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The third annual Ruifang Torch Festival (瑞芳火把節) will be

(Image from New Taipei City Government website)

held on Feb. 11 in the town of Ruifang (瑞芳) in northeast Taiwan to commemorate an incident that occurred during the Japanese colonial era.

The gathering is held during Lantern Festival (元宵節) to both commemorate the Ruifang Incident (also known as the 527 Incident), a series of atrocities that occurred during Japanese colonial rule in 1940, as well as the local tradition of going on night wanders to mark the final day of the Lunar New Year celebrations. On May 27, 1940 the family, friends, and employees of a local man, Li Chien-hsing (李建興), numbering in the hundreds were arrested as Li was falsely accused of collaborating with Chinese Nationalist forces in trying to stage an uprising against Japanese rule.    [FULL  STORY]