<strong>July 18 to July 24
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Lukang’s (鹿港) once famous Shiyi Hall (十宜樓) stood deteriorating for years, a forgotten relic of a time during the mid-1800s when its builders, the Chen (陳) clan, were the wealthiest in town.
Despite the sharp decline in their business empire, the Chens remained prominent landlords in Lukang throughout Japanese colonial rule. The best-known member, Chen Huai-cheng (陳懷澄), served as the only Taiwanese mayor of the town for 12 years, and was an accomplished poet and founding member of the Lishe (櫟社) poetry society.
The family owed its prosperity to the Qingchang
Kuo Hui-chun (郭慧君) is used to seeing people cheerfully plan their own funerals.
But even she was impressed by the enthusiasm and openness of the attendees at last Sunday’s “Death Cafe” session, especially with death still being a mostly taboo topic in Taiwanese society.
“The participants had many unconventional ideas, such as having the funeral by the ocean, in their home or at a place where they could then be buried together with their beloved pets,” she tells the Taipei Times. “They talked about what they would wear, which portrait they wanted to use. It was fantastic. Everyone had a great