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People do indeed marry ghosts in Taiwan! Formosa Files does not mean to mock or in any way be disrespectful to local traditions. Instead, we hope this episode’s two main ghost stories – one (probably) a tall tale – and the other a true story of a man taking a ghost bride, will offer listeners important insights into Taiwanese culture, belief systems, folk religion, and ideas about family, and filial piety. More common in yesteryears, but ghost marriages remain part of local traditions into the 21st century.
Cover: Via Taiwan Panorama "Wherever there are Chinese you will find ancestral tablets. This ossuary has been specially set up in Yokohama's Chinese cemetery for their veneration."
This taxi driver story came from the book Haunted Modernities: Gender, Memory, and Placemaking in Postindustrial Taiwan by Dr. Anru Lee (2023)
Click link to read: A Passport to Eternity--Chinese Ancestral Spirit Tablets by Melody Hsieh, photos by Huang Lili, and translated by Andrew Morton
Taipei Times 2012: Young couple killed in landslide married in ghost wedding
Below: A more common Taiwanese household shrine where both ancestors and gods can be venerated. Picture by Willie Chen/Flickr
Below: Don't pick up a random red envelope! Image via Medium.
Taiwan News story from 2018: Red packet on scooter spooks Taipei man fearing 'ghost bride'
Below: A different, more modern version of a ghost marriage performed in China. Via abc.net.au.
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Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
