【Historical Live Broadcast】Watching videos and being seen by our ancestors

Roots in mainland China, body in Taiwan

The younger generation of Taiwanese will never understand the nostalgia of the older generation.

[The blogger is studying in Singapore, and the teacher is explaining on stage why buildings in Taiwan are so prone to collapse.]

The blogger's answer was due to the earthquake.

The teacher, however, said it was due to political factors.

Because at that time, that place was only a temporary residence for the Taiwanese people.

Therefore, it doesn't need to be built particularly sturdy and durable.

They believe they will eventually go back.

Therefore, most of the furniture is made of bamboo, which is convenient to take home or discard. Some people haven't bought a bed for more than ten years. They roll up their quilts every day and just wait for the notice to go home.

Just like renters won't buy large pieces of furniture.

In the end, all we received was the news that we could never go back.

[A netizen who went on a road trip along the coast of Taiwan noticed that the cemeteries along the way were very disorganized. Later, they learned that each grave was facing the direction of the person's hometown.]

If you take a close look at a map of Taiwan, you'll find that many streets are named after cities in mainland China.

[The tragic story of the older generation of Chinese people: some gave their lives, while others left their homes for their entire lives.]

Nostalgia is like a shallow bay; in the days when we are separated by the sea, those feelings of longing are always kept in our hearts, waiting for the day we can meet again.

"Nostalgia is a shallow strait."

"Many roads in Taiwan are named after cities in mainland China. Is it because mainlanders living in Taiwan miss home and repaired the roads, naming them after their hometowns, meaning they are in Taiwan but their hearts are with their hometowns?"

"Just by looking at the streets, I realized that they are also afraid of forgetting their roots as times change."

"Is it the same as Lin'an in Hangzhou? [dazed] This is temporary accommodation. I dream of one day going back to Henan to eat steamed buns and stewed noodles~"

"We've never learned traditional Chinese characters. Although we can't write them, we can all recognize them. Perhaps this is what blood ties are all about. We hope for reunification between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait soon."

"When I went to Taiwan 13 years ago, in the veterans' area, we said we were from Hebei. An old man in a wheelchair said he was from Shandong. He was so moved when he heard us speak the Hebei dialect that he burst into tears."

“My mother’s maternal grandfather was one of those people who were taken to Taiwan. He later passed away in a nursing home in Hualien and never returned to his hometown. My mother only found out about him a few years ago when she went there.”

"Life is always full of regrets, and this kind of separation from family is truly heartbreaking."

Our ancestors in ancient times felt deeply for the older generation of Taiwanese who had left their homes and the mainland: they too had left their homes during times of war, and many people had been separated from their families.

People hastily packed their belongings, leaving behind their hometowns where they grew up, and headed to another distant and unfamiliar place.

The surroundings were filled with unfamiliar people and things, unfamiliar local customs and traditions, and unfamiliar hometown dialects.

Some children will never see their grandfathers again, who used to teach them how to weave grasshoppers in the countryside. Some children weep bitterly when they see their mothers, who raised them from childhood, die of illness and hunger during their escape from disaster. These stories are filled with so much helplessness and heartache.

But what can be done?

Pain cannot mask the fact that a loved one has passed away. After venting their emotions, those who remain can only continue to struggle and tenaciously survive.

Like wild grass, it cannot be burned out by wildfire, and it will grow again when the spring breeze blows.