French diplomat honors deceased French soldiers at Ghost Month ritual

Taipei, Aug. 11 (CNA) France's deputy representative to Taiwan took part in a traditional ritual in Keelung on Sunday to commemorate the spirits of hundreds of deceased French nationals in Taiwan as part of annual Ghost Month activities.

Cléa Le Cardeur, deputy director of the French Office in Taipei, took part in the "Zhongyuan Pudu" ritual held at the French cemetery in Keelung, during which participants made food offerings and burned incense to honor those who passed on.

In her address at the ceremony, Le Cardeur said around 700 French soldiers who fought and died during the Sino-French War (1884-1885) were buried in the cemetery in Keeling.

At that time, Taiwan was part of China's Qing Dynasty.

Even though then Keelung residents were also victims of the Sino-French War, they were kind enough to bury these French nationals in Keelung and offered them a final resting place based on "humanity and compassion," Le Cardeur said.

Now 140 years later, she and others in Keelung were gathered in the cemetery to honor Taiwanese and French traditions.

On behalf of the French office in Taipei, the de facto French embassy in Taiwan, the diplomat expressed her gratitude to the Keelung City Government for designating the cemetery as a historical monument.

In Taiwanese culture, Ghost Month is the seventh month on the lunar calendar and runs from Aug. 4 to Sept. 2 this year, with the Ghost Festival observed on Aug. 18.

According to local folklore, the gates of the underworld usually open during Ghost Month and the spirits are released to visit their families and loved ones or just roam around.