ABSTRACT
Villagers frequently referred to Chen Wansheng as Darkface (wumiande) because he still had the character of a bold and forceful cadre. Blackness was used as a label of condemnation in political campaigns. But there it was signified by a different character, hei. Here ‘Darkface’ is to be understood in terms of the iconography of the village guardian deity, Fa Zhu Gong, whose face is black. So too is the face of the Patriarch of the Clear Stream (Qingshui Zushi Gong) whose mountain temple is the largest centre of pilgrimage in Anxi county. In the last chapter we described the annual pilgrimage at the beginning of the year with a figure of Fa Zhu Gong, going from Meifa to this centre. Figures and incense of both Fa Zhu Gong and the Patriarch were also carried from temples in Anxi county to Taiwan and further afield as the patron deities of migrants. Meifa villagers associated Wansheng’s iconic looks, taken from these figures, with being a good cadre, standing up for the people, justice and social security, for which in their eyes the People’s Republic stands or should stand. In Taiwan, the mixture of contemporary politics and inherited iconography would, of course, be different. But fierce loyalty is signified by a black face in both places.
