Liao Tianding

Liao Tianding (Chinese: 廖添丁; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liāu Thiam-teng; Hepburn: Ryō Tentei; 1883–1909) was a legendary Taiwanese Robin Hood figure who foiled oppressive rulers when Taiwan was under Japanese rule.

Statue of Liao Tianding adjacent to Hanmin Temple

He was born in the Upper Tōa-to͘ District (大肚上堡) in Changhua, Taiwan Prefecture (Qing-dynasty Taiwan; modern-day Qingshui, Taichung, Taiwan) in 1883, and caught the attention of Japanese authorities repeatedly, for larceny and robbery, as well as the murder of Chen Liang-chiu (陳良久). Liao died in 1909, trapped in a cave in present-day Bali District, New Taipei City, with an accomplice, Yang Lin, who had colluded with the police.[1][2]

Liao Tianding was the subject of an extremely popular modern dance composition by Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan.[3] He was also the inspiration for Ma Shui-Lung's Liao Tianding Orchestral Suite, which has been recorded by the Prague Symphony Orchestra.[4][5] Hanmin Temple in Bali was constructed to memorialize Liao and is usually referred to as Liao Tianding Temple.[1][6] Liao is also venerated at Miaosheng Temple (妙聖宮) in his hometown of Qingshui. (A statue of Liao once served as a menshen (threshold guardian) at Wutianchan Shrine (無天禪寺) in New Taipei City’s Xindian District opposite Lee Shih-ke, a modern historical robber and murderer who is now revered by some as a folk hero in Taiwan.[7])

An arrest warrant for Liao Tianding

References
  1. Cheung, Han (15 Nov 2015). "From criminal to hero to deity". Taipei Times. p. 12. Retrieved 21 Nov 2015.
  2. Saunders, Richard (15 Nov 2007). "In the footsteps of Taiwan's Robin Hood". The China Post. Retrieved 21 Nov 2015.
  3. Yang, Meng-Yu (1998). Cloud Nine:Lin Hwai-Min and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. Taipei: Tian xia yuan jian chu ban gu fen you xian gong si. pp. 139–142.
  4. Ma Shui-Long (2011). 台灣傳奇 廖添丁管弦樂組曲 [Legend of Taiwan : orchestral suite of chivalrous Liao Tian-Ding]. Taipei: 邱再興文教基金會. ISBN 9574187411.
  5. 廖添丁管弦樂組曲 : 馬水龍作曲 / 捷克布拉格交響樂團 演奏, 馬水龍 作曲. Institut für Sinologie, Universitat Heidelberg.
  6. Buchan, Noah (18 Nov 2011). "History: Taiwan's own Brave Sir Robin". Taipei Times. p. 14. Retrieved 21 Nov 2015.
  7. "持槍搶銀行第一人　李師科至今影響台灣三件事" (in Chinese). Sanlih E-Television. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
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