Visiting
Kuomintang (KMT)?Chairman Lien Chan paid homage to his
grandmother's tomb Sunday in Xi'an, northwest China's
Shaanxi
Province.
The Lien family, including Lien Chan, his wife, their two sons,
a daughter and son-in-law, arrived at the graveyard on Qingliang
Hill in Chang'an County on the city's outskirts at 9:22 AM. More
than 20,000 local residents voluntarily gathered there to greet
them, some holding banners reading "Hello, Brother Lien."
The family followed the traditional Chinese ritual, featuring
classical memorial music, incense burning, bows and offering of
liquor and fruits. A master of ceremonies read aloud an elegiac
address, which expressed the family's love of the grandmother,
nostalgia, and regret for not being able to sweep her tomb in the
past six decades.
At the end of the hour-long ceremony, Lien said this first visit
of the Lien family to the grandmother's tomb in 60 years is "of
great significance" and "forever unforgettable". He also spoke in
the dialect of southern Fujian
Province to his late grandmother, who spoke only in that
dialect.
Before he left, Lien wrote an inscription for the graveyard and
led his family to bid the grandmother goodbye.
Lien's grandmother moved to Xi'an from Shanghai in the 1940s and
lived close to Qingliang Hill. A friendly and warm-hearted lady,
she was a regular visitor to the Qingliang Temple, burning incense
and helping the monks to cook. Her tomb is next to the temple and a
Mr. Wang in Xiangjisi Village of Chang'an County was entrusted in
1991 to renovate the tomb. It has been taken good care of.
Xi'an is the third leg of the eight-day mainland tour by the KMT
delegation. They are leaving for Shanghai later on Sunday.
(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2005)
