The Funeral Procession of a Rich Businessman from Twatutia, Taipei

This is a view of the grand funeral procession of a rich businessman from Twatutia during the colonial era. In addition to family members and Buddhist and Daoist priests chanting scripture, the most intriguing thing about this procession is the folk parade story float to the left. Story floats are sometimes called poetic float. There are two types of floats: the centipede float (so named because it is long and winding like a centipede) and platform float. Story floats most often are the latter. Normally young boys and girls are dressed in costumes portraying characters from popular folktales and sit on the float which portray various settings. In earlier days, these floats and the accompanying parade were a critical part of the temple fairs. Later, electronic floats gradually replaced them and they fell out of use.