SLL29: REVIEW story - Blood lantern uprising 血燈籠起義

This is a sci fi story inspired by recent political events and conspiracy theories Taiwan. It also reviews vocabulary from the 3 February stories.

Blood lantern uprising

The streets of Taipei were silent under the watchful eye of White Terror 2.0. It was Gong-Min year 20, or 2047 everywhere else in the world. Surveillance drones whirred above, soldiers thundered in lock step below. The GM government had banned the Lantern Festival, calling it superstition and a threat to national unity. That was Gong-min code for possible threat to its authoritarian rule.

But in their homes, the people remembered.

“Eat,” she said gruffly. Grandma was as frugal with her words as with money. Wei-ming stared at the bowl of tangyuan. This was the first year his mother did not make it for him.

Grandma hung a red lantern outside the front door. “A blood lantern. For your mother,” she whispered. He admired his grandma’s beautiful calligraphy bearing his mother’s name.

Wei-ming didn’t know his mother had joined the protests. As usual, he didn’t care. He was busy playing video games while she spoke out against inflation, unemployment, and the government. For that, she was executed. He couldn’t finish his tangyuan.

At midnight, Wei-ming slipped out with his mother’s lantern. Across the city, silent figures emerged from the shadows, blood-red lanterns hidden under their coats. Then, one by one, they released their sky lanterns, carrying names of the lost, sorrow, and resentment.

The dark sky took on a hue of red. This was not the auspicious Chinese red of Lantern Festival. It was something more ominous.

The sirens came first. Then, the soldiers. They stormed the streets, tearing lanterns down, confiscating firecrackers, shoving people aside. Chaos erupted as people resisted, refusing to be bullied anymore. They were desperate and would not be silenced.

A soldier grabbed Wei-ming’s arm and pointed at his lantern. "Whose name is that?", he demanded.

Wei-ming clenched his fists. Stay silent and live or to defy and lose everything? This was not a dilemma.

As the soldier suddenly noticed the advancing mob, Wei-ming lit the firecrackers in his pocket and threw them into the air. The explosion startled the soldiers. It fueled the protestors. In that moment, more lanterns rose, more voices shouted.

A gunshot rang out. Wei-ming turned—Grandma collapsed to the ground. She had followed him and jumped in front of the bullet meant for Wei-ming. “Light your mother’s lantern,” she gasped.

The people surged forward, angered by the brutal crackdown. Tears burned his eyes, but he would not surrender. Not now. Not ever.

He lit his mother’s lantern and held it high. The flames reflected his resolve as the lantern floated up to join a sky of red dots. “Mother. I promise, your sacrifice will not be in vain.”

The sky smoldered with defiance—booming fireworks and serene red lanterns. The Blood Lantern Uprising had began.

Epilogue

The Blood Lantern Uprising is a work of fiction inspired by contemporary fears and political tensions in Taiwan. More specifically, a conspiracy theory. Many fear that the Kuomintang (KMT) is secretly collaborating with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to destabilize Taiwan's government and pave the way for unification with China. Supporters of this theory point to several incidents suggesting this alleged collusion.

First, after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential vote for the third consecutive time, the KMT opposition in early 2024 sent a delegation led by Fu Kun-chi to meet with Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, in Beijing. Such engagements raised suspicions about the KMT's alignment with Beijing’s interests. Domestically, the KMT has leveraged its legislative majority to enact measures that critics argue undermine Taiwan’s democratic institutions. This led to a series of massive protests called Bluebird Operation (qingniao xingdong 青鳥行動). In December 2024, the KMT, in collaboration with the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), passed amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act, imposing stringent requirements for the court to declare government actions unconstitutional. These changes were perceived as efforts to weaken judicial oversight and consolidate legislative power. And then in January 2025, the KMT-led legislature approved significant budget cuts totaling approximately T$207.6 billion (US$6.35 billion), affecting essential services and national defense. Premier Cho Jung-tai criticized these cuts as "suicidal," expressing concerns over their potential impact on Taiwan’s security, especially amid increasing military pressure from China. These KMT opposition party efforts have resulted in ongoing recall campaigns targeting legislators from the KMT. These efforts have led to a polarized environment, with each party accusing the other of undermining democratic processes, thereby contributing to internal chaos that could be advantageous to Beijing's objectives.

These events have fueled the conspiracy theory alleging KMT-CCP collaboration. The KMT has in recent decades advocated for closer ties with China. It officially maintains that its actions are in Taiwan’s best interest by reducing cross-strait tensions and promoting economic cooperation. It is important to note that at this time no concrete evidence has been publicly presented to substantiate claims of a deliberate conspiracy between the KMT and CCP to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty. However, the continuing destabilizing actions of the KMT are making more people wonder about the conspiracy theory.

血燈籠起義

在白色恐怖2.0的監視下，台北的街道一片沉寂。這一年是公民年20年，也就是世界其他地方的2047年。監控無人機在頭頂盤旋，士兵們在下方整齊地踏步。GM政府禁止了元宵節，稱其為迷信，並威脅國家統一。這是公民對其威權統治可能受到威脅的代號。
但在人們的家中，記憶依然存在。

「吃吧。」她粗聲說道。奶奶對言語和金錢一樣節儉。偉明盯著碗裡的湯圓。這是他母親第一次沒有為他準備。
奶奶在前門外掛了一盞紅燈籠。「血燈籠。為你母親。」她低語。他欣賞著奶奶寫下的母親名字，字跡優美。
偉明不知道母親加入了抗議。像往常一樣，他並不關心。當她公開反對通膨、失業和政府時，他正忙著玩電子遊戲。為此，她被處決。他無法吃完他的湯圓。

午夜時分，偉明偷偷帶著母親的燈籠溜了出去。整個城市中，沉默的身影從陰影中現身，血紅的燈籠藏在他們的外套下。然後，他們一個接一個地放天燈，燈籠上寫著逝者的名字、悲傷與不滿。
黑暗的天空染上了一抹紅色。這不是元宵節的吉祥中國紅，而是更不祥的色彩。

警笛聲首先響起。接著是士兵。他們衝上街道，撕下燈籠，沒收鞭炮 ，將人們推開。當人們反抗，拒絕再被欺壓時，混亂爆發了。他們絕望了，但他們不會被噤聲。
一名士兵抓住偉明的手臂，指著他的燈籠。「那是誰的名字？」他厲聲問道。
偉明緊握拳頭。保持沉默活下去，還是反抗並失去一切？這不是兩難。
當士兵突然注意到逼近的暴民 時，偉明點燃了口袋裡的鞭炮 並將它們扔向空中。爆炸聲嚇到了士兵，也激勵了抗議者。在那一刻，更多的燈籠升起，更多的聲音吶喊。

一聲槍響劃破夜空。偉明轉身——奶奶倒在地上。她跟著他，並擋下了原本射向偉明的子彈。「點亮你母親的燈籠。」她喘息道。
人們因殘酷的鎮壓而憤怒地向前湧去。淚水灼燒著他的雙眼，但他不會投降。不是現在，也不是永遠。
他點亮母親的燈籠，高高舉起。火焰映照出他的決心，燈籠緩緩升空，加入滿天紅點之中。「母親。我發誓，您的犧牲不會白費。」
天空燃燒著反抗——轟鳴的煙火與寧靜的紅燈籠。血燈籠起義就此展開。

後記

《血燈籠起義》是一部虛構作品，靈感來自當代台灣的恐懼與政治緊張，特別是某種陰謀論。許多人擔心，國民黨正秘密與中國共產黨合作，企圖破壞台灣政府的穩定，為兩岸統一鋪路。支持這一理論的人指出了一些事件，暗示這種所謂的勾結。

首先，在民主進步黨連續第三次贏得總統大選後，國民黨於2024年初派出由傅崐萁率領的代表團前往北京，與中國人民政治協商會議主席王滬寧會面。這樣的互動引發了外界對國民黨是否與北京利益一致的疑慮。在國內，國民黨利用其在立法院的多數優勢，推動了被批評者認為削弱台灣民主制度的措施。這引發了一系列大規模抗議，稱為青鳥行動。2024年12月，國民黨與台灣民眾黨合作，通過《憲法訴訟程序法》的修訂，對憲法法庭宣告政府行為違憲施加嚴格限制。這些改變被視為削弱司法監督、鞏固立法權力的努力。接著，2025年1月，國民黨主導的立法院通過了總計約2076億新台幣（約63.5億美元）的重大預算削減，影響了基本服務與國防。行政院長卓榮泰批評這些削減是「自殺式行為」，並對其可能對台灣安全的影響表示擔憂，尤其是在中國軍事壓力不斷增加的情況下。

國民黨在野黨的這些努力，導致了針對其立法委員的罷免行動持續進行。這些行動進一步加劇了社會的兩極化，各黨派互相指責對方破壞民主程序，從而助長了內部混亂，這可能對北京的目標有利。

這些事件助長了關於國民黨與中共勾結的陰謀論。國民黨近幾十年來一直主張與中國建立更緊密的關係，並官方聲稱其行動是為了台灣的最佳利益，旨在降低兩岸緊張並促進經濟合作。值得注意的是，目前尚未有公開的具體證據能夠證實國民黨與中共之間存在破壞台灣主權的陰謀。然而，國民黨持續的破壞性行動，正讓越來越多的人開始質疑這一陰謀論的真實性。

(This story was translated with the help of DeepSeek V3)

Vocabulary from story (from Feb stories 1-3)

S

tory 1:

Sacrifice (犧牲, xī shēng)

Dilemma (兩難, liǎng nán)

Resolve (決心, jué xīn)

Desperate (絕望, jué wàng)

Execution (處決, chǔ jué)

Surrender (投降, tóu xiáng)

Story 2:

Lantern Festival (元宵節, Yuánxiāojié)

Release sky lanterns (放天燈, fàng tiān dēng)

Hang red lanterns (掛紅燈籠, guà hóng dēng lóng)

Tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) (湯圓, tāngyuán)

Set off fireworks (燃放煙火, rán fàng yānhuǒ)

Light firecrackers (點燃鞭炮 diǎn rán biānpào)

Chaos (混亂, hùn luàn)

Story 3:

Protests (抗議, kàngyì)

Resentment (不滿, bùmǎn)

Brutal crackdown (殘酷的鎮壓, cánkù de zhènyā)

Executed (處決, chǔjué)

White Terror (白色恐怖, Báisè Kǒngbù)

Confiscate (沒收, mòshōu)

Gunshot (槍聲, qiāngshēng)

Mob 暴民 (bàomín)

Epilogue vocabulary

1. Fiction, 虛構作品 (xūgòu zuòpǐn)

2. Conspiracy theory, 陰謀論 (yīnmóu lùn)

3. Kuomintang (KMT), 國民黨 (Guómíndǎng)

4. Chinese Communist Party (CCP), 中國共產黨 (Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng)

5. Destabilize, 破壞穩定 (pòhuài wěndìng)

6. Unification, 統一 (tǒngyī)

7. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 民主進步黨 (Mínzhǔ Jìnbù Dǎng)

8. Delegation, 代表團 (dàibiǎo tuán)

9. Constitutional Court, 憲法法庭 (xiànfǎ fǎtíng)

10. Budget cuts, 預算削減 (yùsuàn xuējiǎn)

11. National defense, 國防 (guófáng)

12. Polarized, 兩極化 (liǎngjí huà)

13. Sovereignty, 主權 (zhǔquán)

14. Undermine democracy, 削弱民主 (xuēruò mínzhǔ)

15. Allege, 指控 (zhǐkòng)

16. Recall campaign, 罷免行動 (bàmiǎn xíngdòng)