From Takow to Kaohsiung

Siwei Road (四維路) and Bade Road (八德路); as well as Xinsheng Road (新生路); and Zhongxiao (忠孝), Ren-ai (仁愛), Xinyi (信義) and Heping (和平) Roads.

Siwei (四維; "four bonds") Road is a common street name, with examples in many cities and townships around Taiwan. These include Taipei (臺北); the Banqiao (板橋), Xinzhuang (新莊) and Wugu (五股) Districts all in New Taipei City; Hsinchu (新竹); Wuqi (梧棲) District in Taichung; Douliu (斗六); Chiayi (嘉義); Kaohsiung (高雄); Taitung (臺東); and Neipu (內埔) and Chaozhou (潮州) Townships, both in Pingtung County.
The reasons for this high frequency are historical, philosophical and cultural but, primarily, political.

四 (Mdn. si) means "four" and 維 (Mdn. wei) means "to tie / fasten" and, therefore, nouns such as "tie(s) / fastening(s)" or, in this case, "bond(s)", specifically the "four things that bind society together".
More commonly, by extension, they are called the Four Cardinal Principles / Values or similar.

This phrase si-sei (四維; Hoklo: su-ui) derives from the "Herdsmen" (牧民) chapter of the ancient Guanzi (管子; "[Teachings of] Master Guan {Zhong; 管仲}]") text, some of which possibly dates back to the 7th-century BCE minister of that name who served Duke Huan (桓公) in the state of Qi (齊; in today's Shandong Province, China), though most, if not all, was added later, probably between the 5th and 2nd centuries BCE.

These four bonds (principles) are:
禮 (Mdn. li; "rites", usually rendered as "propriety")
義 (Mdn. yi; "righteousness")
廉 (Mdn. lian; "incorruptibility", usually rendered as "integrity" or "honor")
恥 (Mdn chi; "sense of shame"; but also sometimes rendered as "honor", confusingly)

The Guanzi states:
何謂四維？一曰禮、二曰義、三曰廉、四曰恥。禮不踰節，義不自進，廉不蔽惡，恥不從枉。
"What are these four cardinal values? The first is propriety, the second is righteousness, the third is integrity, the fourth is a sense of shame. Propriety consists in not overstepping the bounds of proper restraint. Righteousness consists in not pushing oneself forward [at the expense of others]. Integrity consists in not concealing one's faults. Having a sense of shame consists in not following those who go awry." (*translation from: wiktionary)

Of course, over the following centuries, as different philosophical schools, religious creeds and political factions came and went, a great deal of time and brain juice was expended on debating exactly what Master Guan may have meant by these four somewhat abstract words and, more importantly perhaps, what he should have meant by them.

Thus, over 2,000 years later, they were once again taken up in 1934, this time in a speech promoting his New Life Movement (新生活運動)*, by Chiang Kai-skek, later ROC president but at that time chairman of the Military Affairs Commission. The Four Virtues were to be central in reinvigorating Chinese society and promoting Neo-Confucian social morality in the hope of uniting the nation in a single centralized ideology in defiance of the emergence of new ways of thinking, in particular, in combating the New Culture Movement (新文化運動) of the previous two decades that rejected traditional, classical Chinese ideas, as well as countering the growing influence of Communist ideologies, at a time when CKS's own administration was floundering in nepotism, bribery and corruption.

In doing so, CKS was probably seeking to imitate his mentor and predecessor as KMT leader, Sun Yat-sen, (as he often did, such as in changing his name to Zhong-zheng 中正 which imitated / paid homage to one of Sun's own: Zhong-shan 中山).

In a 1920 speech discuassing the Three Principles of the People (三民主義; Mdn. San-Min** Zhu-yi) underlying the Chinese Nationalilst Party (KMT) founded the previous year, SYS had also challenged the new and "foreign" ideologies, proposing a return to traditional values. Foremost among these, he mentioned the Confucian "Eight Virtues" (八德; Mdn. Bade) similarly grouped into four pairs:

"What are China's time-honored virtues? Loyalty and filial piety [忠孝] come first. Then we have love [仁愛], faithfulness [信義], and love of peace [和平]. Some who crave the new form of civilization want to throw away these virtues. They say that these old relics have no place in modern civilization. They are wrong, however; because China can ill afford to lose these previous virtues." (Translated by Lee, Baen; 1928)

From these, therefore, are named streets and districts and townships &c., such as Taipei's Bade Road (八德), beneath which heading south are Zhongxiao (忠孝), Ren-ai (仁愛), Xinyi (信義) and Heping (和平) Roads.

- - Sun Yat-sen (seated) and Chiang Kai-shek (photo wikipedia)

Not surprisingly, CKS brought his own interpretation of the si-wei to suit that era's particular historical and political circumstances, stating:
禮是規規矩矩的態度，義是正正當當的行為，廉是清清白白的辨別，恥是切切實實的覺悟。
"Propriety is a well-regulated attitude, righteousness is proper behavior, integrity is clear-sighted discrimination, and a sense of shame is a thorough realization [of the truth]." (tr. MC)

Later, during the Second Sino-Japanese War (中國抗日戰爭; 1937–1945), CKS redifined these as:
禮是嚴嚴整整的紀律，義是慷慷慨慨的犧牲，廉是實實在在的節約，恥是轟轟烈烈的奮鬥
"Propriety is strict and orderly discipline, righteousness is generous [self-]sacrifice, integrity is real economies, and a sense of shame is vigorous struggle." (tr. MC)

- - Chiang Kai-shek (left) and Mao Zedong, 1945 (photo from Wikipedia)

In the postwar period, with Mao Zedong's CCP in China promoting a "Destroy the Four Olds" policy (破四舊; Mdn. Po Si Jiu) to weed out "old ideas (舊思想), old culture (舊文化), old habits (舊風俗) and old customs (舊習慣)" on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, the KMT-led ROC government on Taiwan counteracted by continuing to promote traditional ideas.
Hence, presumably, the proliferation of Siwei Roads in Taiwan



*Taipei and other cities / towns also have a Xinsheng (新生) Road, often translated as "New Birth" or even "Rebirth", but surely within the context of Taiwan's other street names, this must be a reference to the New Life Movement.
** There is also a Sanmin (三民) Road in Taipei (as well as Sanmin districts, Sanmin villages and even a Sanmin Bat Cave around Taiwan) as well as Minzu (民族; "nationalism", Minquan (民權) and Minsheng (民生) roads, but these will all be dealt with elsewhere (here).

; Text and photo copyright Jiyue Publications