The funeral for the famous Taiwanese artist, David Tao, has been held today (the 21st) at the Bread of Life Church in Taipei. The theme was "dream the wild dream one more time with David Tao". Many relatives, friends, and members of the entertainment industry came to testify on David Tao's Christian life of joy and hope. The President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou, also attended in person to pay respect to David Tao, also known as "Uncle Tao".
The funeral was organized by the "Christian Artists Family". The first pastor of the Taiwan Christian Artists Family Lin Wei Jun led the prayers; the former artist and current leader of the Los Angeles Christian Artists Family, pastor Fang Zheng, led scripture readings and hymns; pastor Kou Shao En delivered the word; pastor Zhou Lian Hua gave blessings.
The famous philanthropist, Sun Yue, stated at the funeral that most people knew only Sun Yue as a philanthropist. However, his very first charity event was invited by David Tao, which was a fundraising activity organized by "The Cosmic Light" magazine that help provide for the education of children in the mountainous areas.
Sun Yue also said that recently various media groups have released vast positive news coverage about David Tao. He believed that the reason was because many Taiwanese citizens as well as reporters in the media grew up watching the humorous "Uncle Tao" on television. Sun Yue encouraged the attendees, saying: "Although David Tao has left us, and has saddened us deeply, but these days I felt that as we commemorate him our hearts should be filled with hope.”
Sun Yue quoted the scriptures in order to guide everyone to think about God’s Kingdom. He said: "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
Political leaders apart from Ma Ying-jeou also came to pay respects, such as Lung Ying-tai from the Cultural Department. She stated that Tao is a shared memory among all of us. When Tao left, our hearts has a form of sadness, but this is not real sorrow, for the memory of David Tao will always be in our hearts. Lung presented to David Tao four Chinese words carrying the meaning of "The pleasant wind and the clear moon".
David Tao's son, also named David, is also a Christian artist. He shared with the attendees, saying that he greatly appreciated his father's tremendous talents, and that he thought the greatest gift that his father had left him was his humor. He hoped that everyone could wipe away our tears and continue to pass on his father's dreams.
David's son said: "In here, please stow away your tissues, because tissues are very expensive, and please wipe away your tears. To me, my power comes from putting my focus on the future and the things that I can do for my father and for society. This is what God has taught us, and is also how my father has taught us, and therefore we should carry forward his dreams and his life."
Well-known show host, Miss Chang Hsiao-yen, also shared during the funeral many funny experiences with David Tao. The humorous conversations between the two of them filled the place with laughter. Wang Wei-chung (the Godfather of Taiwan's variety shows), Kevin Chu Yen-ping (a film director and friend of 30 years), various famous artists such as Xia Ling-ling, Hsu Feng, Fang Fang, Tien Niu, and Christian artists such as actor Vence Song Damin and former sports show host Fu Daren were amongst the many who attended the funeral.
[Editor's note: Carol Lee translated the article.]
