When Yimin Temple recently celebrated its 200th anniversary, Hsinchu County commissioner Lin Kuang-hua pointedly asked a county legislator why anyone should speak in praise of the yimin militiamen. Arguing that the militiamen had sided with the Qing against Chinese heroes who were trying to drive the Manchus out, the county executive asked: What's so virtuous about people like that?
直到褒忠義民廟兩百周年，新竹縣長林光華還提及一位高姓議員質疑義民爺精神：林爽文是反清復明的民族英雄，義民爺不幫他，反倒幫清廷，這樣的義民爺何忠何義之有？