1950s Part 2: Evacuation

Folks from DaChen 大陳 now regard YongHe 永和 their second homeland. Where is the original homeland? Well, it goes back 60 years.

Map from early 1950s showing Tachen, Matsu, and Quemoy islands

By 1949, CCP forces had succeeded in driving KMT and its loyalists out of the mainland including Hainan Island. And in May, 1950, in 3 days, both the military (120,000 men) and the civilians (numbering 20,000) from 舟山ChouShan Islands retreated to Taiwan. Only a few tiny offshore islands remained under the Nationalist control, namely Tachen (DaChen, 大陳), Matsu (馬祖), and Quemoy (Kinmoy, Kinmen, 金門). Technically, the ROC then still retained Hokkien, ZheJiang, and Taiwan provinces, and with it, the all-important sea and air control of the Taiwan Strait. The CCP therefore must take these heavily defended island-fortresses by force. On Oct 24, 1949, the PLA invasion of Kinmen with 19,000 men was mercilessly beat back by the KMT military with a force of 40,000. [On Aug 23, 1958, the battle resumed in the form of artillery dueling that lasted until Oct 5.]

Madame CKS (left on platform) in Keelung
welcoming troops withdrawn from ChouShan

The battle in ZheJiang started at 7AM, Jan 18 1955 that ended after 61 hours and 12 minutes of intense fighting. This took place on 一江山YiJiangShan, a small island to the northwest, within the eyesight of DaChen. All 740 KMT defenders including the commander-in-chief perished - they went down with 4,000 PLA men. CCP claimed, however, that 500 KMT POWs were taken and some indeed were released in 1991 who subsequently reported back to Taiwan.

What followed was the 4-day total evacuation of DaChen and surrounding islets. Beginning on Feb 8, with the US 7th Fleet providing 132 ships and 400 planes of all sizes, 14,500 civilians, 10,000 garrison forces, 4,000 partisan fighters, and 40,000 tons of war materiel were evacuated. The ships arrived in Keelung and the evacuees temporarily housed in school buildings. Soldiers were sent to reinforce the defense of Kinmen and Matsu.

Here are some photos of the great evacuation (for more see  here and here):

Evacuees and ships of all sizes

A grieving widow whose husband died fighting
the PLA on YiJiangShan Island

Civilians were settled in small towns all over Taiwan, including Tamsui. In recent years, they have gravitated towards 永和, now home to the largest DaChen enclave anywhere in the world.

1950s Part 1: Bandit spies

The 1950s in Taiwan was a time when children heard from their playmates or classmates, something about so-and-so's dad or mom had "disappeared" overnight - all too naive to know what was going on. The entire White Terror period actually started in 1947. In the ensuing years, Taiwanese, even mainland Chinese suspected of being Communists were imprisoned in 綠島 (below, source: here) or worse.

Re-education camps on Green Island with ca 1,450 detainees

Anti-brain washing classes, 5/29/1954

The original United Press caption

This in part had extended from the 228 Incident in which Taiwanese Communists had played a limited role. To complicate the matter further, beginning in 1949, there was also a huge influx of Chinese Communists known as Bandit Spies (匪諜) who were often caught and executed.

The martial law officially ended in 1987. Whether it was a draconian measure or it had saved Taiwan from the CCP remains contested. We do know the wars with the CCP were real, some of us actually served in the front lines. Nonetheless, its far-reaching human right violation still casts a long shadow even today.

In remembrance of the victims of the 228 Incident, there is the 228 Memorial Park in Taipei; nothing tangible, however, has been established for non-Communist victims of the White Terror era. In contrast, in China, the XiShan Memorial Square of Unknown Heroes finally acknowledges presence of its spy assets in Taiwan:

京華時報 5/26/2014: "1949年，包括時任國民黨國防部參謀次長吳石在內的1500多名中國大陸紅色特工遠赴台灣，之後這個群體犧牲過千...。在過去很長一段歲月裏，這些人中的大部分連名字都沒留下來。"In 1949, about 1,500 secret agents from Red China infiltrated Taiwan, including Wu-Shi who worked under the cover as a vice-chief of the planning staff of KMT DoD. Over 1,000 lost their lives without even leaving their names behind."

"直至2013年末北京西山無名英雄紀念廣場建成，846個當年犧牲於台灣的烈士英名被刻在紀念牆上。這是官方第一次以紀念廣場的形式公開紀念1950年代在台灣犧牲的中共地下工作者。“"It was not until late 2013 that the West Mountain Memorial Square for the Unknown Heroes in Beijing was built. The names of 846 martyrs who lost their lives in Taiwan are engraved on the memorial walls. This is the first ever official commemoration of CCP secret agents who died in Taiwan in the 1950s."

The name list of the secret agents and that of unclaimed ashes both were first disclosed on Jan 23, 2011 by 《環球時報》 in its 《追尋在台中共特工遺骨始末為兩岸和平種善因》 and again on May 4, 《台灣戒嚴時期疑似政治受難者名冊》. Both dates are significant on ROC calendar, 1/23 is the Freedom Day and 5/4 the Student Movement Day. The unclaimed cremation urns appear still stored in the warehouse of Taipei Funeral Home today. It is not possible to identify each one as many came to Taiwan using false identities.

Some of those from Taiwan were sent to Green Island for "re-education" simply because they were caught, usually in small groups, studying books on Communism out of intellectual curiosity. Among those Chinese who arrived in Taiwan in 1949, many were falsely accused by their personal enemies often anonymously. And some were charged with the flimsiest evidence. A well-known example was that of a radio personality 崔小萍; her alleged treasonous crime originated in a mention in passing of a certain communist in her childhood diary. Interrogated night and day for 3 months, imprisoned in 1968, and released in 1977, she finally published a memoir 碎夢集 (Shattered Dreams) in 2010.

Case-files of others are now beginning to be released to clear the name of those haplessly caught in the dragnet and compensation finally paid to the wrongly imprisoned.

Ghost money

On June 15, 1949, an announcement appeared in newspapers (below) and the headlines read: 

Taiwan reforms monetary system

New notes begin circulation today

New TWD (NT$) backed by a reserve of 800,000 ounces of gold

Exchange rate ties to five NT$ to 1 US$

40,000 Old TWD exchange for 1 NT$

Compensation for public servants and teachers shall be reasonably adjusted

Much has already been written with regard to the loss of livelihood and not the least, retirement funds for the people of Taiwan. Unimaginable instant poverty for many families in fact.

Here, we'll simply look at a collection of bank notes from different periods in Taiwan history (source: here):

Bank of Taiwan one yen note, backed by gold - Japanese Colonial era

Bank of Taiwan one yuan, 1946. One to one exchange with the pre-war yen

Bank of Taiwan Old TWD 10,000 issued in 1949 when hyperinflation set in

Bank of Taiwan NT$ 50 cents 1949 - good for Old TWD 20,000

Since only those who spoke Chinese could be employed as public servants and teachers, which most Taiwanese did not qualify, the former therefore had received a windfall ("reasonably adjusted") when paid in NT$.

Before this monetary collapse, a house in good shape in Tamsui sold for Old TW$1,000 to 2,000. Overnight, this money was good for a set of 油條 (Chinese crullers). Only those who hoarded solid gold and the like or invested in houses or land escaped the disaster. Land owners, however, would soon lose their holdings in the Land Reforms of the 1950s. To this day, older Taiwanese still hold on to their gold. Lessons learned.

Born in Taiwan

In the war-ravaged China between 1937-45, children born outside family hometowns sometimes were named after their birthplaces. This was when the masses migrated to the interior or other parts of China to escape the Japanese invasion. The names are often based on the abbreviation of a province, for example, 閩粵桂黔滇瓊蘇浙皖贛鄂湘川(or 蜀)魯冀豫晉陜(or 秦), and one of these plus a second character, usually 生 (birth), becomes a newborn's given name. Commonly seen are, e.g., 閩生, 蜀生, 湘生, and some moved with their parents to Taiwan in 1949. After 1949, if born in Taiwan, then it was natural to be named 台生. Hiding in these names are the parental memories of wartime hardship. The book "Big River Big Sea 1949" by 龍應台Lung Ying-tai, who was also born in Taiwan, has retold many such heart-wrenching stories. An English edition is now in the offing.

Then there are the 灣生 (Wansei), repatriated Japanese born in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial era. As 閩生, 蜀生, 湘生 who now travel freely back to China to visit their birthplaces and hometowns, the 灣生 Japanese also return to Taiwan looking for the neighborhoods and old friends from their childhood.

A documentary on Wansei, 灣生回家 Wansei Coming Home by Tanaka Mika 田中實加, is premiering this month in Taiwan. Here is the trailer:

"We must clean up our house for the next family whoever they are to move in. 
And these fresh lilies to greet them, too."
"Birthplace is very important, it must not be mistaken."

"They absolutely positively did live on this land Taiwan!"

Background: The first Japanese immigrants of 133 families (385 members) arrived in Taiwan in 1899, organized by a private 賀田Kata company. They settled in Hua-lien area in a brand new village named 賀田村. The migration continued well into the 1930s. In Hua-lien/Taitung area, there were 15 such settlements all together. [For more, see here.]

This documentary is about children from one of the settlements, the Yoshino Village (吉野村, now 吉安郷). They are the sorrowful Perpetual Foreigners, who left Taiwan, not by choice, in 1946.

Yoshino Village (source: http://taipics.com/hualien.php)

Yoshino Village meeting house (source: http://taipics.com/hualien.php)

Karenko 花蓮港 sea shore (source: http://taipics.com/hualien.php)

The Yoshino children are not alone of course, see here. It is still unknown how many of these children islandwide were repatriated. An estimate puts the number at ca 100,000.

Freedom 1946

By April, 1946, 6 months after the Chinese takeover, news from Taiwan was not all good. An American journalist Harlow M Church had filed at least two reports, this "Out of the frying pan" piece was released on April 16 (source: here), in which Chinese looting and graft were cited:

Portable possessions of the repatriating Japanese were shipped to
Takao Harbor (photo dated April 5, 1946) under the terms of hiki-age. 
As citizens of a defeated nation, their real estates and 
unsold properties were confiscated, and valuables handed over
at checkpoints before boarding the ships back to Japan.
(Note: The other port of departure was Keelung.)

(Click to enlarge)

The second photo, Boy Miners, was taken on April 8, 1946 (source: here, also seen on other sites, for example, The View from Taiwan). This picture has raised many eyebrows questioning if child labor was allowed under the Japanese Colonial or the new Chinese rule:

Skipping the mandatory elementary education has always been a violation of the time-honored citizenship law since the early Japanese era. It was absolutely untrue that children in Taiwan were not required to go to school, they were; in fact, only personal sickness and family hardship were valid excuses. By April, 1946, with the Japanese school teachers gone and the curriculum abruptly changed to all-Chinese with very few qualified Chinese-speaking teachers in sight, many children in rural farming/mining areas were forced to defer schooling, only to resume years later. Some might have joined the labor force during this desperate time.

(Click to enlarge)

And the second report "Freedom is bitter tea for Formosa" was released on April 18, 1946. Increasing crime waves and prevalence of black markets were beginning to overwhelm and alarm the Taiwanese, observed Church, and that "They [now] regard Bondage as a lesser evil than "Liberation".

Umbrella Soldiers

When the first Corps of the Nationalist 70th Army arrived in Keelung on Oct 17, 1945, the welcoming Taiwanese were amazed to see umbrellas as the standard issue, and promptly called these soldiers from the Motherland, Umbrella Soldiers雨傘兵.

Worse, according to contemporary reports, the soldiers looked as haggard as street beggars who carried, in addition to weapons, pots and pans, satchels of rice, and who also wore torn/mended clothing and filthy straw slippers - hardly the appearance of a victorious army. The umbrellas were wishfully associated with mythical power; some folks truly believed that these umbrellas were bullet-proof. Others, however, could not help but notice the stark contrast in discipline shown by the Japanese army, then standing at attention on the docks, to greet the Chinese. It was a major let down for the Taiwanese.

Some photos have now surfaced and with which has emerged an argument that the original Taiwanese eyewitness accounts were incorrect, a smear in fact. This needs to be clarified.

The photos in question were taken by the "Wide World Photos from US Navy", and one of which has an accompanying short release (dated Nov 14, 1945, see below). It did not specify if the first or the second contingent of the 70th Army was photographed. In fact, there was the arrival of a second group on Oct 26. Its soldiers were transported directly to Hsinchu to relieve the Japanese force of their weaponry. The first group of 3,000 men was already sent to greater Taipei area to perform the same duty.

A truckload of the 70th Army in the always rainy Keelung

Defenders have pointed to the photos and argued for a Chinese military might. They, however, seem unaware that the first group had arrived wearing winter gears, a miscalculaion. In the subtropical heat of Keelung/Taiwan, they were forced to take off padded uniforms and were in various stages of undress, hence the dilapidated look. In addition, the seasickness en route did not help.

According to the recall of a surviving old soldier, the 70th was issued new uniforms and shoes, and straw slippers were banned before boarding the US transport ship to Taiwan. And the umbrellas? They were a generous gift from a merchant in WenZhou溫州, who originally came from Hokkien, in support of his fellow home-towners. These are clearly depicted in the photos, smartly dressed soldiers with umbrellas.

Indeed, the 70th Army was re-structured from a security force based in Hokkien ChangChou. Before dispatched to Taiwan, it was merged with another security force in NingPo寧波 area (the old soldier's unit). The first group now appears to be the old and tired unit from Hokkien and the second, younger and healthier, from NingPo. The Wide World photos were most likely taken of the second group on Oct 26, in no way contradicting the eyewitness accounts of the first group's arrival on Oct 17.

At that time, KMT regular armies were busy elsewhere, unavailable for the Taiwan take-over mission. Selection of the 70th Army was a monumental mistake, and the repercussion persists to this day. The 70th Army, downsized to a division, was sent back to fight the civil war in China in Dec, 1946. It was annihilated by the Red Army.

, Umbrella, brand new uniform and new shoes

[Source: http://taipics.com/mediapubs_50s_war2.php]

Children's Day presents

April 4 has always been Children's Day in Taiwan, since 1949 anyway. It is now combined with Women's Day (originally March 8) on theory that mothers and children should spend the holiday together. The gift-giving tradition, however, still continues: Tamsui Elementary School announced on March 11 a list of Children's Day presents to each grade, chess sets and marking pens, mostly:

On this day, pupils would gather at morning assembly and be lectured on by local dignitaries, mostly assuring the kids that one day, they shall become 國家的主人翁 (masters of the nation), etc. This is followed by distribution of the eagerly awaited presents. Then the rest of the day off.

The choice of the presents is still up to local gov'ts and/or individual schools. This year, in a deviation from the tradition, Taichung City decides that the "gift" shall be for each elementary school to adopt a stray dog/cat - to show the students how precious life is. Adding to this, some schools have elected to also distribute small tokens, e.g., pocket tissues.

Back in the 1950s in Tamsui, it was instant gratification, small slices of the savory 米糕 (rice cake, originated in Foochow) wrapped in blood-red paper, donated by local businessmen:

The memorable 米糕

Happy Children's Day!