TAIPEI, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) — On a tranquil seaside alongside the northeastern coast of Taiwan stands a weathered stone monument. Its light inscription nonetheless legible: “In memory of fights against Japanese invasion.”
In May 1895, this shore, now named Yanliao, was the location the place Japanese troops first landed on Taiwan and in addition the place they encountered the primary armed resistance, elevating the curtain on a half-century wrestle for the island’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule and restoration to China.
Across the island, from the plush hills of Tainan to the ridges of Changhua and the gorges of Hualien, monuments and memorials stand quietly, not grand in scale, however every carrying the unstated grief and satisfaction of Taiwan individuals who refused to bow to international rule.
In April 1895, the Qing authorities, defeated in a struggle launched by Japan in opposition to China, was compelled to cede Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan. However, folks in Taiwan have been decided to not give up.
Chi Chia-lin, chief of a Taiwan historical past analysis affiliation, advised Xinhua that just about 10,000 folks in Taiwan sacrificed their lives through the resistance motion in 1895, whereas on the Japanese facet a complete of 4,800 Japanese navy personnel have been killed and about 27,000 injured.
The Japanese encountered the most important scale resistance within the mountainous Changhua County in central Taiwan. In August 1895, 1000’s of native militia gathered alongside remnants of the Qing military to withstand the Japanese on an area hill named Baguashan.
They have been outnumbered 5 to at least one and poorly armed however fought relentlessly for days, killing over 1,000 Japanese troopers, together with a basic, earlier than being overwhelmed. Fewer than 50 survived.
One of the leaders, Xu Xiang, left behind phrases that also stir the guts: “If this land falls, Taiwan is lost. I will not live to see the motherland again.”
Seventy years later, in 1965, native residents found 679 skeletons buried on the hillside — which have been recognized because the fallen fighters of Baguashan. Today they relaxation in a memorial park with a monument erected to honor their sacrifice and remind future generations of the spirit that defines the folks of Taiwan.
Taiwan’s resistance didn’t finish in 1895. It stretched throughout 5 a long time, by numerous acts of defiance in opposition to colonial oppression.
In at present’s Tainan in southern Taiwan, two monuments stand in testimony to one of the crucial tragic uprisings on the island, the Xilaian Incident of 1915, also called the Tapani Incident. Led by a person named Yu Qingfang, 1000’s of native peasants rose up in opposition to Japanese rule and their revolt was crushed with brutal effectivity with over 1,000 sentenced to loss of life.
Locals erected a monument on the location of the rebellion and one other one bearing Yu’s identify on a hill the place a serious battle occurred.
“Even today, when I come here, I feel a deep sadness,” mentioned Lin Shen-jing, an area historian. “The Japanese colonial authorities launched persecutions of village after village in the wake of the uprising. Much more people were killed than recorded in historical archives.”
Northward in Hualien alongside the island’s japanese coast, a white fashionable monument marks the battle of Taroko which occurred in 1914. The ethnic minority tribes of Taroko resisted fiercely in opposition to the Japanese in protection of their homeland and the value they paid was catastrophic — with the native clans decimated.
Designed by an area artist, the monument in Hualien options 22 stone spheres symbolizing the tribes that fought collectively, with one central orb representing the observing spirit of their ancestors.
In the misty mountains of Nantou, one other chapter of resistance by ethnic minorities on the island unfolded in 1930. The native tribes there, led by their chief Mona Rudo, attacked Japanese police stations and killed tons of. Japan’s response was swift and cruel — bombings, poison gasoline and mass executions left greater than 900 folks useless.
Locals have erected a statue of Mona Rudo and monuments for these fallen within the battle — bearing inscriptions comparable to “heroes against Japanese invasion” and “crimson blood, undying spirit.”
All these courageous however tragic resistance efforts paved the best way to a pink stone monument standing excessive within the sq. in entrance of the Taipei Zhongshan Hall, the place on Oct. 25, 1945, the ceremony to just accept Japan’s give up in Taiwan Province of the China struggle theater of the Allied powers was held. From that time on, China recovered Taiwan de jure and de facto.
On the floor of the monument stones, there are vertical cuts, every standing for a 12 months since 1895 — and three excellent marks exhibiting the numerous years of 1895, 1937 and 1945.
At the bottom of the monument sits a stone scroll. Among the sentences carved into it, one reads: “The war of resistance against Japanese aggression revealed the indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation in defending its homeland. This monument is dedicated to all compatriots who gave their lives in the struggle. May they be remembered forever.”