Through various modernization projects driven by late-Qing Dynasty governor Liu Ming-chuan and the Japanese in the late 19 th and early 20 th century, the peaceful island of Taiwan has taken quite a different path in its historical development from mainland China, and the differences continue to grow.

August 15, 1945, the end of the Second World War, marked an end to the Japanese rule over Taiwan, and the arrival of the Chinese. The Taiwanese initially welcomed China with great joy and anticipation of the arrival of their counterparts from the “motherland.” The euphoria quickly faded as China's Nationalist government brought a corrupt bureaucracy, economic hardship, and a deteriorating sense of public security. The mood of the Taiwanese fell from hope to deep despair. By its second year on Taiwan (1946), the Nationalist government authorities often found themselves in conflict with Taiwan society – these conflicts were the root of the large-scale bloodshed to follow.


On the evening of February 27, 1947, agents from the Monopoly Bureau in Taipei went to a neighborhood on present-day Nanjing West Road, where they confiscated contraband cigarettes from a woman named Lin Jiang-mai. One of the agents beat Lin on the head with a pistol, prompting the surrounding angry crowd to chase the agents. As the agents ran away, they fired their guns indiscriminately into the crowd, killing one person named Chen Wen-xi. The mood of the crowd, which had already been harboring many feelings of frustration from Nationalist rule, exploded like a volcano. The crowd protested to both the police and the gendarmes, but received no response.

On the morning of February 28, the angry crowd held another protest at the Monopoly Bureau Headquarters, later moving on to the governor's office to present a petition to Governor-General Chen Yi.
To their surprise, the crowd was met by soldiers at the governor's office who shot at them, killing and injuring at least 10 people. A group of young Taiwanese took over the Taiwan Broadcasting Company Station (the present site of the Taipei 2-28 Memorial Museum) and announced the transpiring events on the radio, calling on the Taiwanese to voice their protests. Conflicts ensued across the entire island, with rioting in almost every city and town, setting the tone for opposition between the Taiwanese and the Nationalist army.

The unrest gradually faded from March 1 to March 5, as Taiwanese representatives from the Nationalist government and the provincial government members formed the “2-28 Settlement Committee.” The Committee negotiated settlement conditions with Governor-General Chen Yi, who agreed to government reforms raised by the committee. However, despite his promise to not bring any more troops into the city, Chen Yi made a secret call to the Nationalist capital on Nanjing requesting a dispatch of troop reinforcements to Taiwan.

In Kaohsiung on March 6, the day that the Settlement Committee issued its "A Call to All Taiwanese," General Peng Meng-chi ordered the execution of a number of Kaohsiung committee representatives. Peng also dispatched troops to a meeting of another Taiwanese group where they shot and killed many of the members.

On March 7, the committee issued its “Thirty-two Demands,” which included a call for political reform, and the demand that all army and navy posts on Taiwan be taken by Taiwanese. However, Chen Yi knew that reinforcements from Nanjing would soon arrive at Taiwan, and he suddenly turned hostile, ignoring the promises he had made with the Settlement Committee.

On the afternoon of March 8, the troop deployment from Nanjing arrived at Keelung Harbor. The troops started to kill people indiscriminately immediately upon their arrival, and Taiwan society plunged into panic. A "cleansing of the countryside” proceeded, with innocent Taiwanese killed at random – the number of deaths is estimated between 10,000 to 20,000 people.


After the bloody massacres of the 2-28 Incident, the Taiwanese fell under martial law, a time known as the “White Terror.” This campaign of government repression continued to cause pain, leaving the wounds from the incident unable to heal. For over 30 years after the incident, people refused to talk when they heard the words “2 -28” , for no one dared to speak of this bloody chapter in Taiwan's past.


In 1987, 40 years after the 2-28 Incident and at a time when martial law had not yet been lifted, Zheng Nan-rong, Chen Yong-xing, and Li Sheng-xiong initiated a peace movement, aiming to obtain justice for victims of the 2-28 Incident. By breaking the taboo of speaking about the incident, these three people compelled the government to face history, giving Taiwan society hope that they could pass through the shadows of past.

Because of the efforts of those involved in the peace movement and through the strong resistance of the Taiwanese -- who sacrificed their precious lives and youth, their families, and endless hours of sweat and toil under heavy government repression -- we have this memorial to commemorate the events of 2-28.

50 years later, a spirited generation who witnessed the slaughter of 2-28 and the following decades of terror under martial law are now our grandfathers and grandmothers. They can now shed their tears freely, as we all can look at this period of history in Taiwan and remember it together. As we work our utmost to remember 2-28 and reflect upon history, we build new significance in our lives.


When we think about the 2-28 Incident, there are some important questions to ask : can we become wiser in the process, and can we remember the lessons of history?
Is it possible for us to cultivate sincere feelings for Taiwan, with mutual understanding and harmony between people?

In the face of the tragic evidence of the past, we still carry on our backs a disgraced, unjust chapter in history – perhaps we cannot bear the traces of pain, but having endured the pain of long, slow winter nights, we ultimately will stand up to welcome a new dawn.

With this chapter in our history behind us, we must not let Taiwan's children roam aimlessly. We shall recover from history's wounds, and expect the flowers of a new spring. Now is the time for us, hand in hand, to embrace and experience everything on this land we call Taiwan and think about Taiwan's future, for this is the most important significance of the 2-28 Incident.