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Exhibits

Scars on the Land: The Historic Sites Related to the February 28 Incident in Northern Taiwan
Second part: In the Wake of Gunshots

Update：
2021-07-18
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Date：Feb 20, 2021 –May 16, 2021 Opening Hours：10:00 to 17:00, from Tuesday to Sunday Closed Day: Every Monday Advised by the Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan Organized by the Memorial Foundation of 228, National 228 Memorial Museum

Exhibition period: May 20, 2021 – August 15, 2021

Opening Hours：10:00 to 17:00, from Tuesday to Sunday

Closed Day: Every Monday

Advised by the Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan

Organized by the Memorial Foundation of 228, National 228 Memorial Museum

Introduction
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The February 28 Incident of 1947 left an indelible scar on Taiwanese society. Even today, the locations and buildings that witnessed the events of the incident carry with them memories of the past crisis, becoming "February 28 Incident historic sites" where people can learn about and commemorate the incident.

Among these sites, there are government office buildings, spaces that were once closely connected to the daily lives of ordinary citizens, and places where people were victimized and killed. Taking space as the main theme, this exhibition makes use of descriptions of places, buildings, and routes sourced from archives and oral histories in order to substantively and meticulously connect the dots and illustrate a full picture of this complicated historical event.

Drawing upon two dimensions, the chronology of the February 28 Incident and the spatiality of the incident's development in local counties and cities, this exhibition is arranged into three parts. The first part covers the early post-war years in Taiwan, the killing associated with a contraband tobacco confiscation that took place on February 27, 1947 near Taipei's Tianma Tea House, the epicenter of the incident, and subsequent developments until the temporary introduction of martial law was declared on March 1 of the same year. The second part portrays how Taiwanese people who lived in the counties and cities to the west of Taipei and to the south of Tamsui River gathered together in meetings and discussed how to react to the ongoing situation after receiving news of the conflict in Taipei, as well as how the Nationalist government's army clamped down and conducted "village cleansing" after arriving on the island on March 8. The last part focuses on interactions between civilians and the government that occurred in the northeastern area of Taiwan to the east of Taipei as well as in Yilan and Hualien counties in eastern Taiwan, and particularly on the indiscriminate shootings and public executions perpetrated by the 21st Division of the Nationalist government's army soon after it landed at the Port of Keelung, causing significant casualties among civilians. The locations of historic sites that are included in this exhibition span several cities and counties, namely the Greater Taipei area, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli, as well as Yilan and Hualien in eastern Taiwan.

 

Second part: In the Wake of Gunshots
Exhibition period: May 20, 2021 – August 15, 2021

On March 1, some Taiwanese legislative representatives convened a committee dedicated to dealing with the contraband tobacco investigation that had resulted in bloodshed. Hoping to bring about a satisfactory resolution to the incident, the committee was reorganized into the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee on March 2, and its members held an assembly at Zhongshan Hall, to which people from various fields were invited. On March 4, the committee notified local councilors in a total of 17 Taiwanese cities and counties of the need to establish settlement committees in their own municipalities. For a while, it seemed that everyone was becoming optimistic about how the impact of the crisis was to be handled. However, just as many settlement committees at the municipal level were being set up, Chen Yi, Taiwan's chief executive, sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek asking if he could dispatch troops from China to his aid. On the one hand, Chen Yi asked for military reinforcements to be sent by the central government while he mobilized the existing armed forces on the island. On the other hand, he publicly declared that he would not carry out a military crackdown. His double-faced approach let the incident escalate to a point where it could not end peacefully.

  • First Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department｜Taiwan New Cultural Movement Memorial Museum

  • Taipei Commercial School｜National Taipei University of Business

  • Taipei Industrial School｜National Taipei University of Technology

  • Taiwan Provincial College of Law and Business｜Xuzhou Road campus of the College of Law at National Taiwan University

  • Yanping College｜Kainan Vocational High School

  • The Zhongshan Hall of Banqiao｜The Banqiao District Office

  • Tamsui High School｜Tamkang High School

  • Puding, Guandu｜Puding, Guandu

  • Shalun, Tamsui｜Shalun, Tamsui

  • Taoyuan Station｜Taoyuan Station

  • Hsinchu County Government｜The Taoyuan branch of the Taiwan Cooperative Bank

  • Taoyuan Police Station, Hsinchu County Police Bureau｜Taoyuan New Immigrants Culture Hall

  • Taoyuan Jingfu Temple｜Taoyuan Jingfu Temple

  • Hsinchu City God Temple｜Hsinchu City God Temple

  • Hsinchu City Government｜Hsinchu City Government

  • Taiwan Hsinchu District Court｜The Summary Court of the Taiwan Hsinchu District Court

  • Hsinchu branch of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee｜Hsinchu High School

  • Rising Sun Bridge, Hsinchu｜Chenggong Bridge

  • Houlong Station｜Houlong Station

  • The Fourth Military Police Regiment｜First Commercial Bank Information Building and private parking lot

  • Taiwan Garrison Command Second Department Guard Brigade Detention Center｜Lions' Plaza Commercial Building

  • Taiwan High Court｜Judicial Building

  • Taipei Botanical Garden｜Taipei Botanical Garden

  • Taiwan Garrison Command Labor Education Camp｜ROC Navy Command Headquarters, the Ministry of National Defense

  • Kawabata Bridge｜Zhongzheng Bridge

  • Taipei Bridge｜Taipei Bridge

  • Nangang Bridge｜Nangang Bridge

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A boisterous discussion at Zhongshan Hall
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On February 27, 1947, mass protests were triggered by a conflict that broke out during a contraband tobacco investigation. The next day, on February 28, the guards in front of the Chief Executive's Office building caused bloodshed among the protestors, and the disturbance in Taipei's city center continued to escalate, leading to the shutdown of several government agencies. In the afternoon of the same day, the Taiwan Garrison Command declared temporary martial law for Taipei's city center, where all social gatherings and demonstrations were prohibited. Meanwhile, armed military police patrolled the city center, and from time to time opened fire at pedestrians on the streets. After protesters broadcast news of the government's violent crackdown to the rest of the island on Taiwan Radio Station, Taipei County (today's New Taipei City) and the Keelung area saw protesters show solidarity with their compatriots in the capital and join the resistance. Many members of the Legislative Assembly witnessed the intensifying situation and decided to come forward to negotiate with the government. Ông Thiam-teng (a member of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly), N̂g Tiau-khîm (the speaker of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly) and others broadcast messages to their fellow Taiwanese citizens in the hope that the general public would wait for negotiations to take place between the legislators and the government, and that escalation of the already tense situation would be avoided.

On the morning of March 1, the Taipei City Council invited members of the National Assembly, the Taiwan Provincial Assembly and the National Political Council to establish the Contraband Cigarette Murder Investigation Committee at Zhongshan Hall, where Chiu Iân-siū, Ông Thiam-teng, Lîm Tiong, and N̂g Tiau-khîm were appointed to negotiate with the Chief Executive Chen Yi. They put forward requests, such as lifting martial law, prohibiting shooting, forming an incident settlement committee, and releasing arrested citizens, to de-escalate the tension. Although Chen Yi agreed to many demands and personally announced via radio the lifting of martial law, demonstrations and strikes were still strictly forbidden, and gunshots were still occasionally heard in the streets.

On the morning of March 2, students from Yanping College, Taiwan Provincial Normal School and Taiwan Provincial College of Law and Business gathered at Zhongshan Hall to condemn Chen Yi's corrupt administration. In the afternoon, the Contraband Cigarette Murder Investigation Committee was re-organized into the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee, whose members included publicly elected politicians and civil society leaders. In the inaugural meeting of the Settlement Committee at Zhongshan Hall, Tiuⁿ Chêng-chhoan, a member of Taipei's City Council, gave a briefing on the meeting that he had previously had with Chen Yi and declared that representatives would be elected from among the chambers of commerce, citizens, students, trade unions, and the Taiwan Provincial Political Construction Association to continue deliberations on the handling of the incident. In order to show the public that the Chief Executive's Office was willing to take part in negotiations and to initiate political reforms, the Chief Executive's Office sent five officials, including Chou Yi-er (the chief of the civil affairs department) and Hu Fu-hsiang (the head of the police department), to participate in the Settlement Committee. However, on the very same day, Chen Yi sent a telegram to the central government in Nanjing to report on the turmoil in Taiwan and demanded reinforcements be sent to the island as the current military capacity was not enough to quell the unrest.

▲Already on March 2, Chen Yi sent this telegram to the central government in Nanjing asking Chen Cheng (the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of National Defense) to dispatch reinforcements to the island. In the telegram, Chen Yi wrote "…quickly choosing an infantry brigade that is relatively well-trained and dispatching at least one regiment to Taiwan would suffice to eliminate traitorous bandits and to ease His Excellency's worry about the southern land."

First Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department

▲Taipei North Police Station completed in 1933.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Periodical Image System of the Japanese Occupation Period, "Taiwan Architectural Society", Volume 5, Issue 4, 1933, oral illustration (no page numbers)

▲It is now used as the Taiwan New Culture Movement Memorial Hall. It focuses on the history of Taiwanese people's efforts to promote cultural movements and fight for political rights in the 1920s and 1930s. The museum preserves the fan-shaped detention room of the Northern Police Station during the Japanese colonial period, the water cell used for torture, and other spaces. As an educational display.

Brief introduction to the site

In 1920, the Governor-General's Office set up the North Taihoku Police Station in Nisshin-chō of Daitōtei (Twatutia), which was in charge of all the police branches located to the north of the North Gate. In 1933, the station was relocated to a newly completed two-story building which has lasted to this day. On the ground floor, there was a fan-shaped detention room, a water dungeon, and a caning room. After Formosa was taken over by the Nationalist government in 1945, the station was renamed the First Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department. In 1949, the name was changed to the Criminal Investigation Headquarters under the Taiwan Provincial Police Department. In 1990, it became the Datong Police Branch. In 1998, it was designated as a municipal historic site. In 2012, the Datong Police Branch was relocated to No. 200 Jinxi Street, which is right next door. In 2014, a historic building maintenance project was implemented to restore the building to how it looked when used as the North Taihoku Police Station. In 2018, the Taiwan New Cultural Movement Memorial Museum was officially set up at this building, and exhibitions, lectures and other events are now occasionally held there.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

In the afternoon of March 3, 1947, the members of the public security group of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee convened a temporary meeting in which a resolution was passed to create the Chung Yi Service Squad. Khó͘ Tek-hui was chosen as the squad leader and the Taipei City Police Department First Precinct was used as an office. The squad's social brigade (led by Khó͘ Tek-hui) and student brigade (led by Liāu Tek-hiông, the Chung Yi Service Squad's deputy leader, then head of the Federation of Student Self-governance Association and deputy director of the public security section of the Settlement Committee) attempted to maintain public order in Taipei City around the clock. However, the Chung Yi Service Squad was in fact established in accordance with the wishes of the government, and Khó͘ Tek-hui was ordered by the Taiwan Garrison Command to organize the squad. Permission was also given by Chen Yi for him to engage in infiltration work.

Taipei Commercial School
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Brief introduction to the site

In 1917, the Commercial School of the Governor-General of Taiwan was established on the campus of Taihoku Prefectural Taihoku First Middle School (where today's Chien Kuo High School is located). In 1922, it was renamed Taihoku Prefectural Taihoku Commercial School and a night school was added. In 1924, the school was relocated to the current site under the instructions of the Governor-General's Office, and Taihoku Prefectural Taihoku Second Commercial School was established on the same campus in 1936. After the end of the Second World War, both schools were merged to create Taiwan Provincial Taipei Commercial School. Having been renovated and rebuilt many times, the school campus no longer resembles how it once looked.

Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On February 28, 1947, some students from Taipei Commercial School joined the protest on the streets. On March 1, when the Taipei City Council invited people from all walks of life to form a Contraband Cigarette Murder Investigation Committee, Liāu Tek-hiông, a student from Taipei Commercial School, became one of the three student representatives. Other students also played an active role in maintaining public order. On March 3, Liāu Tek-hiông became the deputy leader of the Chung Yi Service Squad and arranged the students from Taipei Commercial School into the Eighth Team, responsible for maintaining public order around the Mengjia Police Branch.

Taipei Industrial School
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▲Taipei Industrial School during the Japanese occupation.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Periodical Image System Photo Database of the Japanese Occupation Period

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▲The Red Building on the Taipei University of Science and Technology campus is now known as the Sixian Building. It was built in 1918 and was initially used as a library. It is the only remaining early school building on the campus. The main body of the building is a slender and symmetrical two-story building with a red brick facade.

Brief introduction to the site

In 1912, the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan established the Industrial Institute under the Education Department of its Civil Affairs Bureau in Tāi-an Village of Tōa-ka-la̍k district. In 1918, the Industrial School of the Governor-General was established specifically to enroll Japanese students. In 1923, both schools were merged to create a new educational institution called the Taihoku Prefectural Taihoku Industrial School. After the end of the Second World War, its name was changed to Taiwan Provincial Taipei Industrial and Vocational School. Most of the school buildings were originally made from bricks and timber, with many being rebuilt using concrete after 1930. After multiple renovations, almost all the old school buildings are now gone, except the Sixian Building, which was designated as a municipal historic building in 1998.

Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On February 28, 1947, many Taipei citizens took to the streets to protest the bloodshed that had occurred during a contraband investigation the day before. Students of the Taipei Industrial School also took part in the demonstration. As protesters approached the Chief Executive's Office building, they were met with random shooting by the guards. Ngô͘ Péng-hông, then a student who was injured by a machine-gun, recorded his experience of the incident in a painting called The Gunshot in Front of the Chief Executive's Office Building.

Students from Taipei Industrial School played an active role in helping maintain public order in Taipei City. After the Chung Yi Service Squad was established on March 3, students from different schools and universities were grouped into eight teams, and students from Taipei Industrial School were responsible for the Fourth Team of the squad.

Taiwan Provincial College of Law and Business
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▲The main entrance of the Taiwan Governor's Office Higher Commercial School during the Japanese occupation.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Periodical Image System Photo Database of the Japanese Occupation Period

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▲The administrative building, two rows of two-story clear-water red brick classrooms, library, and guard room on the current campus were all designated as municipal monuments in 1998 and are managed by National Taiwan University. The buildings are in good preservation condition. Among them, the clear water red brick classrooms are mainly made of clear water red bricks, and the exquisite craftsmanship such as cast iron columns and wooden stairs are well preserved.

  • Current name of site｜Xuzhou Road campus of the College of Law at National Taiwan University

  • Type of historic site｜School attendance

  • Google Map｜ https://goo.gl/maps/Y7iaEGxBDYNzL3VK7

Brief introduction to the site

The College of Commerce of the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan was established in 1919. It was later renamed the Taihoku College of Commerce in 1926. Its major fields of research were the economies of Taiwan and Southeast Asia. In 1946, the college became the Taiwan Provincial College of Law and Business. The next year, it was merged into the College of Law at National Taiwan University. The building is an example of Western classical architecture made with plain bricks, and is still in good condition. It is currently managed by the NTU College of Professional and Continuing Education and is not in use. In 1988, the building was designated as a municipal historic building.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On February 28, 1947, a mass protest was sparked by the bloodshed that had occurred the day before during a contraband tobacco investigation. Some students from the Taiwan Provincial College of Law and Business also joined the protest. On March 2, students from Yanping College, Taiwan Provincial Normal College, and the Taiwan Provincial College of Law and Business gathered at Zhongshan Hall, where they decided to organize a student squad to help maintain law and order on the streets. At the same time, another group of students were organizing a student army and preparing for armed attacks. Lí Tiong-chì, a former Japanese imperial soldier of Taiwanese heritage, got in touch with Koeh Siù-chông (from the NTU College of Medicine), Tân Péng-ki (from the Taiwan Provincial College of Law and Business) and Ia̍p Kí-tong (from Yanping College) and formed three squads on March 4. The first squad gathered at Chien Kuo High School and was led by Tân Péng-ki. The second gathered at the Taiwan Provincial Normal College and was led by Koeh Siù-chông. The third squad gathered at the main campus of the National Taiwan University and was led by Lí Tiong-chì and Iûⁿ Kiàn-ki. The students from Yanping College were led by Ia̍p Kí-tong. There was also a squad consisting of workers from Shilin and Yuanshan. An armed militia also travelled from Taoyuan to help with the uprising. Later, as the plan could not be implemented as expected and no actions could be taken, the armed rebellion had to be aborted. After the incident, Tân Péng-ki was expelled from National Taiwan University for having participated in plotting armed actions.

Yanping College
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▲Panoramic view of Taiwan Commercial School (today's Kainan Middle School) during the Japanese colonial period.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Library and Image System of the Japanese Occupation Period, "The 20th Anniversary of the Founding of Kainan Taiwan Commercial School", illustration on paper (no page numbers)

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▲The current site of Kainan Middle School is where Yanping College was founded. Yanping College was founded here in 1946, and it was not until 1953 that a school building was built at Section 1, Jianguo South Road, Taipei City.

Brief introduction to the site

In order to provide training opportunities for his fellow Taiwanese, Chu Chiau-iông, a prominent figure who had studied in mainland Japan during the Japanese colonial period, set up Yanping College and started to recruit students in September 1946. A school building at Kainan Vocational High School was borrowed temporarily to deliver evening and night courses. In October of that year, a ceremony was held to celebrate the college's opening.

In March 1947, after the outbreak of the February 28 Incident, the Nationalist government's army alleged that weapons had been found on the campus of Yanping College and forced it to shut down. In September 1948, the school resumed operations under a new name -- the Supplementary School of Yanping High School. In 1953, a new campus was officially built on section 1 of Jianguo South Road in Taipei City, where the school has been in operation to this day.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

In 1947, after the outbreak of the February 28 Incident, students from Yanping College took part in the maintenance of public security. Some students planned to organize a student militia. Ia̍p Kí-tong and other activists were involved in mobilizing students from schools such as Taiwan Provincial Normal College and the Taiwan Provincial College of Law and Business into three squads and preparing for an armed uprising. However, the resistance actions failed as things did not go as planned.

On March 9, after the reinforcements of the Chinese Nationalist government entered the city of Taipei, they alleged that weapons and the flags of the "Republic of Hsinghwa" were found on the campus of Yanping College and ordered the school to be shut down. On March 20, the Taiwan Garrison Command officially closed the school, alleging that "the school was badly run," "its registration had not been approved," and that "some students from this school had taken part in the rebellion during the February 28 Incident, which was illegal."

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The expansion and reorganization of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee, and the establishment of its local branches

On the morning of March 4, 1947, the Taipei City February 28 Incident Settlement Committee decided to expand its organization and became an institution at the provincial level. It notified the local councils of 17 municipalities to set up subsidiary settlement committees urgently to deal with the upheavals on the streets in each city or county. It also asked local councils to send representatives to Taipei to join the activities of the Provincial Settlement Committee. From that day, multiple local settlement committees were established in various municipalities. On the same day, the Taiwan Student Alliance convened a general meeting at Zhongshan Hall. Following this, the alliance intended to organize a student militia, which for various reasons did not occur. On March 5, the Provincial Youth League for the Self-government of Taiwan was established in Zhongshan Hall. On the same day, the Provincial Settlement Committee convened a temporary general meeting, in which the articles of association and eight fundamental political reform proposals were put forward and passed. On March 6, the reorganization was completed after the new Provincial Settlement Committee held its inaugural meeting and elected 17 standing members of the committee.

▲On March 5, 1947, Tân E̍k-siông, as a member of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee, presided over a temporary general meeting of the committee, in which members of the National Assembly, the National Political Council, the Taiwan Provincial Assembly and representatives of other fields jointly decided the draft of the articles of association as well as the draft of the eight fundamental political reform proposals.

A total of 14 branches of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee were established in the northern and eastern counties and cities. The chronological details of the branches are as follows:

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Taipei City

  • March 4: Taipei City's Settlement Committee was reorganized into an organization at the provincial level.

  • March 5: The Provincial Settlement Committee convened a temporary general meeting and passed the articles of association as well as eight fundamental political reform proposals.

  • March 6: The inaugural meeting was held and 17 standing members were elected. An open letter to the compatriots of the nation was released.

  • March 6: The Taipei branch of the committee was established.

  • March 7: The Settlement Committee proposed The Settlement Outline of 32 Policy Suggestions and Ten Demands, which was rejected by Chen Yi that evening.

  • March 8: The Settlement Committee withdrew its proposals and announced that The Settlement Outline of 32 Policy Suggestions and Ten Demands absolutely did not reflect the consensus of all Taiwanese people.

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New Taipei City（Taipei County）

  • March 4: The Tamsui branch was established. The participants were mostly members of the Taiwan Provincial Political Construction Association.

  • March 6: The Banqiao branch was set up at Zhongshan Hall in Banqiao.

  • March 7: The Taipei County branch was established.

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Keelung City

  • March 4: The Keelung City branch was established at Keelung City Council.

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Yilan County

  • March 5: The Yilan branch was established at the Kaihua Building.

  • March 6: The Yilan branch elected Koeh Chiong-oân as its director and proposed five demands to the Provincial Settlement Committee.

  • Unknown: The Luodong branch, headed by denist Tân Sêng-ga̍k, seized weapons from police stations and maintained public order on the streets.

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Hualien County

  • March 4: According to the intelligence records kept by the Secrets Bureau, some Fenglin villagers beat gongs to summon young community members to attend the meeting. On the same day, Fenglin Township mayor Lîm Bō͘-sêng established the Fenglin branch of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee and assigned the role of economic affairs director to Tân Tióng-bêng, who not only printed and distributed handouts to the wider community, but also organized recently repatriated youth into a youth corps. On March 6, the Fenglin committee took over police stations and a military warehouse. On March 7, it took over the barns at Hualien Farm, which was owned by the Agriculture and Forestry Office.

  • March 5: The Hualien branch was established at the Zhongshan Hall of Hualien County. Youth Corps member Mâ Yû-ngo̍k became the director of the Hualien branch and issued a list of 12 demands.

  • March 7: The Hualien branch proposed three guiding principles: "not causing bloodshed, not seeking independence, not pursuing communism."

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Taoyuan City

  • March 1: According to the intelligence records kept by the Secrets Bureau, the Chungli branch was established by Tiuⁿ A-boán, Tân Tek-seng, and Lîm Thiam-khe.

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Hsinchu City

  • March 2: The Hsinchu City branch was established at Hsinchu High School.

  • March 5: The Hsinchu City branch decided on ten proposals which were passed on to the Provincial Settlement Committee.

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Hsinchu County

  • March 7: The Hsinchu County branch was established with three departments: the General Affairs Department, the Public Security Department, and the Food Provision Department. The person in charge of the branch was N̂g Ūn-kim. After the outbreak of the February 28 Incident, the General Affairs Department collected money and possessions from community members to fund the maintenance of its public security team.

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Miaoli County

  • March 7: According to intelligence records, Chhòa Hâm-iông (the dean of Hong-chhun Hospital and the mayor of Houlong Township) recruited community members to attend a meeting, in which they decided to organize the Youth Alliance for Self-government and the Houlong branch of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee.

板橋中山堂
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▲There are only limited photos of the appearance of the building of Banqiao Zhongshan Hall. The picture shows a meeting to commend good people and good deeds held at Banqiao Zhongshan Hall in November 1962. After the meeting, a group photo was taken at the main entrance.
Source: Cultural Affairs Bureau, New Taipei City Government, https://reurl.cc/Y6NXN4.

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▲The current location is located opposite Exit 3 of Banqiao Fuzhong MRT Station and is used by Banqiao District Office.

Brief introduction to the site

The construction of Itabashi Public Hall was completed in May 1933. In 1945, its name was changed to the Zhongshan Hall of Banqiao after the Chinese Nationalist government took over Taiwan. In 1980, the original building was demolished and rebuilt as a six-story municipal administrative building. In 1983, the Banqiao City Office was relocated to this site. In 2010, when Taipei County became New Taipei City, the Banqiao City Office was reorganized into the Banqiao District Office.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

In the morning of March 6, 1947, more than 200 townspeople gathered at the Zhongshan Hall of Banqiao to attend a meeting presided over by Mayor Lîm Chong-hiân. Later, the Banqiao Township branch of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee was established with Ông í-bûn as the director and Iû Chio̍h-hó͘ as the deputy director. The Banqiao Township Public Security Squad was also created to maintain the peace and safety of the local community.

Tamsui High School
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▲A photo of the school scene of Tamsui Middle School in 1941. To the rear left is the octagonal building at the school gate, and in the center of the photo are the playground and school building.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Japanese Occupation Period Library and Imaging System

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▲The octagonal building of Tamkang Middle School was completed in 1925 and is in use today. The architectural style is a fusion of Eastern pagoda style and Western Byzantine style. It is built with alternating red and white bricks. It is lowered from the middle tower to the two wings to a two-story building.

  • Current name of site｜Tamkang High School

  • Type of historic site｜School attendance．Disappearance．Injuries and deaths．Arrests．Conflict

  • Google Map｜https://goo.gl/maps/xKkPnLvuP2AkQ2iu6

Brief introduction to the site

In 1882, the Canadian Presbyterian Missionary Rev. George Leslie Mackay set up Oxford College in Tamsui. In 1914, Rev. George William Mackay, the eldest son of George Leslie Mackay, set up Tamsui Middle School right next to Oxford College. In 1922, the school changed its name to Private Tamsui High School. In 1925, it was relocated to the current site next to the original school buildings. In 1936, after the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan took control of the school, the school's name was changed again to Private Tamsui Middle School. In April 1947, the school was finally renamed Private Tam-kang High School. In 2007, the "Memorial Monument for the Victimized at Puding during the February 28 Incident" was installed at the campus of Tam-kang High School.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

After the outbreak of the February 28 Incident, some Taiwanese people broke into Tamsui High School and seized rifles that were previously used for military education during the Japanese colonial period, before attempting to attack soldiers stationed in the Tamsui area. On March 10, 1947, the Nationalist government's troops arrived in Tamsui. On the same day, while trying to find his friends, Tamsui High School student Koeh Hiáu-cheng was murdered by soldiers, and his body was left on the street. After hearing the news, Tân Lêng-thong (the principal of Tamsui High School) and N̂g A-thóng (the director of the student discipline department) transported Koeh Hiáu-cheng's body back to the school. The next morning, N̂g A-thóng walked from the school dormitory to check on Koeh Hiáu-cheng's body. On the way, Nationalist government soldiers who had failed to arrest students decided to abduct Tân Lêng-thong, Tân Ōng (Tân Lêng-thong's father), and N̂g A-thóng. Tân Ōng was released in the afternoon of March 12. When Tân Lêng-thong's daughter called out to physics and chemistry teacher Lô͘ Oân for help, he was shot and killed by soldiers. The whereabouts of N̂g A-thóng and Tân Lêng-thong are still unknown.

Puding, Guandu
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▲The abandoned corpse sites in Guandu Puding were investigated through oral interviews and it was confirmed that one of them was located near Mazu Stone.

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▲The picture shows that there are two places of execution in Puding. One is the open space below Ziqiang New Village on the right, and the other is the Mazu Stone in the Ziqiang Branch of Zhuwei Elementary School in Tamsui District on the left.
Source: Taipei City Government Urban Development Bureau, Taipei City Historical Map Display System

Brief introduction to the site

Guandu Puding is currently known as Fude Village in Tamsui District. According to research conducted by teachers and students from Ziqiang Elementary School, there were two execution grounds in Puding. One was near Matsu Rock and the other was at the empty land below the Ziqiang Military Dependents' Village. Matsu Rock is located inside the Ziqiang branch of Zhuwei Elementary School. The inscription on the rock was carved in 1913. In 2002, the rock was designated as a municipal historic monument. Opposite Matsu Rock used to be the Ziqiang Military Dependents' Village, which has since been demolished.

 

Incident-related events that occurred at the site

Guandu Puding was a place where the Chinese Nationalist government's soldiers killed civilians and abandoned their corpses during the February 28 Incident. According to the oral history given by Ô͘ Sin-heng, an elder from Fude Village, he witnessed soldiers carrying more than a dozen people to the Puding area where they were to be executed during the February 28 Incident. In addition, Ngô͘ Iú-tek (a staff member of Tamsui Township Office), Ngô͘ Phêⁿ (a grocery store owner), and Lîm A-hô (a laborer) were all forcibly taken away from their residences by soldiers in mid-March. They were shot and killed at Guandu Puding on March 15 and their bodies were collected by their families.

Shalun, Tamsui
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▲An introduction to Tamsui’s scenic spots published during the Japanese colonial period, with a map of the vicinity of Tamsui Street. The map indicates the distance from Tamsui Station (the parking lot on the right side of the map) to various scenic spots. Among them, the bathing beach is Sharon Beach.
Source: Taiwan Library, Japanese Occupation Period Book Imaging System

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▲ Sharon Beach was closed in 1999, but a few people still enter through the path along Tamsui Guanhai Road.

Brief introduction to the site

During the Japanese colonial period, Shalun in Tamsui was made into a seaside resort which began operations in 1919 and was shut down in 1950. In 1961, the Tamsui Township Office and the Taiwan Provincial Highway Bureau reopened the seaside resort next to military-controlled land, but it was closed again in 1999.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

Shalun in Tamsui was another location where the Chinese Nationalist government's soldiers killed civilians and abandoned their corpses during the February 28 Incident. On March 11, 1947, the Chinese Nationalist soldiers entered Tamsui High School and failed to arrest the students they were looking for. In the end, they abducted the school principal Tân Lêng-thong, pastor Tân Ōng, and student discipline director N̂g A-thóng and transported them to the seaside resort in Shalun, where the three of them were tied to the trunks of separate trees. Tân Ōng was released in the afternoon of March 12. A few days later, someone saw that the other two had their hands tied behind their backs on a military truck driving in the direction of Keelung. Their whereabouts remain unknown. N̂g Lióng-hōaⁿ (a chef), Tân Bān-seng (a laborer), Ang-Tân Chhiū-châng (a customs worker) and Lōa Heng-thàn (director of the Beitou Army Hospital) were also abducted by the soldiers and executed on the beach in Shalun.

City governments besieged by the masses: protests in Taoyuan and Hsinchu

After the outbreak of the February 28 Incident, news quickly spread to the neighboring Hsinchu area and many people who were already outraged at the bad governance of the Chief Executive's Office joined the resistance movement. In the early post-war years, the administrative division of Hsinchu County was larger than the present one, and included today's Taoyuan City, Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City and Miaoli County. In 1947, the headquarters of the Hsinchu County government were located in the commercial district in front of Taoyuan Railway Station on Zhongzheng Road in Taoyuan City.

On February 28, 1947, news of the mass demonstrations in Taipei spread to Hsinchu. On the same day, Hsinchu locals gathered at the square in front of Jingfu Temple, where they discussed the bad governance of the new regime and demanded the resignation of corrupt officials. Upon hearing of the public gathering, the Hsinchu County Government sent out a police squad to disperse the crowd, which once again sparked further public anger. The next morning, more than 30 students and young citizens arrived in Taoyuan from Taipei and joined forces with local youth to launch attacks on party and government agencies. They first took control of the weapons owned by the railway police before seizing Taoyuan Railway Station, in order to intercept the northbound trains that were transporting Chinese Nationalist troops from Fengshan, Kaohsiung to suppress the uprising in Taipei.

Taoyuan Station
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▲Taoyuan Station during the Japanese occupation.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Taiwan Studies digital e-book database, https://reurl.cc/8nM5Xb

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▲The Taoyuan Station building has been demolished and rebuilt many times and rebuilt into a modern station building. The railway is currently undergoing underground construction.

Brief introduction to the site

Taoyuan Station was established in 1893 and was originally called Tōshien Railway Stop. In 1905, due to the redesigning of the West Coast line, a wooden structure was built at this site and named Tōen Railway Station. In 1962, the station was rebuilt with reinforced concrete.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On the morning of March 1, 1947, more than 30 young Taiwanese travelled from Taipei to Taoyuan and joined forces with the local Youth Corps to attack government buildings. They first took over the weapons owned by the railway police and intercepted the northbound trains carrying Chinese Nationalist soldiers from Fengshan, Kaohsiung to crack down on the protests in Taipei. After taking control of Taoyuan Railway Station, the young Taiwanese started to search for post-war Chinese immigrants, many of whom fled to hide in the houses of their Taiwanese friends or sought refuge at police stations in Hsinchu County.

Hsinchu County Government
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▲The Tao Tsai Garden Office Building was completed in 1904 during the Japanese colonial period.
Source: Hosted by Huang Junming, "Investigation and Research on Architectural Cultural Assets of Building Structures During the Japanese Occupation in Taoyuan Area", Taoyuan County Cultural Center, 1997, page 40, National Library Taiwan Memory System, https://memory.ncl.edu .tw/article?u=022_001_00000457&lang=chn

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▲The original building has been demolished and converted into a modern commercial and office building.

Brief introduction to the site

This site was originally the office building of the Tōshien Prefecture government, and was designed by Onogi Takahara, an architect from the Construction and Maintenance Department of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office. Weatherboards were used to build a Western-style wooden structure. In 1920, after the administrative divisions of local governments were reorganized, the office building of the Tōshien Prefecture became Tōen District Office and the original wooden structure was changed into a two-story Western-style brick building. Various materials, such as tiles and pebbledash, were used in making the façade and the renovation was completed in 1922. Following the end of the Second World War, the building became the headquarters of the Hsinchu County government. After administrative divisions were redrawn in 1950, the building became the office building for the Taoyuan County government. Later, the original structure was demolished and converted into the current modern building.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

In the afternoon of March 1, 1947, as the news of the February 28 Incident spread to the Taoyuan area, local residents started to attack post-war Chinese immigrants and gathered at the buildings of the county government and other agencies, hoping to find officials who had previously been involved in corruption and bring them to Jingfu Temple to apologize to the public. At that time, as County Mayor Chu Wen-po was in Taipei on business relating to agriculture and forestry matters, the deputy mayor tried to de-escalate the tensions by negotiating with community leaders, but he was unable to prevent people from gathering at the city government building. Some local residents even broke into the city government's warehouse, from which they took out provisions such as rice and milk to share with others.

Taoyuan Police Station, Hsinchu County Police Bureau
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​▲The original building was the Higashi Honganji Temple built during the Japanese colonial period in 1927. There is no photographic record. The original building was renovated into a standard police building in 1979 and is still in use today.

  • Current name of site｜Taoyuan New Immigrants Culture Hall

  • Type of historic site｜Injuries and deaths．Significant locations．Conflict

  • Google Map｜https://goo.gl/maps/ad2tavSteThAVVom9

Brief introduction to the site

In 1927, Higashi-Honganji Temple was built at this site. After the Second World War, the Taoyuan Police Branch took over the temple and used it as an office building, which was renovated over the years. The original building was demolished at the beginning of the 1950s. The construction of the new office building was completed in 1955. In 1979, it was rebuilt again to accommodate the police station building standards of the 1970s and has been in use to this day. In 2018, this site became the Taoyuan New Immigrants Culture Hall.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On March 1, 1947, as the news of the February 28 Incident spread to Taoyuan, locals started to attack post-war Chinese immigrants, who were forced to seek refuge at the Taoyuan Police Branch of the Hsinchu County Police Department. Seeing this, some students and young Taiwanese moved to surround the police branch and demanded that corrupt officials be handed over. After their demands were refused, protesters went to attack the Air Force warehouse and took away guns and ordnance, before returning to the police branch and demanding that the police disarm. The police swiftly rejected their demand and attacked the protesters with machine guns and rifles, causing a great number of casualties. At night, the conflict between the police and protesters continued, which forced the police to seek help from the Taiwan provincial police department. At midnight, reinforcements sent by the provincial police department arrived from Taipei and helped their colleagues escape from the back door of the besieged police branch before taking them back to Taipei.

Taoyuan Jingfu Temple
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▲A painting of Jingfu Palace in Taoyuan published in "Taiwan Daily News" in 1907.
Source: National Taiwan Library, "Taiwan Daily News", December 29, 1907, Issue 2899, Page 5

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​▲The current Gyeongbokgung Palace is what it looked like after renovations in 1985.

Brief introduction to the site

Jingfu Temple, also known as Sacred Duke Temple, was built in 1745 and has Tân Goân-kong as the main deity of worship. In 1813, Kán Ga̍k and other local worshipers donated money to have the temple rebuilt with a more grandiose design and a larger size than the original. As the most important place of worship in the area, Jingfu Temple is located in the center of Taoyuan City. Since the end of the Second World War, it has undergone multiple renovations and expansions and thus mostly remains in excellent condition. In 1985, Jingfu Temple was designated as a municipal historic site.

 

Incident-related events that occurred at the site

The news of the February 28 Incident spread to the Taoyuan area on the same day it broke out in Taipei. On the evening of February 28, 1947, locals gathered in the square in front of Jingfu Temple, where they denounced the bad governance of the Chief Executive's Office and demanded the resignation of corrupt officials. Upon learning of the public gathering, the Hsinchu County government sent a police brigade to disperse the crowd, which further enraged the already furious locals. On the afternoon of March 1, a group of local youth attacked the Hsinchu County government building and brought the officials back to Jingfu Temple, where they were forced to kneel on the ground and apologize to the public. The student group set its headquarters in front of Jingfu Temple, and the Home Defense Militia also assembled there.

The political involvement of Hsinchu and Miaoli residents

When temporary martial law was imposed on the afternoon of February 28, 1947 in Taipei City, the Taiwan Garrison Command quickly maneuvered troops that were stationed in Fengshan, Kaohsiung, to northern Taiwan. In the early morning of March 1, the troops were forced to stop in Hsinchu City after the Taiwanese train driver ran away. Already enraged by the corruption scandal that Hsinchu City Mayor Kuo Shao-tsung had been involved in prior to the outbreak of the February 28 Incident, Hsinchu City residents joined the resistance movement immediately upon learning of the conflict in Taipei, and gathered near City God Temple.

On March 2, the protesters surrounded the Hsinchu City government building, the Hsinchu District Court and the civil servants' dormitory. However, the officials had already fled. The mayor even ordered the police department to crack down on the protests with the help of military police. At around 3 p.m., police and soldiers clashed with protesters at Rising Sun Bridge. Immediately after the protesters demanded military police hand over their weapons, they were met with machine-gun fire, which killed eight people and injured ten.

Hoping to quell disputes, Hsinchu politicians and community leaders established the Hsinchu City branch of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee at Hsinchu High School with Tiuⁿ Sek-kok, a member of the Taiwan Provincial Legislative Assembly, as director. The Hsinchu City branch of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee issued six demands to the Hsinchu City government, including "mainlanders will not demand compensation for their losses," "participants in the riot will be exempted from legal prosecution," "mayors of the City and County governments should be democratically elected," "the police should be disarmed," "the military garrison should be removed from the city center," and "soldiers who are waiting for transportation at Hsinchu should not assist with the crackdown in Taipei." However, Hsinchu City Mayor Kuo Shao-tsung only agreed to the first two requests. From March 3, the city center gradually regained peace and order. On March 5, the Hsinchu branch proposed ten more demands regarding political reforms. On March 6, representatives sent by the Hsinchu branch traveled to the central and southern parts of Taiwan to procure rice and sweet potatoes to help ease the food shortages affecting the city.

Out of affection for his hometown, So͘ Siāu-bûn, a military officer of Taiwanese heritage who worked as the commander of the Hsinchu Defense Command, acted as the guarantor for fellow countrymen Tân Thiam-teng, Tēⁿ Chok-hêng and Tēⁿ Kiàn-chiok, who were members of the Provincial Legislative Assembly. So͘ Siāu-bûn also ordered policemen and soldiers not to kill the innocent, which eased the impact of the government's crackdown in the Hsinchu area. Nonetheless, many locals were still arrested or killed in the turmoil.

There were also some sporadic conflicts in Miaoli. After witnessing the social unrest, Chhòa Hâm-iông (the dean of Hong-chhun Hospital and the mayor of Houlong Township) organized meetings with townspeople and decided to establish the Houlong branch of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee in an attempt to maintain law and order in the area.

Hsinchu City God Temple
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▲Photographed at the Hsinchu City God Temple in the 1930s during the Japanese colonial period.
Source: National Taiwan University Library, Picture Leaf Books from the Japanese Occupation Period

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  • Current name of site｜Hsinchu City God Temple

  • Type of historic site｜Injuries and deaths．Protests and demonstrations．Significant locations．Conflict

  • Google Map｜https://goo.gl/maps/W9aCfML5oadPeqMf8

▲Hsinchu City God Temple is the local religious center of Hsinchu. The square in front of the temple is populated by catering vendors, and a business district has developed around it.

Brief introduction to the site

Originally built in 1748, the Hsinchu City God Temple is the highest-ranked City God Temple in Taiwan and also an important gathering space for locals. The stone sculptures on the front walls were added between 1924 and 1926. The main body of the City God Temple is in good condition. It was designated as a municipal historic site in 1985.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On the morning of March 2, 1947, locals gathered at the Hsinchu City God Temple and launched a protest campaign. They went to Fu Hsing Construction Company and Chung Hwa Hsing Grocery Store, both of which were run by post-war Chinese immigrants, set fire to their goods, and attacked so-called "mainlanders." The reason the locals decided to vent their anger at these two businesses could be because of the close relationship they had with Chinese officials. Afterwards, the protesters broke into the district court, the city government building, and the civil servants' dormitory.

Hsinchu City Government
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▲The Hsinchu State Office during the Japanese occupation in 1931.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Japanese Occupation Period Library and Imaging System

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▲The building is currently used by the Hsinchu City Government and is close to Xuqiao, Chenghuang Temple and other places.

Brief introduction to the site

The Shinchiku Prefecture government building, which was completed in 1926, was used as an office building by the Hsinchu City government after the war. In 1950, the administrative region was rezoned, and the original Shinchiku Prefecture was divided into three counties, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli. Hsinchu City was changed to a county-administered city, and the original building began to be used by the Hsinchu County government. The county government moved to Zhubei in 1989, and the building has housed the Hsinchu City government to this day. Designated as a national monument in 1998, the building was damaged by the September 21 Earthquake in 1999, and was fully repaired in 2005.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On March 2, 1947, locals gathered in front of the Hsinchu City God Temple to protest against the government and went on to smash government office buildings and attack civil servants on the streets. When the city government building became the target of protesters, officials had already sought refuge somewhere else and police and soldiers had already been deployed around the building. Later, the protesters gathered at Rising Sun Bridge near the city government, where they clashed with soldiers. After the soldiers suddenly started shooting, many protesters who were originally hiding under the bridge fled to the city government building for refuge.

Taiwan Hsinchu District Court
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▲The Hsinchu District Court in 1938 during the Japanese colonial period.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Periodical Image System of the Japanese Occupation Period

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​▲The current location is the Summary Court of Hsinchu District Court, close to the city council and city government.

  • Current name of site｜The Summary Court of the Taiwan Hsinchu District Court

  • Type of historic site｜Protests and demonstrations．Conflict

  • Google Map｜https://goo.gl/maps/iNaPkuohNutxhm837

Brief introduction to the site

In 1896, the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan took over the headquarters of the Tamsui Subprefecture previously established during the Qing colonial period and made it the headquarters of the Shinchiku Subprefecture under the Taihoku Prefecture. The head of Shinchiku Subprefecture, Matsumura Yūnoshin, turned the original main hall into his office, the original cells into a detention center, and the lobby into the Shinchiku branch of the Taihoku District Court. In 1938, the Shinchiku branch was reorganized into the Shinchiku District Court, whose jurisdiction covered the whole Shinchiku Prefecture, and thus it and the Shinchiku Prefecture government building became the two most important government institutions in the Shinchiku area. In 1945, after being taken over by the Chinese Nationalist government, it was renamed the Hsinchu District Court. In 2017, this site was converted into the Summary Court of the Taiwan Hsinchu District Court after the Hsinchu District Court was relocated to a new office building.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On the morning of March 2, 1947, protesters not only set fire to the goods that belonged to the companies and grocery stores near City God Temple, but also attacked the court, the city government, police stations, the Monopoly Bureau, and civil servants' dormitories. They assaulted court judges, the director of the civil affairs department, and clerks from the land administration section. Âng Hiok-jiân, who witnessed the unrest, said that prior to the outbreak of the February 28 Incident, all of the court employees were post-war immigrants from Fuzhou, China, and, in some cases, a whole family worked for the district court, which explained why they were assaulted during the February 28 Incident. Some locals even entered the dormitory in front of the court, beat up prosecutors, and set fire to furniture.

Hsinchu branch of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee
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▲The new Hsinchu Middle School building was completed in 1922.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Japanese Occupation Period Library and Imaging System

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  • Current name of site｜Hsinchu High School

  • Type of historic site｜Position/employment ．Arrests．Significant locations．Conflict．Meetings and negotiations

  • Google Map｜https://goo.gl/maps/46SMkMMp89RJKgoi8

▲The main entrance of Hsinchu High School has been used by Hsinchu High School since the war.

Brief introduction to the site

In 1922, the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan established the Shinchiku Prefectural Shinchiku Middle School. In 1945, after the school was taken over by the Chinese Nationalist government, it became Taiwan Provincial Hsinchu High School. In 1970, it was renamed Hsinchu Senior High School. The kendo hall of the school, which was a martial arts hall during the Japanese colonial period, has been designated as a municipal historic site due to how well it has been maintained and its status as the only kendo hall in Taiwan built from brick.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On the evening of March 2, 1947, city councilors invited people from various fields to set up the Hsinchu branch of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee, which was divided into a general affairs department, financial department, food and provisions department, settlement department, and public security department. Tiuⁿ Sek-kok was elected as the director of the branch. On March 4, the Hsinchu City Branch issued several demands to Mayor Kuo Shao-tsung, such as punishing soldiers who shot civilians as strictly as possible and ordering troops to withdraw from the city center. However, the mayor rejected the demands. The branch's political affairs director Tân Thiam-teng, who was also a Hsinchu city councillor at the time, suggested in a meeting of the branch that a "public security group" consisting of students and teachers could be organized to maintain order on the streets and demanded that the Hsinchu city government provide the group with weapons that could be used while on duty.

On March 7, the Hsinchu branch of the Provincial Youth League for the Self-government of Taiwan was established at Hsinchu High School with Lí Sè-chû as the director, attracting many students and other young locals to join. On the same day, So͘ Siāu-bûn, who was the commander of the Hsinchu Defence Command and temporary mayor of Hsinchu County, ordered the Public Security Group to be renamed the Public Security Service Group and assigned it to the leadership of the Hsinchu branch of the Settlement Committee. On the afternoon of March 12, both the Hsinchu City branch of the Settlement Committee and the Public Security Service Group were forced to disband.

Rising Sun Bridge, Hsinchu
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▲Today's Chenggong Bridge has been identified by the public as the early Asahi Bridge, which was the place where military police opened fire during the February 28 Incident.

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​▲The current 228 Peace Memorial Monument in Hsinchu City is located near Asahi Bridge. It uses three bamboos as shapes to symbolize Hsinchu. The tops of the bamboos are bent towards the direction of Asahi Bridge where the crucifixion occurred, and the "Kapok of the South" monument was erected.

Brief introduction to the site

Rising Sun Bridge spanned the moat of Tek-chhàm City during the Qing colonial period, and was also referenced in The Guide to Shinchiku City published during the Japanese colonial period. After the war, it was rebuilt and renamed as Chenggong Bridge. In 2015, the Hsinchu City government transformed the area that extends from Railway Station Square to Rising Sun Bridge into a park.

On February 28, 2004, the Hsinchu City 228 Peace Monument was established near the bridge. Inscribed beside the monument is the poem Cotton Tree Blossom in the South, written by Li Tsu-sung for student Fu Yì-chṳ̂ during the White Terror period.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

At 3 p.m. on March 2, 1947, locals gathered around Rising Sun Bridge and continued to protest. The troops that were garrisoned in the region dispatched trucks of firearm-bearing policemen and soldiers to Rising Sun Bridge, where they urged the protesters to disband. Unpersuaded, the protesters demanded the policemen and soldiers hand over their weapons instead, which prompted soldiers to machine-gun the crowds. Many locals jumped down into the moat and hid under the bridge. Eight civilians were shot dead on the spot, while another eight of the dozens injured later died of their wounds. This conflict accounted for the greatest number of casualties in the Hsinchu area during the February 28 Incident.

Houlong Station
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▲The current site is Houlong Station, which has lost its original appearance after reconstruction. Zhongbei Street from the station is the main urban area of ​​Houlong Town.

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▲Workers from Houlongyi Works took a group photo in front of Houlong Railway Station during the Japanese occupation.
Source: Provided by Shen Yixue

Brief introduction to the site

Kōryū Station was established following the development of a coastal railway line in 1922. After the Chinese Nationalist government took control of Taiwan in 1945, it was renamed Houlong Station. Affiliated with the Hsinchu Transportation Section, it was a third-class station used for passenger and freight services, the latter of which were suspended in 1984. The original station building was made of wood, and the design included a stationmaster's office, ticket office and luggage room, waiting room, platform, warehouse, and toilets. The station was rebuilt in 1970 and the original building no longer exists.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

On March 2, 1947, two soldiers transporting ammunition at Houlong Station were ambushed by dozens of passengers on a train from Taichung to Taipei. One soldier was killed on the spot, while the other soldier shot bullets into the crowd before quickly returning to the same train on its way into Hsinchu. Ông Kim-tēng, the train dispatcher at Houlong Station, was in charge of the train, and was thus deemed to have been involved in the attack on the soldiers. After the turbulence following the February 28 Incident had died down, Ông Kim-tēng was arrested by soldiers from the Longgang Battalion and escorted to the Hsinchu Military Police Brigade, where he was detained and tortured for more than two months. Businessman Iûⁿ Chhiong-kùi was arrested while passing Houlong Railway Station on March 2, and his whereabouts are still unknown.

The military crackdown in Taipei's city center

On March 1, 1947, the Taiwan Garrison Command announced that martial law would be lifted from noon, but assemblies and demonstrations would still be prohibited. On March 3, the Garrison Command announced that the government had agreed to the demands of the people and had "handled the situation with peace and lenience." However, in fact, Chief Executive Chen Yi had already called for troops from Nanjing to make preparations to suppress the uprising.

On the evening of March 8, the 21st Division of the ROC Army landed at Keelung Port. The Chief Executive's Office and the Taiwan Garrison Command issued orders at 10:30 p.m. to attack and arrest key members of the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee that had met at Zhongshan Hall and Rixin Elementary School. At 6 a.m. on March 9, Ko Yuan-fen declared martial law in Taipei and Keelung via radio. The next day, Chen Yi announced on radio the imposition of martial law on the whole of Taiwan and ordered the dissolution of "illegal groups" such as the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee and the Taiwan Provincial Political Construction Association. The Taiwan Garrison Command also issued a letter to the public, stating that the February 28 Incident was caused by "a small number of conspirators who attempted to take advantage of the opportunity to seize power and betray the country. Starting from a corner of Taipei, they went on to occupy the radio station and disseminated distorted and exaggerated facts... and they even kidnapped or assaulted government officials across the whole province, occupied or destroyed government agencies, and robbed, killed or injured civil servants from other provinces and businessmen who came to Taiwan." He ordered the arrest of key members of the Settlement Committee before commencing mass arrests and "village cleansing," and the repression of the whole of Taiwan.

On March 20, it announced the establishment of headquarters for six military pacification districts in Taipei, Keelung, Hsinchu, Central Taiwan, Southern Taiwan and Makung. Mass arrests and "village cleansing" began to be carried out the next day.

▲The head of the Fourth Military Police Regiment, Chang Mu-tao, was in charge of the Taipei military pacification district, which included the whole of Taipei City and part of Taipei County. The territory of the Taipei military pacification district spread from Xizhi in the east, to Zhuwei Township in the west, to Banqiao in the south, and Caoshan (Yangmingshan), Beitou and Tamsui in the north.

▲The 146th Brigade of the 21st Division of the ROC Army was responsible for the Hsinchu military pacification district, which included Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County. It was divided into three subdistricts. The picture shows the four alert zones under the first military pacification subdistrict.

The Fourth Military Police Regiment
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▲The Rehabilitation Hospital (Siyan Du Rehabilitation) in 1931, responsible for housing opium and drug addicts.
Source: Taipei Municipal Archives, https://reurl.cc/5qWMqV

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▲The original site is located at the intersection of Chongqing North Road and Liangzhou Street, close to Dadaocheng Cisheng Palace and Taiwan New Culture Movement Memorial Hall.

  • Current name of site｜First Commercial Bank Information Building and private parking lot

  • Type of historic site｜Intelligence network．Arrests

  • Google Map｜https://goo.gl/maps/7k8KLNkjDb2DNHh68

Brief introduction to the site

This site was originally home to Hông-chè Hospital, which was established by Lîm Chheng-goa̍t in 1918 and later converted into a rehabilitation hospital by the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan to accommodate patients who suffered from opium and narcotic addiction. Tō͘ Chhong-bêng, the first Taiwanese who had a Doctorate of Medicine and of Philosophy, was in charge of the hospital's operation. In November 1945, after the end of the Second World War, the rehabilitation center began to be used by the Fourth Military Police Regiment of the Military Police Command, which was responsible for monitoring the Japanese troops that had not retreated from Taiwan and for assisting the police in maintaining public order. In 1950, the recently reorganized Military Police Command was relocated to this site, and the building began to be used to detain political prisoners arrested by the military police. The Military Police Command moved out in 1957 and the Planning and Research Commission for the Recovery of the Mainland was stationed here until 1991. The original building was demolished in 1995 and converted into a private parking lot and office building.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

During the February 28 Incident, the Fourth Military Police Regiment joined the Keelung Fortress troops to raid the city of Keelung after reinforcements came ashore on March 8, 1947. After the declaration of martial law on March 10, the Fourth Military Police Regiment was responsible for the task of "village cleansing" in the northern military pacification districts, for which regiment commander Chang Mu-tao concurrently served as the commanding officer. During the February 28 Incident, shootings and killings of criminals in Taipei were mostly carried out by the Fourth Military Police Regiment.

Taiwan Garrison Command Second Department Guard Brigade Detention Center
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▲The Higashi Hongan Temple Taipei Branch was built in 1931 during the Japanese colonial period. After it was taken over by the Nationalist Government in 1945, it became the second detention center of the Taiwan Provincial Police Headquarters, where prisoners were detained.
Source: Taipei Municipal Archives, https://reurl.cc/ldrv9q

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  • Current name of site｜Lions' Plaza Commercial Building

  • Type of historic site｜Intelligence network．Arrests．Injuries and deaths

  • Google Map｜https://goo.gl/maps/kQGV1uHdmKu6QG9f6

▲The original site is now the Shizilin Building, a mixed residential and commercial building.

Brief introduction to the site

In 1895, the Ōtani-ha of Japanese Buddhism came to Taiwan with the Imperial Japanese Army to undertake missionary work, and this resulted in an increase in followers. In 1928, the Taihoku branch of the Higashi-Honganji Temple was built, but it burned down in 1930. A dormitory was built first to provide a shelter for monks in 1932, before the main part of the temple was reconstructed with reinforced concrete in 1936. In 1945, after the Second World War, it was used by the Taiwan Garrison Command's Second Department to detain suspects. In June 1967, the Higashi-Honganji Temple was demolished and replaced by three commercial buildings.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

Most of those arrested by the Taiwan Garrison Command after the outbreak of the February 28 Incident were sent to be detained and tortured here. For example, victim Koeh Kok-sûn was searched and arrested by an unidentified person at his residence in Taipei on March 10, 1947. He was then detained at Higashi-Honganji Temple and eventually transferred to the Military Law Bureau. In total, he was detained for half a year and was subjected to torture.

The families of Lí Sūi-hàn, Lîm Liân-chong, Si Kang-lâm, and Lîm Bō͘-seng, who disappeared mysteriously in the incident, also went to Higashi-Honganji Temple to inquire about their missing relatives, but were unable to learn of their whereabouts.

Taiwan High Court
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▲The High Court and Taipei District Court in postcards from the Japanese colonial period.
Source: National Taiwan University Library, Picture Leaf Books from the Japanese Occupation Period, https://reurl.cc/2gGWEO

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​▲The current location is the Judicial Building of the Judicial Yuan, located in the Boai District, close to the Presidential Office, Taipei City University, and Taipei City No. 1 Girls' Senior High School. The exterior of the building generally retains the design from the Japanese colonial period.

Brief introduction to the site

This site was originally used as a martial temple during the Qing colonial period. In 1929, the Taiwan Governor-General's Office demolished the temple and replaced it with a courthouse, which was designed by Ide Kaoru, the Head of the Construction and Maintenance Department in the Governor-General's Office. The construction of the courthouse was completed in 1934 and it served as the office building for the Taiwan High Court, the High Prosecutors Office, and the Taihoku District Court, the three highest-level judicial organs under the Government-General of Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period.

After the end of the Second World War, the Chinese Nationalist government's army took over and changed the building's name to the Taiwan High Court. In 1949, the Judicial Yuan, the Supreme Court, the Administrative Court, and the Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission were moved to the building and it was renamed the Judicial Building. In 1977, a fourth floor was added, which was used as the Chief Justice's Office and the Constitutional Court.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

During the February 28 Incident, Taiwan High Court judge Ngô͘ Hông-kî was arrested by the Nationalist government's soldiers at the court office building. His body was found under Nangang Bridge on March 16, 1947. After the turbulence of the February 28 Incident had subsided, the High Court and its branches were responsible for the prosecution and trial of "troublemakers" and "insurgents."

According to the cases reviewed by the Memorial Foundation of 228 concerning people who were victimized during the February 28 Incident, at the time of the incident, the High Court (and its branches) issued prison sentences in a total of 21 cases, of which seven of the sentences were suspended. It also issued six decisions finding the defendants not guilty and declined to prosecute seven cases. In the end, the High Court concluded the trials of 34 cases related to the February 28 Incident, 14 of which resulted in prison sentences.

Taipei Botanical Garden
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▲The Taipei Botanical Garden around the 1920s during the Japanese colonial period.
Source: National Library, Taiwan Memory, https://reurl.cc/m95YQ7

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▲According to the statements of the victims' families and eyewitnesses, there were many abandoned corpses and body parts in and around the Taipei Botanical Garden during the February 28th Incident. The exact location of the abandoned corpses has yet to be verified.

Brief introduction to the site

In 1895, the Governor-General of Taiwan selected a piece of military land at Shonanmon (Auxiliary South Gate) as a nursery to be used for investigating the characteristics of Taiwan's forests and to inform the drafting of forestry policies. In 1900, approximately 4.2 hectares of farmland in Liông-a̍h-kháu village located outside Shonanmon were purchased by the government and turned into Taihoku Nursery. In 1921, the site was renamed Taihoku Botanical Garden, and some organizations not dedicated to botanical research were set up in the garden, including a butokuden (martial arts practice hall), the Commodity Exhibition Hall of the Taiwan Industrial Mutual Progress Fair, and Kenko Shrine.

In 1946, the butokuden was converted into a film production site for the Public Information Committee of the Chief Executive's Office. Pai Chung-hsi visited the hall when he came to Taiwan to "publicize government policies and pacify the people." The butokuden was later demolished and replaced with a parking lot for the Council of Agriculture, which continues to be what the land is used for today. Kenko Shrine was turned into the National Central Library in 1955. After the library was moved in 1973, it was changed to the National Educational Archives, and is now the National Taiwan Arts Education Center. The Commodity Exhibition Hall has been rebuilt and is now the National Museum of History.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

After the 21st Division of the ROC Army landed in Taiwan on March 8, 1947, the Taipei Botanical Garden became one of the places where soldiers discarded victims' corpses. After victim Lîm Lē-chhiong left her eldest sister's house on March 9, she was never heard from again. The family searched extensively for her whereabouts. One of her relatives said, "I heard that there were many corpses in the botanical garden, so we went to the botanical garden to look for her, but all we saw was that many others had died tragically and had been dumped under the trees." Some people were arrested by the military and police as they passed by the botanical garden. Victim Tân Pùn-iông was running a quilt shop in the Dongmen Market. He was shot and killed by the Nationalist government's soldiers when he passed the entrance of the botanical garden in the early morning of March 9.

In 1947, Tang Hsien-lung, a reporter from Dagang Bao in Nanjing, China, mentioned in his book "The Inside Story of the Taiwan Incident" that he saw three bodies on the road outside the botanical garden when wandering the streets of Taipei on March 12, 1947. Two of them were young students delivering newspapers and milk as part-time jobs. He also wrote that among the branches in the botanical garden were "hanging a dozen pieces of mangled human flesh."

Taiwan Garrison Command Labor Education Camp
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▲The original site is currently used by the Naval Command of the Ministry of National Defense. It is under military control and cannot be inspected inside.
Data source: Taipei City Historical Map Display System, Taipei City Urban Development Bureau, "2018 Edition of Aerial Survey Images", http://www.historygis.udd.gov.taipei/urban/map.

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▲The National Film Center collects news footage of the opening of the Dazhi Labor Training Camp. This video records the working conditions of the labor camp buildings, labor sites, and trainees at that time.
Source: National Film Center, Taiwan Film Digital Restoration Project.

  • Current name of site｜ROC Navy Command Headquarters, the Ministry of National Defense

  • Type of historic site｜Arrests

  • Google Map｜https://g.page/ROCNAVY?share

Brief introduction to the site

The Labor Education Camp of the Taiwan Provincial Garrison Command was situated on land formerly used by the Japanese for military purposes. It became the Taihoku First Youth Special Training Center at the end of the Japanese colonial period. After the Second World War, the land was taken over by the Taiwan Garrison Command, and a labor education camp was prepared in April 1946 and officially launched on June 1 of the same year. The purpose of the labor education camp was to ensure the maintenance of public order. It primarily accommodated homeless people who were mostly school dropouts or unemployed, and was supervised by Ko Yuan-fen, Chief of Staff of the Taiwan Garrison Command.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

During the military crackdown and the mass arrests in the name of "village cleansing" at the time of the February 28 Incident, the Taiwan Garrison Command transferred "non-primary rioters" to labor education camps for disciplinary training. On March 16, 1947, the Taiwan Garrison Command issued an order: "The rioters who participated in the incident should be identified. Except for those who committed serious crimes who should be severely punished in accordance with the law, all the others should be arrested and sent to the labor education camp at the headquarters of the Garrison Command to undergo disciplinary training." In addition, the data supplied to the Memorial Foundation of 228 by the victims who applied for compensation reveals that approximately 338 people were sent to be disciplined at the camp.

Kawabata Bridge
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▲Kawabata Bridge was built and completed in 1937. It is the only remaining bridge connecting foreign countries in Taipei City during the Japanese occupation.
Source: National Taiwan Library, Periodical Image System Photo Database of the Japanese Occupation Period

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The Kawabata Bridge, which continues to this day, is the Zhongzheng Bridge. It has been rebuilt many times and still retains its original piers. It is an important bridge connecting Taipei City and the Zhongyonghe area.

Brief introduction to the site

Kawabata Bridge was built in 1937 and was renamed Zhongzheng Bridge after the Second World War. After several reconstructions, the bridge deck was widened in the 1960s and 70s, but the old bridge piers were kept inside the new ones. In 2015, the bridge was listed as a historic site. In 2019, the demolishment and rebuilding of Zhongzheng Bridge commenced, and it is planned that the original piers will be retained and a new bridge will be built adjacent to the original. The original bridge deck will be reserved for pedestrians and cyclists.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

Adjacent to Kawabata Bridge is the Guting and Gongguan area, which is another location where the Nationalist government's soldiers discarded victims' corpses during the February 28 Incident. According to the testimony of Lîm Lē-san, when his younger brother Lîm Lē-chhiong, who was a student at National Taiwan University, went missing at the time of the incident, he went to Kawabata Bridge and Xindian River in his search, and was shocked to find many bodies floating in the river and lying on its banks. Another relative of a victim, N̂g Gio̍k-ia̍p, heard that the boatman at Kawabata Bridge had found a body under the bridge during the incident. The hands and feet were tied back and the body was swollen and deformed. It was only after going over to verify the person's identity that N̂g Gio̍k-ia̍p discovered it was the body of her husband Tân Hok.

Taipei Bridge
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▲The Taipei Bridge during the Japanese occupation was originally made of wood and was rebuilt into an iron bridge in 1925. It was one of the eight scenic spots in Taipei at that time, the "Iron Bridge at Sunset".
Source: National Library, Taiwan Memory, https://reurl.cc/WLQOj7

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▲The current site is an important road connecting Sanchong with downtown Taipei. During the February 28 Incident, abandoned bodies appeared under the piers of the Taipei Bridge.

Brief introduction to the site

Taipei Bridge is located on the downstream section of Tamsui River and joins Taipei City with Sanchong and Xinzhuang in New Taipei City. Completed in 1889, the wooden bridge was destroyed by a typhoon in 1897. In 1925, it was converted into an iron bridge in an effort that took three and a half years and cost 440,000 yen. The bridge had seven spans and a total length of 434.5 meters. The center of the bridge was used by vehicles, while sections on either side were used by pedestrians. By 1960, corrosion was becoming an increasingly serious problem on Taipei Bridge, so it was demolished and rebuilt. In 1969, Taipei Bridge was converted into a four-lane concrete bridge. In 1996, in response to the increasing traffic load, it was rebuilt with a six-lane road and new bridges were built on either side of the main bridge. It has remained open to traffic with this structure until today.

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

The Nationalist government's soldiers discarded the bodies of their victims under Taipei Bridge, which straddles Tamsui River, during the February 28 Incident. While searching for his father Ô͘ Sūn, Ô͘ Chhong-hóe heard that there were many floating corpses under Taipei Bridge. "The Sixteenth Water Gate was full of floating corpses. There were bodies floating through there every day, one by one, with their hands tied behind them by wire, and a stone or brick hung around their neck. Their clothes were disheveled, they only wore underclothes or underpants, and they had been soaking in water for a long time. Their flesh was all swollen and rotting. For about a week, nameless corpses such as these drifted down Tamsui River, and all of them looked like young people. The boatman on Tamsui River helped to retrieve the corpses and placed them on the banks. Apparently, the corpses were not recognized or claimed by family members, and most were later taken away in wheelbarrows. I don't know how many corpses were not pulled out and just floated directly out to sea. I remember there were more floating corpses in Qiaotou, and I heard that there were also floating corpses in the Songshan stretch of Keelung River. The older generation used to say that iron wire together with stones were the most certain to kill."

Several civilians who appeared on the list of applicants for compensation approved by the Memorial Foundation of 228 were tortured or shot dead near the bridge for no reason. After victim Lîm Gī-kiat was arrested by the Nationalist government's soldiers, he was directly escorted to Taipei Bridge, beaten up and stabbed before being thrown into Tamsui River. He experienced ill health for many years as a result of this incident and was left unable to continue doing farm work.

Nangang Bridge
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▲Nangang Bridge in the 1948 aerial photo after the war.
Source: Taipei City Historical Map Display System, Bureau of Urban Development, Taipei City Government, "Aerial Photos Taken by the U.S. Army in 1948", https://reurl.cc/WLQ8dO

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▲The current site is located on a traffic thoroughfare, a necessary bridge connecting Nangang and Xizhi. The bridge at the scene is marked with its name, but there is no explanation of the February 28 incident.

Brief introduction to the site

Nangang Bridge spans Dakeng River and is on the main road that extends from Nangang to Xizhi and Keelung. The structure of the bridge has been modified many times. During the February 28 Incident, Nangang Bridge was one of the places where corpses were abandoned, and local residents found eight corpses under the bridge. It came to be known as "the Bridge of Eight Immortals."

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Incident-related events that occurred at the site

At midnight on March 15, 1947, the head of the Nangang neighborhood So͘ Khe-chùn heard gunshots. In the morning, eight bodies were found in the farmland under the bridge with their hands and feet tied up and their mouths stuffed with fabric. Based on evidence at the scene, it appeared that they had first been executed by shooting on the road before being thrown into the river. Most of their clothes were disheveled and the way they had been killed was horrendous. Among the deceased were Ngô͘ Hông-kî, Lîm Hiok-pêng, Tēⁿ Chhong, Chiu Ian-kòe, and Lîm Tēng-ki. The three other bodies were left unidentified, but it was rumored that they included Si Kang-lâm and Tân Ok. Ngô͘ Hông-kî was a judge in the High Court of Taiwan. When his body was found, his coat, pocket watch, and shoes were missing. He was covered with scars, and the back of his head had a gunshot wound on the right side. Lîm Hiok-pêng graduated from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University, and returned to Taiwan after passing the High Court Administration Division civil service examination. Unfortunately, he died in the February 28 Incident. Before his death, his hands and feet had been tied up, and his head and body had sustained multiple injuries.

In April 1947, the Chief Executive's Office ordered that the facts surrounding the eight dead bodies in Nangang be uncovered by a certain deadline. The Taipei City Police Department immediately sent personnel to Nangang to investigate and reported back on how family members had found the dead bodies. On May 30, the Taiwan Garrison Command reported to Chiang Kai-shek, claiming that a secret organization of assassins in Taipei City was to blame.

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