Chang chose works by Chopin, the patriotic Polish composer, including "Impromptus Op. 29," "Polonaise Op. 40 No. 1" and "Op. 35 No. 2 Piano Sonata." She used the first piece to express the joy Taiwanese people felt when the Japanese left Taiwan after World War II. She then switched to a military tone to evoke the brutality of soldiers as they killed innocent people. By the last piece, a mournful funeral tune, Chang was banging the keys, taking out her emotions on the piano.
Chang An-man, her father, looked on from his seat. The former teacher and current volunteer tour guide at Taroko National Park was relieved that his grandfather's last words did not come true: Chang Chi-lang had believed his family line would not survive the mayhem of that time.
The February 28 Incident still lives on for many people in Taiwan. Also known as 228, it refers to an atrocity that occurred shortly after Japan turned over Taiwan to the Kuomintang-led government of the ROC at the end of World War II in 1946.
Among the assets the KMT inherited from the Japanese was a system of government-controlled monopolies, one of which included alcohol and tobacco. The KMT retained and expanded this system. On Feb. 27, 1947, a woman named Lin Jiang-mai was badly beaten by KMT soldiers for selling untaxed cigarettes and a bystander was shot dead in the commotion. This sparked riots throughout the island the next day, with people seizing police buildings and radio stations, even killing recent immigrants from across the Taiwan Strait. Reinforcements arrived from China and a period of oppression started, when anyone who spoke out against the KMT government was silenced.
Among the victims was Chang Chi-lang. During the Japanese colonial period, Chang resisted pressure to adopt Japanese culture, Chang An-man explained. A doctor, Chang Chi-lang held considerable status and could have easily become an official in the colonial government. In 1946, Chang helped found the first high school in Fonglin Township, a rural area about 80 kilometers south of Hualien City. Two of his sons, Chang Jhong-ren and Chang Guo-ren, grew up to become doctors as well.
In the aftermath of 228, the local elite were regarded with suspicion by the KMT provincial government. Some scholars have speculated that the government used 228 as an excuse to crack down on dissidents. Governor Chen Yi arrested and executed thousands of people who had demanded government reforms.
As Chang An-man recounted, soldiers knocked on the door of the Chang's home in the middle of the night. Under the ruse of troops suffering from severe sickness, Chang Chi-lang and two of his sons were lured out of the house, never to be seen alive by their family again. They were prosecuted without trial and executed for treason in 1947.
Some Fonglin residents suspected that Chang's death might have been politically motivated. Although the county magistrate was appointed at the time, Chang Chi-lang had publicly expressed an interest in trying to run for that position. The incumbent magistrate could have seen Chang as too strong a potential opponent and conspired to have him eliminated by making a false accusation against him. Chang An-man put forth another theory. He said that his great-grandfather might have been the victim of a KMT government plot aimed at local elite. As a community leader, the doctor would have been a prime target. Chang An-man stressed that he could only guess at what had happened and that he had no definitive proof.
The Chang family would be haunted by the incident for years to come. "It left the Changs with three widows and three fatherless sons," said Chang An-man. The survivors had a hard life, facing a loss of both income and social standing. The mothers became the breadwinners, working to provide for their families on single incomes. Chang An-man studied intensively and gained admission to Feng Chia University in Taichung. The tuition and board were far more than his family from Hualien could possibly afford. "He had to teach as a private tutor as much as possible in his free time just to make ends meet," said Chang's wife Wang Mei-yu. "Life has never been easy for him and his family."
The road to acceptance was a long one for Chang. During KMT rule, he concealed his identity as a relative of a 228 victim. Chang also had to hide the fear and hatred he felt toward the injustice that had befallen his family. Eventually, he learned to let go and accept what had happened. Chang believed the hatred had to stop, for the well-being of future generations.
Years later, fear would still consume the Changs' lives. Few people would talk to them, wary of government reprisals. "My mother would not even dare to visit Taipei to see the special Chang Chi-lang exhibition at the 228 Memorial Museum. She was afraid of possible retribution," Chang said.
The exhibition he referred to was held last year. More than 100 artifacts and documents were displayed at the exhibition. Researchers donated some of them and others came from personal family collections. Visitors to the museum could witness the story of the Changs. There were exhibits showing death certificates, his medical bag and his calligraphic works. Of special note were documents from the ROC government when it was based in Nanking, ordering Chang to aid in the drafting of the first constitution. Chang's experience offered a window into Taiwan's tumultuous past.
Emotions evoked by Taiwan's history flowed out from Chang Chun-ling's piano during the concert. After her performance, a screen lowered to the floor. On the screen, former KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou held incense sticks while bowing to the tombs of Chang Chi-lang and his two sons. "The KMT was wrong, the party ruined your family and killed those people," a tearful Ma said in the video, apologizing to Chang An-man. At the concert, Ma went onto the stage to read out a poem he had written specifically for the concert. One section commented on the importance of moving on:
If we can't realize the dreams of the children,
For whom was blood spilled sixty years ago?
If we only linger on the wild plain of sadness,
How can we, with the children, walk to the future?
Chang appreciated Ma's attempt at reconciliation. "I trust that he was sincere and went there to repent in front of my ancestors on behalf of the KMT," he said in a Feb. 26 TV report on TVBS. Chang said it was time for reconciliation.
The party has attempted to make amends for its past actions in recent years. Then President Lee Teng-hui and former KMT Chairman Lien Chan have also given public apologies on behalf of the party. In addition, the KMT sponsored the 228 Memorial Concert in 1997 and 2007.
Write to Alexander Chou at alexchou@mail.gio.gov.tw