In the Name of Transitional Justice:

A Dark Tour of Taipei

Lynn Su　/　photos Lin Min-hsuan　/　tr. by Brandon Yen

September 2026

中文

The 228 Memorial Monument stands in Taipei 228 Peace Park.

The term “dark tourism" refers to visiting locales connected with death or disaster, such as former concentration camps and memorials to people killed in atomic bombings.

Taiwan, which underwent four decades of authoritarian rule after World War II, is home to numerous such “dark” places.

The term “dark tourism" refers to visiting locales connected with death or disaster, such as former concentration camps and memorials to people killed in atomic bombings.

Taiwan, which underwent four decades of authoritarian rule after World War II, is home to numerous such “dark” places.

“In Taiwan, sites associated with transitional justice can be divided into two categories,” says Ling Tzung-kuei, a specialist in architectural heritage who serves as our tour guide on this occasion. “The first encompasses those sites deliberately built as symbols of authoritarianism. Those that fall within the second category are where people were arrested, interrogated, tortured, or executed—they’re called ‘sites of injustice.’”

Tour Guide: Ling Tzung-kuei

An architectural heritage specialist who works for a museum, Ling runs a YouTube channel introducing architecture and has published a book on demolished local buildings, as well as a history of Taiwan through architectural images.

Sites repurposed or demolished

In Ling’s view, sites symbolic of authoritarian power don’t necessarily need to be demolished. We may learn from the ways Europe deals with Nazi architecture. With their Nazi insignia permanently removed, those buildings have been renovated for other purposes. The Führerbau, for example, built between 1933 and 1937, now houses the University of Music and Theatre Munich. And the Norisring, a street motor-racing circuit in Nuremberg used for events such as the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, is laid out around the grandstand of what was formerly a Nazi Party rally ground.

Located on the banks of the Xindian River, Machangding was a site where many political prisoners were executed by shooting during the White Terror. It has since been transformed into Machangding Memorial Park.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, familiar to international visitors, is a grand monument completed in 1980 in memory of Chiang Kai-shek, former president of the Republic of China. The site stands as a symbol of authoritarianism.

The spatial layout around the hall abounds with special features that carry symbolic meanings. The audience seats of the National Theater and Concert Hall, for example, are oriented towards the statue of Chiang Kai-shek. At the nearby CKS Memorial Hall metro station, the upper-level island platform space has a spacious, high-ceiling design without pillars; there are no side corridors connected to the station; no illuminated signage is attached to the granite walls; and the station name is decorated with brass borders. These are all intended to echo and reinforce the solemnity and grandeur of the site.

But transitional justice is transforming Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The imposing statue of the autocrat remains in place, but the ceremonial guard has been relocated to the plaza outside the hall, in keeping with the aim of dismantling the cult of authoritarianism. On the first floor is a permanent exhibition entitled Flowers of Freedom, which recreates the scene of pro-democracy activist Cheng Nan-jung’s self-immolation.

Taipei 228 Memorial Museum

Situated in 228 Peace Memorial Park, the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum was formerly the Taihoku Broadcasting Bureau during the Japanese colonial era. During the February 28 Incident of 1947, the radio station here served to broadcast government directives. In 1997 the building was converted into a museum commemorating the violently suppressed anti-government uprising, which cast a long shadow over Taiwanese history.

Most sites of injustice in Taiwan, on the other hand, were demolished after the abolition of the political regime that had brought them into existence, except for a small number which have been repurposed, such as Machangding Memorial Park—formerly an execution ground used in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel stands on a site where political prisoners were detained and interrogated by the Military Law Division of the Taiwan Garrison Command. The site of the Lions’ Plaza Commercial Building in Taipei’s vibrant Ximending area used to be occupied by Higashi Honganji, a beautiful temple built in the Japanese colonial era (1895‡1945). After World War II, the place was turned into another detention center, where many suffered injustice and lost their lives. Locals often say that when they come to the cinema here, they can still get shivers down their spines.

National 228 Memorial Museum

The edifice that houses the National 228 Memorial Museum was built in 1931. In the Japanese era, it served as the Taiwan Education Association Building. After World War II, it was used successively by the Taiwan Provincial Assembly and the United States Information Agency in Taiwan.

When the February 28 Incident erupted in 1947, Taiwanese intellectuals and gentry formed the 228 Incident Settlement Committee in an attempt to mediate and restore order, but the authorities soon launched a bloody campaign to suppress the protesters and dissidents, and those who had voiced their opinions here were arrested. Established in 2006, the museum is in the care of the Memorial Foundation of 228.

Former Huashan Freight Station

Situated in central Taipei at the intersection of Civic Boulevard and Linsen North Road, Central Culture Park (a.k.a. Huashan Grassland) used to be the site of the Huashan Freight Station. Here, political prisoners, after being tried by the Military Law Division of the Taiwan Garrison Command nearby, boarded trains bound for Keelung. They were then transferred on military vessels to Green Island (Lüdao) to serve their sentences. The site is to be redeveloped as Huashan Judicial Park. However, the discovery, during construction, of extensive remains of the original bay platform structures has alerted cultural heritage advocates to its importance. Bio-Architecture Formosana has accordingly revised the designs for the park with a view to incorporating the history of this site of injustice into its new landscape. The aim is to preserve cultural heritage while accommodating the needs of redevelopment.

Nevertheless, even though these buildings have been demolished, their histories continue to beckon. Ling tells us that in some 650 towns in Germany, as well as in other European cities, we can see brass plates embedded in sidewalks—Stolpersteine. Each is inscribed with the name, year of birth, and fate of a local individual who fell victim to Nazi terror. By summoning up memories, these “stumbling stones” continue to commemorate the victims of that bygone era.

Chinese-Language Books Recommended by Ling Tzung-kuei

The Battle between Remembering and Forgetting: A Progress Report on Transitional Justice in Taiwan (Jiyi yu yiwang de douzheng: Taiwan zhuanxing zhengyi jieduan baogao), Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation, Acropolis, 2015. Undeliverable Farewells: Remembering Lives Lost During the Years of Terror (Wufa songda de yishu: Ji naxie zai kongbu niandai shiluo de ren), Lu Cangyi, Hu Shuwen et al., Acropolis, 2015. The Road to Transitional Justice: Taiwan’s Past and Future (Zhuanxing zhengyi zhi lu: Daoyu de guoqu yu weilai), Chou Wan-yao, Taiwan Interminds, 2022. No Matter What, We Must Find a Way to Survive: A Dark Tour of Human Rights in Taiwan (Wulun ruhe zong dei zhao tiao huolu cai xing de: Taiwan renquan anhei lüzhi), National Human Rights Museum, 2020.

Memorial to the Victims of the White Terror

Erected in Jieshou Park in 2008, this monument faces the Presidential Office across Ketagalan Boulevard.

Liuzhangli Memorial Park for Political Victims During the Martial Law Period

In Taipei’s Liuzhangli cemetery there are mass graves containing the unclaimed bodies of political prisoners executed in the 1950s. The government, however, kept the purpose of the site under wraps. In May 1993, Zeng Meilan enlisted the help of an exhumation specialist to locate the remains of his brother Xu Qinglan. It was only then that they found 264 graves and tombstones of victims of the White Terror here, hidden among rampant weeds. The scene is reproduced in the 2025 film A Foggy Tale.

It’s worth noting that on a hillside near these graves there is a Muslim family burial ground established by General Bai Chongxi, known as Bai Rongyintang Cemetery.

Statues of Chiang Kai-shek

Ling Tzung-kuei says that these symbols of authoritarianism served vested interests, but also reinforced the identity of vast numbers of people who migrated to Taiwan from China in the late 1940s and early 1950s, reminding them of their homelands.

The statues of Chiang Kai-shek across Taiwan are being removed at different paces. It’s worth mentioning that although Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School has insisted on keeping the school’s statue in its prominent place near the front entrance, it becomes a target for mischief during graduation ceremonies, when students decorate it in response to topical issues or fashionable memes. Beyond its significance as an act of “de-authoritarianization,” this unconventional reconfiguring of the statue has become an integral part of the prestigious school’s culture and tradition.