On the Trail of Democracy:

Revisiting Sites of the Kaohsiung Incident

Esther Tseng　/　photos Jimmy Lin　/　tr. by Phil Newell

September 2026

中文

The Dome of Light, made by the Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata, has several meanings, including vitality, nurturing, and hope.

Formosa Boulevard Station on the Kaohsiung Metro is home to The Dome of Light, a dazzling stained-glass work hailed as the world’s largest glass artwork. But while you are there, why not go up to the street level where, under the intense sunshine, four glass-clad metal-framed structures forming the station’s main entrances symbolize “prayer.” This was the site of the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident.

What Was the Kaohsiung Incident?

On December 10, 1979, still in the martial law era, a large crowd gathered in the Dagangpu area of Kaohsiung City (next to today’s Formosa Boulevard Station) for speeches and a demonstration. But they were surrounded by a riot suppression force, leading to a major clash between citizens and the regime.

Afterwards, troops from the Taiwan Garrison Command arrested many opposition leaders, including Shih Ming-teh, Huang Hsin-chieh, Annette Lu, and Chen Chu, and delivered them to a military tribunal for trial. Through their statements at trial, they turned the courtroom into a platform for their democratic ideals. Their lawyers—including Chen Shui-bian, Frank Hsieh, and Su Tseng-chang—also emerged as important proponents of democracy in Taiwan. The event is seen as a milestone in Taiwan’s transition to democracy.

Turning back the clock to December 10, 1979—International Human Rights Day—demonstrators advanced along Kaohsiung City’s Zhongshan Road, originally planning to march toward the then Rotary Park (today part of Central Park). However, they encountered riot police and armored vehicles, which surrounded them on all sides. The crowd turned in the direction of the Dayuanhuan traffic circle (no longer extant) and climbed onto four pedestrian overpasses to watch speeches. Those overpass sites are now occupied by the four main entrances of the Kaohsiung Metro’s Formosa Boulevard Station.

The four main entrances to the Kaohsiung Metro’s Formosa Boulevard Station were designed by Japanese architect Shin Takamatsu. Symbolizing hands brought together in prayer, they convey a yearning for love and peace.

Visiting the Kaohsiung Incident cityscape

Commissioned by the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and others, local historian Chen Kun-yi compared city spaces with old photographs and laid out a “Kaohsiung Incident route” through the Dagangpu area.

Because the Gushan Incident on the previous night can be said to have sparked the expanded mobilization of demonstrators the next day, Chen recommends that visitors first take the light rail to reach the site of that event: the Gushan Precinct police building and the former Southern Taiwan headquarters of the Taiwan Garrison Command (TGC).

On December 9, 1979, two volunteers were driving around to inform people about the scheduled event on the 10th. They were stopped, arrested, and detained by officers from Gushan Precinct. A crowd gathered to demand their release on bail and surrounded the building. However, the police took advantage of a secret air-raid-shelter tunnel to smuggle the two out to the TGC, where they were tortured to extract confessions.

Next up on the tour is the former Kaohsiung office of Formosa magazine, known in Chinese as Meilidao, after which the Kaohsiung Incident is also known as the Formosa Incident or Meilidao Incident. Located at the intersection of Zhongshan Road and Datong Road, the building has been renovated multiple times, variously hosting a barbecue restaurant, eyewear shop, and teak furniture store. Today it stands empty, available to rent. Chen can’t help but sigh that this building—which has long been registered as a cultural heritage site—has not been converted into an exhibition space devoted to memories of the democracy movement.

Meanwhile, not far away is Xinxing Police Station, the headquarters from which the riot suppression force was directed, and where representatives of Formosa magazine negotiated with the police.

Chen Kun-yi feels that visiting historic sites can evoke a “resonant” understanding of the events that took place there that goes beyond the written word.

The Kaohsiung Literature Library curates exhibitions on political literature and introduces the city’s human rights landscape.

Power dynamics and interpretation

At the time, the government stated that the incident was caused by “rioters” attacking police. There was even an individual who made a point of kneeling on the ground and pleading with the crowd not to strike officers, who was later rewarded with a plaque reading “standing up heroically for what is right.”

Chen Kun-yi argues that if one returns to the scene of the events and also consults documentary evidence, one will discover that there are many signs that the images made public at the time were manipulated, so that it is very much worth rethinking whether those who had the power to interpret events did not distort the truth.

“Historic sites go beyond books,” avers Chen. When you personally stand where the events happened, you can feel the evening breeze and evoke images of riot control vehicles surrounding the venue. You get a sense of the people crowding along the main streets, and feel an “internal resonance” that enables you to more deeply understand the history.

The January 1980 issue of Taiwan Panorama (then named Sinorama) carried a report on the Kaohsiung Incident entitled “Kaohsiung Riot: Abuse of Democracy.” It reflected the political, military, and media ecosystem of Taiwan’s martial law era.

Thanks to the efforts of citizen groups, Kaohsiung’s Central Park has fewer concrete surfaces and less commercial development, instead preserving more greenery and natural ecology.

From clash site to human rights city

The Kaohsiung Incident was a major turning point in the transition to democracy, as the energy demonstrated by the marchers was not extinguished by the widespread arrests. Instead it percolated into every corner of Taiwan. This dynamism eventually developed into the major civic movements that occurred in Kaohsiung in the 1990s.

Chen, who is also a director of the Takao Renaissance Association (Takao being an old name for Kaohsiung), points out that in that decade many NGOs were founded, doing everything from fighting to preserve Shoushan Nature Park, cleaning up the banks of the Love River, and transforming Weiwuying Park, to integrating the Kaohsiung Literature Library and the Xinxing Branch of the Kaohsiung Public Library into the landscape of Central Park. Kaohsiung’s cityscape was transformed, all through initiatives started by members of the general public.

When international travelers come to Kaohsiung, besides savoring the local cuisine and admiring the harbor scenery, they can also try a tour of the landscape of the Kaohsiung Incident. These historic sites remind us that Taiwan’s democratic journey is still evolving. ‬

Ko Chi-hua’s former residence

Since its publication in the 1960s, Ko Chi-hua’s New English Grammar has been “the Bible of English learning” for generations of high-school students in Taiwan. It has been through many editions and is now in its 161st printing.

Many people are unaware that Ko was twice imprisoned on dubious sedition charges, spending 17 years of his life in detention. After getting out of prison he founded the periodical Formosan Culture, but it was forcibly closed after ten issues.

Today, his former residence has been turned into a venue for human rights education. Through virtual reality and interactive multimedia equipment, visitors can travel back in time to understand the hardships faced by victims of political repression and their families under the authoritarian regime.