The writer in a pool of blood
Standing at the foot of Lishan, the hill behind the Chung Li-ho Memorial Hall in Meinong, Kaohsiung City, Chung Li-ho’s granddaughter Chung Shunwen gazes at the verdant slopes of her homeland, feeling tranquil.
This is the “native land” of her grandfather, Chung Li-ho (1915―1960). Her grandfather moved here at the age of 18 from Daluguan (now Gaoshu Township) in Pingtung with his family. It was here that he began his literary career. On August 4, 1960, he had a relapse of pulmonary tuberculosis due to overwork. He died after coughing blood at his desk, staining his clothes red, which earned him the distinctive epithet of “the writer lying in a pool of blood.”
The desk is now on the first floor of the memorial hall. Chung’s manuscripts and implements have been preserved with great care to reproduce a scene from his writing life half a century ago. Chung Shunwen’s grandfather kept writing his whole life long, but lacked many opportunities to publish under Martial Law. It was not until he submitted his works to the literary supplement of the United Daily News that they were recognized and appreciated by Lin Haiyin, the supplement’s chief editor. Only then did he get the chance to realize his literary ambitions.
However, Chung’s friends in literary circles still had a rough time founding a memorial to Shunwen’s grandfather: as Taiwan was still under Martial Law, and Chung was the first local writer to have a memorial dedicated to his memory, the project naturally attracted attention. In 1976, Vista Publishing published The Complete Writings of Chung Li-ho, the first such collection of a writer in Taiwan, causing a great sensation.
Chung Shunwen recalls that director Li Hsing later filmed a biopic entitled My Native Land (1980) about her grandfather. Simple and touching, this film raised a wave of interest in Chung’s writings, which contributed to the idea for a memorial where people could go to know more about his legendary life.
In June, 1979, six major literary figures, namely Chung Chao-cheng, Yeh Shih-tao, Lin Haiyin, Cheng Ching-wen, Lee Chiao, and Chang Liang-tse, formulated a plan to build a Chung Li-ho Memorial Hall based on Chung’s novel Lishan Farm. Many Meinong intellectuals joined the project later on. Officially completed in 1986, the Chung Li-ho Memorial Hall became the first literary memorial in Taiwan funded by the private sector.
Wang Ya-shan, secretary of the Chung Li-ho Literary Foundation, says that the exhibition space was rearranged in 2013. Since then, Chung’s manuscripts, works, and items relating to Hakka culture (for Chung was Hakka, and Meinong is a place where many Hakka people live) have been on display, with a wide array of manuscripts and works by other writers in the collection. The foundation also holds a Lishan Literary Camp every year to promote the creation and reading of literature. In 2016, the camp celebrated its twentieth anniversary.
Chung Shunwen looks back upon Lishan as she thinks of her grandparents as well as her father, Chung Tieh-min, who passed away five years ago. Her closest family all lived for literature. In a way, they still do, immortalized in the land they loved.
Afternoon breezes that blow around old writers’ memorial halls accompany their undying literary spirits as they murmur of the ceaseless passage of time.
The Tainan City Government renovated the old Tainan Forestry Office to house the Yeh shyr-tau Literary Memorial Museum.
eh’s room is recreated on the second floor, with his bed and desk from his home in Zuoying.
Yeh’s room is recreated on the second floor, with his desk from his home in Zuoying , a testament to his long writing career. (photo by Kuo Han-chen)
Yeh Shyr-tau Literary Memorial Museum
The lotus pond close to Yeh’s home in Zuoying features a plaque with one of his literary epigrams.
The lotus pond close to Yeh’s home in Zuoying features a plaque with one of his literary epigrams.
Chung Li-ho Memorial Hall
Near the Taiwan Literature Boulevard, where the statue of Chung Li-ho and quotations from his writings evince his long literary afterlife. (courtesy of Chung Li-ho Memorial Hall)
Chung Shunwen often tells visitors about her grandfather’s life and the story behind the construction of the memorial hall. (courtesy of Chung Li-ho Memorial Hall)
An illustration depicting the asteroid named after Chung Li-ho. (courtesy of Chung Li-ho Memorial Hall)
Chung Tieh-min (1941–2011), himself a famous author, is pictured in the recreation of his father’s study that is displayed on the first floor. (courtesy of Chung Li-ho Memorial Hall)