Taiwanese from Honan, Chekiang and Shantung:
Coming by chance and fortune to be a member of the Chang family could be said to have been a great turning point in Hsin Chi-ming's life. But for the members of the Chang family of Fenglin she was just another "provincial outsider" coming into the clan. Before Hsin Chi-ming came along, Chang Tsung-jen's only son, Wen-man, married Ko Shou-chih, from a Chekiang family, in 1975. The couple also got to know each other through a matchmaker and now live in America with a daughter. Chang Wen-man says that, although Ko Shou-chih comes from a mainlander family, in accordance with her father's wish that "when you go to Taiwan you should study the way of life of the people there" his children all came to speak fluently in the Fukienese and Hakka dialects that are most widely used by the native Taiwanese. She cannot be told apart from native Taiwanese born and raised in Taiwan. "My wife's elder brother was born in mainland China, but his Fukienese is even more fluent than mine," he says with a laugh. He basically has no feelings that he and his wife have any areas in which they appear to be people from different places.
Even earlier than this, also after the 228 Incident, Chang Chi-lang's third daughter married a man who originated from the mainland province of Honan. When the 228 Incident was no more than two or three years old, the Chang family even took in a mainlander orphan who only left the family after he went to middle school. The affinity of the Chang family with mainland China is not something that has been broken by their misfortunes.
How is it that the Chang family has been able to accept this kind of mixed marriage? How do they see this kind of affair?
Love vanquishes hate:
"My daughter-in-law is extremely virtuous, intelligent and sophisticated," says Chang Yu-chan about Hsin Chi-ming's coming into the Chang family. There have been no problems of acclimatization and mother and daughter-in-law live very happily together. She also knows that her son's temper can be bad, and when the young couple have an argument she always pulls her son to one side and advises him to give way a little.
"From early on we have not made any distinctions on provincial grounds," says Yeh Yun-yu. After the family suffered their misfortunes, the Changs did not have one adult male member and life was very hard, she adds. Yet, being Christians, the strength of their faith enabled them to pass through those difficult months. When her mother-in-law, Chan Chin-chih, was alive, she would even advise the family: "Our mainland compatriots are our brothers and sisters. We are all God's people. We should use liberal and considerate brotherly feelings in dealing with them." Because of this, although the 228 Incident meant that the Chang family lost many members and four were arrested, with only Chang I-jen escaping because he was a military doctor at the time (although he finally went far away to Brazil), and the main branch of the Chang family was completely dispersed in one night, the survivors did not transfer their anger onto so-called "provincial outsiders." "After all, in-justice has a beginning and all debts have creditors. The senseless opposition between provinces is just unnecessary. What we need is for the government, at an early date, to give us back the innocence of the dead and to apologize and compensate the victims." Yeh Yun-yu says that this is the only way to really be rid of the 228 complex.
Apart from the unselfish love that comes from their religion, the ancestral lineage of the Chang family might also be a reason why they have not adopted any kind of parochial outlook.
Chinese roots:
"Among the families that suffered in the 228 Incident, ours can be considered to be very special," says Chang An-man, the third son of Manchurian-born Chang Tsung-jen, who now lives and teaches in Hualien. Many native Taiwanese families who were victims of the 228 Incident perhaps hate provincial outsiders, but the Chang family has for generations been molded by Chinese culture. Under the influence of this culture, they have never denied that they are Chinese people who come from the same roots as people from other provinces.
Chang An-man's mother, Yeh Yun-yu, also points out that during the years they spent in Man-churia they received a lot of help and care from the people there. "In Manchuria we were the 'provincial outsiders,'" she exclaims.
Chang An-man also says that, since he was a child, the family had no father. Everyone had to rely on three "mothers" (grandmother Chan Ching-chih, mother Yeh Yun-yu and aunt Chang Yu-chan) to take on the responsibilities of life. But he never heard these mothers blame anybody. When they were a little older, their real mother told them about the misfortune that had befallen the family but she also added: "That was a chaotic world!" There was no shifting of anger onto anyone else. Grandma and aunt would also often use prayers to appeal for spiritual peace and earnestly enjoin the children: "Use God's love to dissolve the hatred."
Leave the hatred for history:
The Chang family were damaged very badly in that chaotic period. And it is just because they have been through that distress that they now know that kind of hatred must never be allowed to grow again. It is thus something that they do not emphasize in the education of the following generation and they especially never talk lightly about history related to the 228 Incident, thus avoiding giving the wrong ideas to youngsters who have not yet got the ability to make their own judgments.
Chang An-man says that when he was a young child the mothers of the family did not raise what had happened but just told the children that their father was overseas. It was only when they had grown a little older that she told the children the truth, while stressing yet again that they must not harbor an attitude of hatred.
Yeh Yun-yu remembers that when the children were gradually growing up and began to ask her about their father it was just like a knife cutting her heart. But she had no way to explain to them why it was that other children had fathers while their family had none. That kind of emotion was very painful.
"I waited for the children to grow up a bit and only then did I tell them that their father had been killed. When the children asked who had done the killing, I could only make the excuse that it was 'communist bandits.'" It was only when the children reached middle school age that Yeh Yun-yu told them the whole truth.
When it came to Chang An-man's generation, they used the same attitude in teaching their youngsters. When children are still very young you should certainly not take the initiative in raising these family stories. "My two children only heard the whole story from me just before they left to study overseas," he says.
Mistakes of the period:
Chang Yu-chan does regret how, in that period when she had just lost her husband, from leading the happy life of a doctor's wife she became in an instant a peasant woman who had to do everything with her own hands. She could not avoid feeling that everything was truly bitter. Every day she had to go to the farm to pull out weeds. Usually those on the eastern side had not all been pulled out, but no sooner had she done them than the weeds on the west sprang up. She was always thinking about when she would get time to do the other work at hand, worrying and worrying until tears poured down her face.
Chang An-man is of the opinion that the Chan family has been subjected to a lot of suffering. Nevertheless, all the mistakes were the mistakes of another era. "It was not the mainlanders who did anything wrong and the 228 Incident was not the fault of the soldiers who opened fire. The ones who were responsible were only those who gave the orders," he says, adding that perhaps it would now be difficult to trace the responsibility back. However, there must eventually be some historical justice otherwise the whole affair can only get more blurred and give rise to more unnecessary friction, which will allow provincial feelings to get even more serious.
From last July, the government began work registering the number of victims of the 228 Incident and making preparations for a memorial. Official historical material and research reports on the incident are also coming to light in a steady stream. All these activities show that the government is sincere in coming to terms with the feelings of this painful period. Yet the families who suffered from the 228 Incident feel that this is still not sufficient.
Give 228 back to 228:
"The government, apart from publicly apologizing and paying compensation, should also quickly give back the innocence of those involved," says Chang An-man. His father's and grandfather's generations were shot to death in unclear circumstances in that year. After the event, although the highest court in the land did not come up with any proof, they still condemned the three men as "rebels against party and country, organizers of an assassins group." Their death certificates kept in the government's household registers still today record "shot to death by an independent group during the period of martial law." The procurator's office of Taiwan's high court has decreed that the crime of the three men is: "rebelling against party and country, organizing an assassins group, shot while resisting arrest."
"Let the 228 Incident be given back to the 228 Incident. It is only when the incident is simplified that we can help to resolve the emotions," Chang An-man says. The mistakes of history have already been made. The government acknowledging the mistakes and recognizing that it was a chaotic world at the time is a coming to grips with the problem. Not only will this not lose the government prestige, on the contrary, it will make people trust them. Many of the irrational barriers will disappear without a trace.
Historical loves and hates have created countless frictions out of provincial sentiments. The story of the family of Chang Chi-lang in Hualien's Fenglin is just a miniature image of this tragedy of history. They are not without resentment, but they manage to dispel it with magnanimous love. It is thus that the Chang family of Taiwan have come to have a Honanese son-in-law, a daughter-in-law from Chekiang and a daughter-in-law from Shan-tung. And they believe that later on there will be more and more.
[Picture Caption]
p.34
Shocked when she heard the story of the 228 Incident by the tomb of Chang Chi-lang and his sons, Hsin Chi-ming has now completely integrated into the Chang family. The Changs: (left to right) Chang Yu-chan, Chang An-man, Yeh Yun-Yu, Wang Mei-Yu(wife of Chang An-man), Hsin Chi-ming.
p.35
A precious portrait of the family of Chang Chi-lang. The eldest son, Tsung-jen (second on right), third son Kuojen (fourth on right) and their father were killed in the 228 incident. (photo courtesy of Chang Yu-chan)
p.35
After the death of Chang Chi-lang it was down to Chan Chin-chih (center) to lead their orphans and widows through life. (photo courtesy of Chang Yu-chan)
p.36
In 1946 Chang Chi-lang (fifth from the left in back row wearing glasses) visited the National Assembly in Nanking as representative for Taiwan to take part in talks on the new constitution. He is seen here with the late President Chiang Kai-shek with the delegation from Taiwan in front of the president's official residence. (photo courtesy of Chang Yu-chan)
p.37
Chang Chi-lang (center) in Manchuria during the Japanese occupation with friends. Chang spent different periods of his life in Manchuria, Japan and the ROC. (photo courtesy of Chang Yu-chan)
p.37
Some of Chang Chi-lang's books which have been kept tidy by his descendants. Chang was a serious scholar with a huge collection of books. To the left can be seen an inscription by Chang reading "benevolence is one's duty."
p.38
Chang Yu-chan's grandchildren. The new generation has emerged healthy from the shadows of history thanks to the kind guidance of their elders.
p.39
The Chang family are devout Christians. Their faith gave them the strength to get through the upheavals that hit the home and also let them understand that only love can resolve hate.
p.40
With the assistance of many people the Chang family are actively struggling for the chance to have their ancestors rehabilitated. When Yeh Yun-yu looks at the conviction "rebels against party and country, organizers of an assassins group" written on the death certificates of her husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law, she is pained at heart and protests at the libel.
p.42
The 228 Incident is the tragedy of an unusual period of history. The government already intends to apologize to, rehabilitate and compensate victims so as to heal the wounds and resolve the provincial complex. (photo by Pu Hua-chih)
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