In 1975, Chiang Kai-shek died in Taiwan, and his body was temporarily housed in a courtyard hotel called "Cihu" in Daxi, Taoyuan.
It was originally a temporary "wartime evacuation office" set up by the Kuomintang to counterattack the mainland, and its original name was "Dongkou Hotel".
Later, when Chiang Kai-shek personally inspected it, he found that this place was very similar to his hometown Xikou, and suddenly aroused a strong sense of homesickness, so he ordered that the hotel be changed into a "presidential palace", and renamed it "Cihu Lake" in order to miss his mother.
Chiang Kai-shek did not expect that this quaint courtyard would become his permanent sleeping mausoleum a hundred years later.
Not only have countless people come here to visit, but it has also caused one speechless storm after another decades later.
On the morning of February 28, 2018, the Cihu Mausoleum opened at around 9:00 as usual. As the sun slowly rises into the sky, the number of tourists in this deserted "scenic spot" is gradually increasing.
But who knows, just when everyone thought that this day was another ordinary day, several young people suddenly broke into the courtyard and violently threw paint on the middle of Chiang Kai-shek's coffin.
At the same time, three more people took pictures and shouted slogans such as "transitional justice" with several others, which lasted about two or three minutes, during which no gendarmes and staff stopped them.
Their actions caused distress to most of the visitors present. A Taiwanese gentleman surnamed Zhang told reporters: "I think that the society in Taiwan is really chaotic now, the public's sense of cognition is extremely poor, the past and the present are not clear, affecting everyone to visit, we can only choose a day to come again." ”
So the question is, what does this Mr. Zhang mean by "past and present"? Why did the red-painted youth choose to carry out this "activity" on February 28? Is it really just a simple coincidence?
01, historical legacy: What is the "real" "228" incident in the mouth of Taiwan compatriots?
Not really. February 28 was a special day for some native Taiwanese, and it was related to an event called the February 28 Uprising.
Fast forward to February 27, 1947, when the dazzling sunlight gradually turned dim and the night was about to hang in the sky, a group of anti-smuggling team members wearing Kuomintang uniforms suddenly "broke" the crowd and rushed to a stall called "Tianma Tea House".
The lady who owned the stall was named Lin Jiangmai, who was just over 40 years old at the time.
Although born in the Wang ethnic group, he lost his husband at an early age, grew up alone, and after the tea shop went out of business, like most poor people, he sold smuggled cigarettes from the United States on the street.
When the members of the anti-smuggling team surrounded her, Lin Jiangmai had already lost the opportunity to escape, and she could only put down her body, explain to the anti-smuggling team members, and plead with them to let herself go.
However, the members of the anti-smuggling team were like iron stones, and they did not soften their hearts because of Lin Jiangmai's attitude, but instead broke Lin Jiangmai's head in the process of pulling with her.
When the surrounding masses saw Lin Jiangmai's face full of blood, they were instantly angry and rushed forward to clash with the members of the anti-smuggling team.
During this period, two police officers were injured, and another police officer named Fu Xuetong suddenly shot at the crowd in anxiety, accidentally injuring Chen Wenxi, causing him to be shot in the chest and sent to the hospital the next day to die.
That evening, many people who heard about the incident gathered outside the Taipei Police Station and the Gendarmerie Corps to demand that fu Xuetong be severely punished by the authorities, but no one from the authorities came forward to deal with the matter.
The next day, February 28, in the morning, more and more people who heard about this incident turned to besiege the Taiwan Monopoly Bureau, but still could not get a clear explanation.
In the afternoon, about 500 people impulsively ran outside the door of the Chief Executive's Office, ready to petition the Chief Executive, but they were shot by the guards in front of the door without thinking, killing and injuring countless people on the spot, causing greater dissatisfaction among the masses.
Since then, more and more people have clashed with the authorities during demonstrations and demonstrations, and an anti-dictatorship, anti-authoritarian, and anti-atrocity activities have spread throughout Taipei in an instant.
However, Chief Executive Chen Yi still refused to listen to the people's words, stubbornly declared Taipei to enter the martial law stage, and sent a large number of troops and police to patrol the streets, arousing deeper anger in the hearts of the people.
Zeng Chonglang, who was the commander of the Hsinchu Middle School student team at the time, recalled: "After the outbreak of the February 28 incident, the democracy of Hsinchu Middle School also began to liquidate corrupt officials, and my classmates and I found the principal Xin Zhiping in time, and he changed into a suit with a pale face and looked at us in horror, and we told him that we were just liquidating corrupt officials, he was an educator, and we would protect him." When the principal heard this, he relaxed a little and called out to his wife, who was also a teacher, who was hiding on the roof. ”
Just when several people were talking, there were suddenly several gunshots outside the house, and Zeng Chonglang and his classmates were afraid that the principal would "suffer losses", so they hurriedly escorted the principal's whole family to the student dormitory.
Subsequently, many teachers from the mainland were also sent by students.
When the "2.28" incident ended and the participants were officially liquidated, Xin Zhiping urgently informed Zeng Chonglang to come to his home to hide, and after Zeng Chonglang was imprisoned, he actively rescued and tried to ensure that Zeng Chonglang was released from prison.
It can be said that although the local people in Taiwan and the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek and the mainland "visitors" have become "intolerable" because of the "2.28 incident," in fact, under the chaotic situation, there are still many sober people who abandon the "gap" and help each other.
Unfortunately, however, sober people such as Zeng Chonglang and Xin Zhiping were too rare, and most of the Taiwanese people still "hated" Chen Yi, the Kuomintang, and Chiang Kai-shek, who was ruling the Kuomintang at that time, because of this incident.
Even though decades have passed, that "thorn" still "pierces" the hearts of some Taiwanese people from time to time, making it difficult for them to forget the dissatisfaction and anger brought about by this "shame."
Coupled with the fact that "Taiwan independence" elements continue to repeat this matter and vigorously exaggerate negative sentiments, the contradictions between some of Taiwan's local people and the Kuomintang have become deeper and deeper, and almost every once in a while a farce similar to the "2.28 incident" will be staged.
02, several destructions: Whether it is a statue or a mausoleum, the enmity between Chiang Kai-shek and a certain faction of the people in Taiwan has never dissipated
In February 2006, Taiwan's "2.28 Incident" Memorial Foundation published a report on the attribution of responsibility for the incident, pointing Chiang Kai-shek as the culprit.
It is said that Chiang Kai-shek was an insider throughout the whole process and should be fully responsible. As for Chen Yi and others, they should bear secondary responsibility.
As soon as the report was released, it immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the Kuomintang and Chiang Ching-kuo's second son, Jiang Xiaoyan.
Jiang Xiaoyan reprimanded the "2.28 Incident" Memorial Foundation for deliberately distorting historical facts and causing harm to Chiang Kai-shek on the grounds that Chiang Kai-shek had sent a letter asking Chen Yi to "not retaliate."
The foundation is required to apologize to Chiang Kai-shek and the Chiang family within 3 days, otherwise he will sue the foundation and claim NT$5 billion.
However, the foundation did not accept Jiang Xiaoyan's statement and refused to apologize to Chiang, and at the same time, they joined forces with the DPP "legislators" and Jiang Xiaoyan to argue at the door of the "Legislative Yuan", which escalated the farce again.
At the end of December 2007, Chen Shui-bian, who vigorously promoted "de-Chiang Kai-shek", took the initiative to close the Cihu Mausoleum, which lasted for a short time, and the following year Ma Ying-jeou took office, that is, he immediately consulted with Taiwan's "Ministry of the Interior" and "Ministry of National Defense" to reopen the Cihu Mausoleum.
On May 31 of the same year, the Cihu Mausoleum, which had been closed for only half a year, was reopened under the coercive attitude of the Taiwan authorities at that time.
On the same day, 9 Yangming High School students dressed in costumes performed a fancy gun exercise in front of the Cihu Mausoleum to celebrate the opening of the mausoleum.
On the same day, the governor of Taoyuan County personally led the people to visit the mausoleum on the same day, and publicly stated: "The local people of Taiwan should put aside political controversy and make good use of the history and culture of the two Chiang Kai-shek to develop tourism." ”
The mayor of Daxi Town revealed to reporters that in the five months since the closure of the Cihu Mausoleum, daxi tourism revenue has directly lost NT$300 million.
If Taiwan and the mainland open direct cross-strait flights, taoyuan can reach 3 million tourists a year, and the revenue of business opportunities can increase to NT$1.5 billion.
However, their bitter intentions have not been understood by both sides, and the "hatred" of Chiang Kai-shek, the Chiang family, the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party, and the "2.28 Incident" Memorial Foundation has always been like an "absurd drama", lingering over the island of Taiwan for a long time.
Just like the reopened and heavily fortified Cihu Mausoleum, the contradictions between Taiwan's "reunification faction" and the "pro-independence faction" have not been resolved, and they still "hate" each other and continue to stage all kinds of "retaliatory" farces, leaving onlookers speechless.
bibliography:
"Youth of the 'Pro-Independence Faction' Splashed Red Paint on chiang kai-shek Memorial Hall and fined less than 500 yuan"
"On the Anniversary of February 28, 'Taiwan Independence' Throws Paint on Chiang Kai-shek's Coffin"
"Jiang Wan'an: Regrettably Chiang Kai-shek's coffin was painted, and the family of whether the soul was transferred or not could not reach a consensus"