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The Taiwan Shinminpo News Special – Reopening Ceremony of the Taichung Railway Line in 1938
The Taiwan Shinminpo News Special – Reopening Ceremony of the Taichung Railway Line in 1938

Publication date: 1 Dec 2023
Author: Lee Yi-ling, Kawashima Naoko |Staff member of the Archives of Institute of Taiwan History

The Taiwan Shinminpo was the only newspaper published by Taiwanese during the Japanese colonial era, representing the voices of the Taiwanese people in contrast to the official stance of the Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpo. Its reports covered a wide range of topics, making it a rich source for diverse research subjects.

On July 14-15, 1938, Taiwan Shinminpo published a special issue for two consecutive days titled "Celebrating the Restoration of the Taichung Line," totaling four full pages. This commemorated the reopening of the Taichung railway line, which had been severed since the 1935 Hsinchu-Taichung earthquake. This earthquake caused numerous casualties and severed north-south transportation, significantly affecting local society and economy. Through archived newspapers, diaries, photos, old documents, and maps, this article revisits the scene of the 1935 earthquake, reviewing Taiwan's most severe natural disaster in history and the subsequent reconstruction efforts.

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Related Collections and References

I. The Archives of Institute of Taiwan History

  1. Map of Damage from the 1935 Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake, Taiwan Great Earthquake Part 1, Part 3, Photos Related to the Taiwan Earthquake of 1935 Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Commemorative Pictorial of the Taiwan Great Earthquake of 1935, Post-Earthquake Hygiene Guidelines, Yang Zhao-jia Collection (LJK).

  2. 1935 Diary of Huang Wangcheng, Huang Wang-cheng and Huang Ji-tu Papers (T0765).

  3. Historical Photos of June 1935, Collection of documents related to Taiwan by Yuji Mita (T1083).

  4. Clippings from concerts involving Gao Ci-mei, Commemorative Gathering of the Earthquake Charity Concert Tour in Caotun, Program and Admission Tickets for the "Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake Charity Concert, Commemorative Photo Album of the Charity Concert, Gao Ci-mei Papers (3GCM).

  5. Taiwan Transport Route Map, Da'an River, View from the Third Tunnel to the Fourth through Seventh Tunnels, Michael H. Finnegan Collection (T0203).

  6. Taiwan Shinminpo No. 2673 (1938-07-14) and No. 2674 (1938-07-15), Records of The Taiwan Shinminpo (T1119).

  7. Personal and Family Photos, Miyoshi Tokusaburo Papers (T0875).

II. Taiwan Diary Knowledge Bank

  1. Diary of Lin Hsien-tang, 1935.

  2. Diary of Chang Li-jun, 1935.

  3. Memoir of Miyoshi Tokusaburo, 1938.

III. References

  1. Government-General of Taiwan, Taiwan Earthquake Record of 1935, Taipei: Government-General of Taiwan, 1936.

  2. Taichung Earthquake Recovery Office, The Taiwan Railway Earthquake Record of 1935, Taichung: Taichung Earthquake Recovery Office, 1939.

  3. Sen Hsuan-hsiung, Wu Jui-Yun, The Great Taiwan Earthquake - Documentary of the 1935 Central Taiwan Earthquake, Taipei: Yuan-Liou, 1996.

  4. Chen Yi-Hung, Communities on the Earthquake Belt - Taiwan-Japan Earthquakes in History, Tainan: National Museum of Taiwan History, 2017.

  5. Li Yu-lan, “Descriptions of Earthquakes in Diaries - A Case Study of the 1935 Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake”, Feng Chia Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 44 (June 2022): 83-122.

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