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Let’s read newspaper－Contents of The Taiwan Shinminpo and Kounan Shinbun
Let’s read newspaper－Contents of The Taiwan Shinminpo and Kounan Shinbun

The Taiwan Minpao, The Taiwan Shinminpo and the subsequent Kounan Shinbun (Kounan News) constituted the newspaper series published between April 1923 and March 1944. However, surviving copies of the daily published since 1932 were few. In view of the importance of this newspaper series, the Institute of Taiwan History began gathering remaining copies both in Taiwan and abroad, and discovered an exclusive collection of The Taiwan Shinminpo (1938-1941). The newspapers carried diverse contents, including political and economic affairs, local news, arts and new knowledge, which are rare and precious historical materials for research on Taiwan history during World War II.

Reviewing the daily newspapers published since April 1932, this article attempts to elucidate the layout format and language use as well as main contents and subject matters covered in the columns. Moreover, it further analyzes the particularity and variations in choice of contents as time evolved and the environment changed. This article provides an in-depth introduction to this newspaper of the Taiwanese, and invites you to read the newspaper and revisit major and minor happenings of Taiwan past.

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Today in History- From Showa to the Republic Era
2012-08-15

The Emperor broadcasted himself at noon on the 15th, claiming that the acceptance of Potsdam Declaration was for the sake of world peace and the future development of the Japanese nation; all the subjects should obey his will. Alas, an empire established by military power over 50 years was also lost because of it.

Diary of Lin Hsien-t'ang, August 15, 1945

On 15 August 1945, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced the unconditional surrender of Japan on radio broadcast. The World War II had ended, and the fate of Taiwan moved toward a different direction. How did the Taiwanese intellectuals perceive such dramatic change? How were Taiwanese people's life affected by it?

The diaries in 1945 and 1946 kept by Lin Hsien-t'ang, the Taiwanese cultural and political leader, provide valuable primary sources on this transition period. 730 entries and more than 1500 annotations are now available on the Taiwan Diary Knowledge Bank. Through these personal records, we can see how the Lin family lived their life suffering from the air raids and material shortages and how their house compound was "borrowed." After Japan's surrender, so many Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese contacted Lin Hsien-t'ang regarding issues such as the future relations between Taiwan and Japan and maintenance of social order.

Social conditions and personal feeling revealed by diaries are often disregarded in the official archives, but they are undoubtedly crucial materials to understand and interpret the past. The Taiwan Diary Knowledge Bank features more diary entries of other Taiwanese during this period. It can be accessed at http://taco.ith.sinica.edu.tw/tdk.


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