Talking Taiwan: Remembering Su Beng Taiwanese Revolutionary with Jiho Chang

November 9th would be Su Beng’s birthday. He passed away on September 20, 2019 and I wanted to remember him on this day.

In this week’s episode of Talking Taiwan (a podcast that I produce and host), I spoke with Jiho Chang one of the co-authors of The Oral History of Su Beng (史明口述史), a three-volume book that he and others collaborated on while attending the National Taiwan University. In addition to talking about Su Beng’s legacy, Jiho shared some personal stories about Su Beng, and talked about Su Beng’s role in the Sunflower Movement.

At the end of the episode, I share some of my fondest memories of Su Beng.

 CLICK on the image below to hear this Talking Taiwan episode.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      The public funeral/memorial that was organized for Su Beng on October

·      Su Beng’s lifelong commitment to the cause of Taiwan’s independence

·      The noodle shop that Su Beng opened in 1950s in Ikebukuro, Japan

·      The underground and afterhours activities that happened at the noodle shop

·      The third and fourth floors of the noodle shop is being converted into a museum

·      How Su Beng’s residence in New Taipei has been converted into a museum

·      Su Beng’s connection to Taiwan’s current president Tsai Ing-wen

·      How Jiho first heard of and met Su Beng

·      The 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis

·      The English language version of Su Beng’s book, Taiwan’s 400 Year History The Chinese language version of Su Beng’s book, 台彎人四百年史(The Taiwanese People’s 400 Years of History)

·      China’s Anti-secession Law

·      Su Beng’s sit-in to protest China’s Anti-secession Law in 2005

·      How Jiho joined Su Beng’s protest of China’s Anti-secession Law and got to know Su Beng

·      The parallels and comparison between Su Beng and Che Guevara

·      How Jiho, Lán Shì-bó / Nâ Sū-phok (藍士博) and others National Taiwan University students started interviewing Su Beng and wrote a three-volume book, The Oral History of Su Beng (史明口述史)

·      Su Beng’s hospitalization for kidney failure in Japan in 2009

·      Su Beng’s life in Japan as a student at Waseda University

·      Su Beng’s family background

·      Su Beng’s Japanese girlfriend/partner who he met while in China

·      Su Beng’s love of Kentucky Fried Chicken

·      Su Beng’s special relationship with his maternal grandmother

·      Su Beng’s role in the 2014 Sunflower Movement

Felicia Lin, Tsai Ing-wen (president of Taiwan) and Su Beng at the Democratic Progressive Party headquarters in Taipei Taiwan (June 2014)

Related Links:

Jiho Chang’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JihoTiun/

Su Beng’s website: https://www.tw400.org.tw/

About Su Beng website: http://aboutsubeng.com/

The Story of Su Beng Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thestoryofsubeng

Su Beng's wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Beng

The 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Taiwan_Strait_Crisis

China’s Anti-secession Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Secession_Law_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China

Su Beng's noodle shop in Ikebukuro, Japan

Learn about Su Beng's noodle shop in this blog post: http://aboutsubeng.com/blog/2010/10/noodle-shop-that-could.html?rq=noodle%20shop%20that%20could

The Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade (獨立台灣會)

Learn more about the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade (獨立台灣會) from this blog post: http://aboutsubeng.com/blog/2007/04/weekend-of-commemoration-april-5-7-2007.html

The Revolutionary in New York event organized for Su Beng on July 22, 2011: http://aboutsubeng.com/blog/2011/07/july-22-su-beng-214-sullivan-st.html

Sunflower Movement: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_Student_Movement

The music video for “Island’s Sunrise” (島嶼天光) in which Su Beng makes a cameo appearance: https://youtu.be/iV8JDbtXZm4

Video of Su Beng arriving at the end of the occupation of the Legislative Yuan on April 10, 2014: https://youtu.be/WasPzayqVPI

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In other news related to Su Beng’s birthday this bakery Papago Food (趴趴走美食工坊) has made these special pastries to commemorate his birthday.

If you’ve ever seen Su Beng’s Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade (獨立台灣會), some of these symbols will be familiar.

The blue flag with the shape of Taiwan on it with the red arrow symbolizes the grassroots nature of his work. He often focused his message on the working class. He was a socialist/Marxist idealist and said that movements must start with the masses, the working class people.

A flag created by Su Beng and used by the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade (獨立台灣會)

The red and white flag with the characters 台灣民族主義 is often seen atop the Taiwan Action Motorcade vehicles and can be translated as Taiwan nationalism.

Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade (獨立台灣會) propaganda truck

Su Beng Museum in New Taipei

On September 20, 2021, the second anniversary of Su Beng’s death, the Su Beng Museum in New Taipei opened up.

His residence in New Taipei was converted in a museum.

President Tsai Ing-wen and Bin Hong (Su Beng’s assistant) at the opening of the Su Beng Museum on September 20, 2021

Photos From the Public Funeral Tribute for Su Beng (October 13, 2019)

The public funeral procession for Su Beng began at Taiwan University and was led by Su Beng’s Taiwan Independence Action motorcade.

The motorcade was followed by several bicyclists.

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

And pedestrians

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Along the way we saw some colorful bystanders.

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

The procession ended at Ketagalan Boulevard, which is the street that connects the Presidential Office Building and the East Gate (東門).

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

President Tsai Ing-wen came to pay her respects to Su Beng.

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Several people spoke about Su Beng and his contributions.

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

Photo courtesy of: Sean Su

People stayed well into the night to pay their respects.

A Farewell To Su Beng

I arrived in Taipei on September 24th and stopped by to pay my respects at the place where a memorial for Su Beng has been set up from September 24-October 12th. Daily visitation hours are from 8:30am-8:00pm. For anyone wishing to pay their respects, see my previous blog post for full details. Before Su Beng was cremated on September 28th, I stopped by there a few more times. There I saw many familiar faces and we traded stories about Su Beng. It’s times like this- at weddings and funerals- that the real stories about our loved ones are shared. Needless to say, the first couple of days back in Taiwan leading up to Su Beng’s cremation have been quite emotional.

I had hoped that Su Beng would make it to his 101st birthday (on November 9, 2019) and had planned to be back in Taipei for that. But my plans changed when I learned how much his health had deteriorated by September. By then, Su Beng was unable to speak or to eat by himself. He was being fed and was eating mostly soft, liquified or pureed foods.

I immediately booked a flight back to Taiwan hoping to see him again. Unfortunately, the day after I booked my flight, I found out from Su Beng’s assistant Bin Hong that the doctors were saying that his state was touch and go. I was beside myself when I realized that I might not make it back in time to see him. But I told her if it’s his time to go, he must go and that I hoped that he wouldn’t have to go through any prolonged pain and suffering. Then I prepared myself for the worst, in case I wouldn’t be able to make it back in time before he passed. Nothing ever fully prepares you for someone’s death, until something really makes you feel the finality of it, or brings certain memories to surface.

Su Beng passed away on September 20th and my flight out to Taipei had been set for September 22nd.

When I saw Bin Hong in Taipei she told me that before Su Beng passed away at the Taipei Medical University Hospital, he was surrounded by twenty-something close friends and associates who wanted to be at his bedside in his hospital room, to be there with him in his last moments to “send him off.” She said that right before he passed, he opened his eyes wide, looked around at everyone in the room, then closed his eyes and left.

At Su Beng’s cremation his two assistants, several old friends and relatives first took turns bowing at an altar with offerings in order pay their respects to Su Beng.

Several close friends and associates eulogized him. They all wore jeans in homage to Su Beng who always wore a denim shirt and jeans- that was his uniform.

Dr. Lai Chi-Wan (Photo courtesy of: 林啟生)

葉治平 Yeh Chin-Ping, former director of NATPA (Photo courtesy of: 林啟生)

藍士博 (Lan Shi-bo, one of the co-authors of The Oral History of Su Beng)

Jiho Chang (one of the co-authors of The Oral History of Su Beng)

敏紅 Bin Hong/Huang Min-hung, director of the Su Beng Education Foundation (Photo courtesy of: 林啟生)

Then all of the guests in attendance were given a chance to walk up to the altar to bow and pay respects to Su Beng. The service concluded with guests being invited to place a flower in Su Beng’s open casket before he was actually cremated. I was told that much of the “ceremony” that happened at Su Beng’s cremation was not traditional, which is not entirely surprising. Su Beng was anything but traditional. He was also an atheist, so one might wonder what he would think of all the “fuss” made over his death at his cremation. Since he had no immediate surviving family, many of the guests, who consisted of close friends, associates and distant relatives were allowed to watch his casket go into the cremator. That’s when I lost it. I suppose seeing his casket being put in to the cremator made everything seem so final.

Su Beng’s casket with a flag he designed for his group, the Taiwan Independence Association (Photo courtesy of Jessie Chen)

(Photo courtesy of: 林啟生)

A-diong and Bin Hong with Su Beng’s ashes (Photo courtesy of: 林啟生)

Next Stop: Su Beng’s Noodle Shop

While in Taiwan, I managed to make a side trip to Japan, and of course the first place I visited was Su Beng’s noodle shop, the New Gourmet (新珍味) in Ikebukuro. Once I stepped out of the Ikebukuro train station, I quickly realized that it would be a bit harder to find the noodle shop than anticipated. The last time I’d been there with Su Beng was in 2005!

I ended up asking a local, an older gentleman if he knew of Su Beng’s noodle shop and if he could show me where it was. Fortunately, he did, but as he led the way, he had to stop into a few local shops along the way to get directions. Thanks to his persistence and kindness, we finally did find it.

After the flight from Taipei, which was followed by a long, train ride out to Ikebukuro from Narita airport, I was hungry and of course I had to have the gyoza.

It was sad and surreal to be there after Su Beng’s death, but the food was delicious and so worth the trip!

I wondered if the patrons knew of Su Beng’s recent passing.

Bringing a bit of Su Beng back to his noodle shop: A canvas bag with a caricature of Su Beng from his 100th birthday celebration placed in front of the New Gourmet (新珍味) noodle shop.

To learn more about Su Beng’s noodle shop, read my previous blog posts here:

THE GENESIS OF SU BENG’S TOKYO NOODLE SHOP- PART I

THE GENESIS OF SU BENG’S TOKYO NOODLE SHOP- PART II

THE GENESIS OF SU BENG’S TOKYO NOODLE SHOP- PART III

Public Funeral Tribute for Su Beng in Taipei, Taiwan (October 13, 2019)

A public funeral tribute is being organized for Su Beng on October 13th in Taipei, Taiwan. A rally and march will begin at Taiwan University and end at Ketagalan Boulevard. Ketagalan Boulevard is the street that connects the Presidential Office Building and the East Gate (東門). This area (Ketagalan Boulevard and the area surrounding the Presidential Office Building and East Gate) has been a popular location for mass political rallies in Taipei. It is immensely significant that this public tribute to Su Beng will be held in this area given the history of protest, struggle and resistance that has happened there. To read up on Ketagalan Boulevard visit its Wikipedia listing.

Full details for October 13th can be found on the Facebook event page by Clicking HERE.

For full details visit the Facebook event page for the October 13th pubic funeral tribute to Su Beng: https://www.facebook.com/events/2597170893658999/

Pay Your Final Respects to Su Beng: September 24-October 12, 2019

Photo Courtesy of Su Beng’s Facebook page

Here are the details (in Chinese from Su Beng’s Facebook page) for anyone in Taipei wishing to pay their last respects to Su Beng. The location is: 10491台北市中山區民權東路二段158號 and visitation hours are from September 24-October 12, 2019, 8:30am to 8:00pm:

史明最後的人生學堂  

金寶軒二樓寶光廳（10491台北市中山區民權東路二段158號）

開課日期：2019.09.24-10.12

課程時間：08:30-20:00 *懇辭花籃，現場備有獻花、名冊提供致意。 *歡迎同志、故友、親朋到場敘舊。 歐吉桑百無禁忌，不管過去認不認識歐吉桑，歡迎大家就來跟他說說話。只是現場沒有燒香，純粹默哀悼念。 現場也有文宣讓大家自由取閱故友、親朋到場敘舊。 歐吉桑百無禁忌，不管過去認不認識歐吉桑，歡迎大家就來跟他說說話。只是現場沒有燒香，純粹默哀悼念。 現場也有文宣讓大家自由取閱

Below are some of the photos I took when I stopped by the funeral home to pay my respects.

guest book and altar offerings

Su Beng: Gone But Not Forgotten

On September 20, 2019 Su Beng passed away at the Taipei Medical University Hospital. He would have been 101 on November 9th. I had planned to be back in Taiwan for Su Beng’s 101st birthday months before learning that his health had declined. As soon I learned about the seriousness of his condition, I booked a flight back to Taiwan in hopes that I’d make it back in time to see him before he passed. Alas it was his time.

Though he is now gone from this earth he will not be forgotten. His legacy and spirit will live on in all those he has touched and inspired.

Su Beng 史明 (November 9, 1918-September 20, 2019)

Coming soon... A REVISED Print Version of Taiwan's 400 Year History

It’s been awhile since I’ve written here, but now I’m back. For the past year I’ve been working on and off on editing the English version of Su Beng’s book, Taiwan’s 400 Year History. The book, which was published in 1986, is now out of print. However, the company that published the Chinese language version of Su Beng’s book 台灣人四百年史 (The Taiwanese People’s 400 Years of History) has agreed to put out a revised English version in print.

Before I started another edit of the main manuscript for the print version, I thought it would be a good idea to update the timeline of events that appears at the end of the book. A lot has happened in the 30 plus years that have passed since 1986- martial law was lifted, Taiwan had its first direct presidential election, there have been numerous social movements and Taiwan transitioned from authoritarianism to democracy.

In editing the timeline I decided two things: 1) Aside from minor copyediting issues, I would not make any major changes to the existing timeline (from 1947 to 1986), 2) The timeline would be extended up to the election of Dr. Tsai Ing-wen in 2016. I kept the starting point of the timeline at February of 1947.

It looks like I grossly underestimated the research and work involved in adding 30 years to the timeline. In fact, the timeline might end up being three times as long as the original one! After all the time and research that I’ve spent on adding 30 years onto the timeline, it’s been hard for me to be objective about what to cut.

It’s my hope is that by updating the timeline, this will make the book more relevant to new readers, thereby introducing them to Su Beng and his work. The timeline will be done by Su Beng’s birthday on November 9.

My greater hope is that one day there will be a more comprehensive translation of the Chinese language version of Su Beng’s book. The current English version of Su Beng’s book is extremely abridged at 150 pages compared to the 2000 pages of the Chinese language version.

The English version of Taiwan's 400 Year History and The Chinese language version of 台灣人四百年史 (The Taiwanese People’s 400 Years of History)

It’s been well over a year since I’ve posted here and I will post some updates soon to fill in the gaps.

My Biggest Challenge

I am finally getting back to going through the hours and hours of audio interviews that I've recorded with Su Beng over the years. This part of the process is undoubtedly the most challenging part of this entire project. It is time consuming, tedious and mundane- and I'll admit it, I am loathe to do it, even though I know that it has to be done. My hugest obstacle has been my own resistance to this. There is no way around it. I know that I need to just get over it, and work through it.

The hardest part is always just getting started or re-started. So I am now committing myself to sitting my a** in a chair (excuse my French) for about two hours at a time, no matter what, several times a week to listen to, translate and transcribe my interviews with Su Beng. In fact, I've already been doing this for the past couple of months. And sitting for about two hours at a time seems to work for me because I don't think I can stay sharply focused beyond two hours. It takes a great deal of focus and attention to do this kind of work, maybe even more so for me because I'm not a trained translator. Even when I've transcribed interviews that were conducted in English, it takes time. I guess I'm just not cut out to be a stenographer. Recently, I timed myself and it took me about two hours to go through 30 minutes of one of my interviews with Su Beng. That seems about right, but sometimes it can take longer. I'm going to have to time myself a couple more times to figure out what on average, I'm able to do in two hours time.  

Even after I've gone through my first listen, I often still need to work with a native Taiwanese speaker to fine tune my translation and to fill in the gaps of what I was unable to translate. It is an arduous process- the transcription and translation, but when I do get into the thick of it, I often find myself unearthing fascinating nuggets of information. That's when I'm reminded of why I'm doing this all. 

Why don't I just hand things over to a translator?

Translation I've learned, is kind of a tricky thing. I've definitely had things that I've written mistranslated, so call me a bit of a control freak on this. Translating my interviews with Su Beng involves much more than simply translating what's been said in the recording. An accurate translation would require an understanding of: 1) the reasoning behind my specific line of questioning, and 2) the context of topics discussed in the interview. The right translator would also need to have a good understanding of Taiwan's situation and history, and be able to decipher the mix of Taiwanese, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and sprinkling of English that Su Beng speaks.

Long ago, I decided that even though it doesn't seem very efficient to do so, I need to personally go though and do the first listen of my interviews with Su Beng. Doing the first transcription and translation of the interviews is a necessary part of my research, in a sense, because it allows me to revisit and deepen my understanding of Su Beng and the times that he's lived through. After all, writers, by the nature of what we do relive, re-learn, re-see, re-experience, and re-tell. 

For now, I need to get over the hurdle of documenting all of my research so that I can move onto the next stage which is what I'm excited about: the piecing together all of the research, and the telling the story of this man's life.

April and May updates about Su Beng

On April 3 Su Beng was on a live video conference with the University of Michigan after a screening of the documentary film, Su Beng, The Revolutionist.

Photo courtesy of: Ah-ping Yap

On April 10th there was a book signing event for Su Beng's autobiography in Changhwa. Here's a flyer promoting it:

Album: 4/10/16 Chunghwa book signing for Su Beng's autobiography

Below is an album of photos from Su Beng's April 10th book signing event in Chunghwa. Click through to flip through the photos:

On April 23 Su Beng spoke in Tainan.

Photo courtesy of Julian Cheng

While in Tainan, Su Beng also got on a video conference with people in Oregon.

On April 24 Su Beng spoke at the Backstage Cafe (後門咖啡) in Taipei.

Su Beng also stopped by the M Gallery where he visited with Nicolas Chiou, the artist who is working on illustrations for Su Beng's Illustrated 400 Years of Taiwan's History. 

On May 1 there was a book signing event for Su Beng's autobiography at the National Museum of Taiwanese History in Tainan. 

Here's a flyer that was created for the May 1 event:

Here are some photos from the May 1st event:

Later, that same day (May 1st) Su Beng also spoke here:

On May 7th Su Beng was in Kaohsiung at the Formosa Boulevard MRT stop for a book signing event for his autobiography.

While Su Beng was in Kaohsiung he was presented with this beautiful one of a kind wooden box made specifically for his autobiography. 

On May 8th Su Beng spoke in Pintung.

On May 14th Su Beng book signing at the 費邊社文創市集 bookstore in Taipei.

On May 20th Su Beng headed over to the inauguration of Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's first female president of Taiwan. What a historic moment! Su Beng was a staunch supporter of Tsai. Doesn't he look very distinguished in these photos?

Photo courtesy of Hsiengo Huang.

On May 28th Su Beng was at Taiwan Tati to attend a ceremony unveiling a commemorative plaque to recognize the contributions of Liao Wen Yi (廖文毅). Liao established the Taiwan Democratic Party for Independence in Japan in 1950, and later set up theRepublic of Taiwan Provisional Government in Japan.

NOTE: May 28 is also a significant day because May 28, 1963 was the day that Chen Chih-hsiung (陳智雄) was executed. Chen was the first Taiwan independence activist to be executed in Taiwan and he had worked closely with Liao. To learn more about Chen Chih-hsiung, read this Taipei Times article.