First Half of June With Su Beng

June 3rd

On this day I went with Su Beng to meet 蔡英文 (Tsai Ing-wen), the chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party. Su Beng and Tsai Ing-wen have met before, but this was the first time that Su Beng has ever set foot into the Democratic Progressive Party's headquarters. It was truly a historic moment, so much so that a couple of newpapers reported on it. Click here to read a Chinese language article from 自由時報 (Liberty Times) about Su Beng's visit.

Me, Tsai Ing-wen and Su Beng.

Tsai Ing-wen and Su Beng.

June 4th & 5th 

The Taipei National University of the Arts held a two-day lecture and workshop series from June 4th to June 5th callled Su Beng's Revolution Workshop/History and Taiwan Revolution.

Signage for Su Beng's Revolution Workshop/History and Taiwan Revolution at the Taipei National University of the Arts.

JUNE 4: When I arrived at the registration desk, I saw this piece of artwork depicting a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, with a caricature of Su Beng on it instead of Colonel Sanders.

Why this piece of artwork? What's the significance behind it?

During the 23-day occupation of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, which led to the birth of the Sunflower Movement, Su Beng personally delivered boxes of KFC for the students and activists encamped there. KFC also happens to be a favorite food of Su Beng.

There are several phrases written in Chinese characters around the bucket of fried chicken on the mural, which pertain to Su Beng. Below are the phrases with English translation for each offered in parentheses.

At the top, in the center: 

史明    左獨大佬    (Su Beng Taiwan independence forerunner)

On the left from top to bottom:

獨立台灣會    (Taiwan Independence Association)

台灣獨立連合會    (Taiwan Independence Alliance)

台灣人四百年史    (The Taiwanese People's 400 Years of History)

台灣革命武裝部隊    (Taiwan Revolutionary Armed Forces)

刺殺䉃介石    (Attempting to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek)

On the right side from top to bottom:

蒸餃    (Steamed dumplings)

新珍味    (The New Gourmet *NOTE: This is the name of Su Beng's noodle shop in Ikebukuro, Japan, which sells dumplings and fried noodles)

民族主義    (Nationalism)

社會主義    (Socialism)

反帝國主義    (Anti-imperialism)

At the bottom center:

六月四日－六月五日    (June 4- June 5)

More signage for Su Beng's Revolution Workshop/History and Taiwan Revolution at the Taipei National University of the Arts.

JUNE 4: On the first day, Na Su-Phok, one of the authors of 史明口述史 (THE ORAL HISTORY OF SU BENG) spoke about Su Beng.

In late 2009, Su Beng was hospitalized in Japan for kidney failure, after which he was able to return to Taiwan. Initially, Su Beng continued to be hospitalized in Taipei. It was around this time that Su-phok and others began interviewing Su Beng, while he was still in the hospital. At first, they weren't sure about how to go about doing their interviews so, unbeknownst to me, Su Beng's assistant Bin Hong shared some audio recordings of my interviews with Su Beng, with them. I had started interviewing Su Beng in 2004 and by 2009 I'd already returned to New York.  I only learned of all this when I met Su-phok in March.

After Su-phok's talk there was a break for lunch and in the afternoon Su Beng arrived to give the first of his three-part talk. Professor Kai-Huang Chen, who had invited Su Beng to speak at this two-day workshop series made some introductory comments.

Su Beng's assistant Bin Hong also made some opening remarks. 

As Su Beng spoke, supertitles  (in Chinese characters and sometimes English) were simultaneously typed and projected on the screen behind him. Su Beng speaks Taiwanese during his talks, but sometimes he'll sprinkle in English, Mandarin Chinese or Japanese terms. The team of students who provided the translation did an excellent job of keeping up with Su Beng!

I have heard Su Beng speak several times these past couple of months and I have to say that this particular talk was definitely one of the best to date because he spoke more about his personal experiences, more than he usually does. He talked about growing up in Taiwan during the Japanese era, attending Waseda University in Japan, his time in China, returning to Taiwan (after the 228 massacre and arrival of the KMT), his escape to Japan (after his plot to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek was discovered) and his return to Taiwan in 1993. I think that some of what he said- especially about what Taiwan was like after 228 and the arrival of the KMT- really hit home for a lot of the students in the audience. I could see it in their faces. Many were moved as they listened to what Su Beng had to say that day.

A photo of Su Beng resting during the break.

One of the cameramen from a crew that is working on a documentary film about Su Beng was on site and shooting as well.

JUNE 5: Su Beng gave part II and part III of his talks.  In the photo below, if you look to Su Beng's right, you'll see a team of three students standing by the podium; this team of three students provided the simultaneous translation during Su Beng's talks.

Here's a photo that I snapped during the break of Su Beng and his book, THE TAIWANESE PEOPLE'S 400 YEARS OF HISTORY.

A team of three students stands behind the podum, ready to provide simultaneous translation of what Su Beng is saying.

A group shot taken on June 5th, the last day of the two-day workshop series.

After all of the goodbyes, and photos Su Beng wanted to take me to Ji San Giam, which is in the Shilin district of Taipei. Ji San Giam is my approximation of how you pronounce 芝山巖 in Taiwanese. It is the place of my ancestral home in Shilin.

Su Beng is also from Shilin and in fact, one of my granduncles was his classmate and good friend. I didn't know about these connections when I first heard about Su Beng and reached out to him.

We went to see the rock on the side of the hill on which the words of my great, great granduncle (潘永清): "洞天福地" were carved. Loosely translated "洞天福地" means "This place is paradise."

It was a long walk up, and not only that, it was also raining that day! But Su Beng insisted on walking up all the stairs to see the rock.

Photo courtesy of: Bin Hong

For me, this place does have a deeply personal meaning. It really is an extraordinary piece of family history. I've heard stories about my great, great, granduncle, who apparently was a man of substance and influence in the community. And I'm so appreciative that Su Beng brought me back there.

Read right to left: 洞天福地 translates as: This place is paradise

Photo courtesy of: Bin Hong

June 7th  & 8th

On Saturday, June 7th Su Beng spoke at National Chung Hsing University (中興大學), located in Taichung. His assistant Bin Hong was invited to make some opening remarks. I was also asked to say a few words, which was a complete surprise to me and a bit of a challlenge since I had to speak publicly in Taiwanese. Speaking publicly in English is already hard enough, never mind having to do it in another language! 

Su Beng took to the stage, again with simultaneous supertitles appearing behind him. This time the translation was provided by his assistant Bin Hong.

Su Beng's talk that day was recorded and uploaded in two parts by 曾大地 on YouTube. Here's part I of Su Beng's talk (in Taiwanese): 

Here's part II of Su Beng's talk (in Taiwanese): 

On the following day, JUNE 8th, we visited Mr. Yang's woodcarving shop in Sanyi.

Mr. Yang has been working on carving this wood plaque- based on the photograph of Su Beng and others behind it.

Afterward, we went to Miaoli and visited 龍騰斷橋, which is an elevated train track that collapsed due to an earthquake during the Japanese era of Taiwan.

And then we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we were back at the high speed rail station to head down to Tainan for Su Beng's next speaking engagement that evening.

That evening (June 8th) Su Beng was to speak at the Masa Loft in Tainan.

Su Beng's preparatory notes.

It was a packed house with standing room only left.

Here's a group shot taken (June 8th) at the end of the evening before Su Beng headed back to the high speed rail station and back up to Taipei that night.

June 10th

I noticed that there were 994 likes on The Story of Su Beng Facebook page that I created- to share news about Su Beng and anything related to my project to document his life. So I "asked" people on Facebook to like it and Su Beng did too. 

I never would have expected what was about to happen next!

Ultimately, The Story of Su Beng Facebook page got over 500 new LIKES in less than 24 hours which is over half of the 994 LIKES it had when I first "asked" for help to get to 1000 LIKES. It seems that Su Beng has quite a powerful network of supporters on Facebook. I've noticed that on average his posts and photos get hundreds of LIKES at a time. 

I will definitely be maintaining The Story of Su Beng Facebook page once I return to New York, so that's another place where you can go to get more timely information and updates about Su Beng. Click here to view The Story of Su Beng Facebook page. As I wrote on The Story of Su Beng Facebook page, your support is important because that page and this website www.aboutsubeng.com are the main two English language sources of news, events and translations of information related to Su Beng. 

June 12th

During my time in Taiwan, I've met with Su Beng on a weekly basis, to continue interviewing him for the biography. On this particular day, I had compiled a whole list of questions for him, but when I arrived at this residence at Shin Juang, he had something else in mind and he ended up taking me out for dinner because my date of departure from Taiwan was fast approaching!

At the dinner Su Beng told the other guests that, "Miss Lin will be leaving Taiwan soon," and toasted me. I was really touched.

After dinner we paid a visit to the Taipei City Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Foundation. And what a lovely night it was!

Photo courtesy of: Bin Hong

Photo courtesy of : Bin Hong

Photo courtesy of : Syyi Lin

JUNE 14TH & 15TH

On June 14th I was back at the Taipei train station with Su Beng to head down to Taichung and Changhua for "Our Country, Our Dream."

This would be my last trip with Su Beng before leaving Taiwan on June 18th and returning to New York. I had been feeling a bit anxious since I didn't get a chance to really interview Su Beng  on the 12th. My time was coming to a close I wasn't sure how I'd find the time to ask him all of the things I'd planned to ask him on the 12th. 

Traveling around with him these past few months has been a priceless experience and I am certain that Su Beng is not going to be slowing down anytime soon!

Bin Hong going through Facebook updates with Su Beng.

JUNE 14: Su Beng at the Mazu Hall in Changhua for "Our Country, Our Dream."

Su Beng signing his name upon arrival at the Mazu Hall in Changhua. Photo courtesy of : Bin Hong.

A photo of an artist's portrait of Su Beng.

Mazu, goddess of the sea standing in the far corner of the room.

Su Beng's assistant, Bing Hong made some opening remarks.

And then Su Beng had a few words for the audience. 

Mazu, goddess of the sea.

Since I hadn't been able to ask Su Beng the questions I'd planned for our June 12th meeting, I had a late night interview session with him that night. It was the end of the night after we had had dinner and visited the home of a friend! It's a good thing that Su Beng and I are both night owls. There will probably be some more follow up Skype calls between Su Beng and I, after I've returned to New York.

Photo courtesy of : Bin Hong

JUNE 15: The following day, Su Beng was invited to make some remarks at the Changhua International Exchange Exhibition.

Ramon Santacana (one of the exhibiting artists), Su Beng and myself.

As I walked out of the exhibit hall I immediately recognized the distinctive style of my friend and artist Leigh Wen. So of course I had to take a picture with her gorgeous paintings.

Photo courtesy of: 徐德章

After Su Beng and several others had spoken, there was a luncheon. There I met a few of the artists whose work was being displayed at the Changhua International Exchange Exhibition. 

In the afternoon we had some free time so I was able to walk around the exhibition hall with Su Beng and to take a look at some of the artwork that was on display. When I asked Su Beng what kind of art he liked, he said abstract art, and then he said that one of his favorite painters is Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

With so many artists around, someone suggested that this would be a great opportunity to draw Su Beng's portrait. So two artists sat down impromptu and started sketching Su Beng.

And then two became three...

Here's the first completed sketch of Su Beng. The hardest part about doing this for the artists was probably the fact that Su Beng kept nodding off. During the sketching, the artists would periodically ask Su Beng to look up and to raise his head slightly, so that they could see his face better.

The two sketches below are by the same artist.

In the weeks before I was to leave Taiwan, I had several moments of witsfulness. It was hard to believe that my trip was coming to an end, but I was ready. I had had the chance to meet with people, and to gather some much needed background research. While staying at Su Beng's residence and traveling around the island with him these past couple of months, I have gotten some incredible insights from him. On top of all that, I've witnessed so many historic moments with the occupation of the Legislative Yuan and birth of the Sunflower Movement. What timing! It has been a packed and intensely meaningful trip.

I am so grateful to the very many people who have supported my project to document the life of Su Beng. I feel privileged to be able to write this man's biography. I am continually amazed by Su Beng- his energy, drive, sharpness of mind, generosity and intuition.

Thank you to those who I've met with and interviewed, those who have provided me with resources related to my background research, those who have and still are helping me along the way, those who have given me support- morally and yes financially- you made this trip possible for me! The list is endless. One thing is for sure, I know that I will feel as though I am missing out on things in Taiwan when I return to New York.

Days of May with Su Beng- Part II

May 23- May 24

During my time here in Taiwan I've been accompanying Su Beng to most of his speaking engagements around the island. On the evening of Friday, May 23rd, Su Beng spoke at the National Taiwan University, Convention Center in Taipei.

Photo courtesy of: 林幸蓉

Immediately afterward we left for the Taipei train station to catch a late night train to Hualien. It was a three hour or so train ride. Su Beng had been invited to teach a one-day class (from 9am-5pm) at the National Dong Hwa University on Saturday.

By the time we arrrived in Hualien it was past 11pm. So we went straight to the hotel for the night.

On Saturday morning, we woke up to Hualien's fresh air, and sunny, clear skies. What a lovely change of scenery with mountains in clear view all around us.

Good morning Hualien! But first things first... time for breakfast with Su Beng.

The natural beauty of Hualien can be seen in the distance as Su Beng heads over to start his class.

Su Beng waiting for his class at the National Dong Hwa University to start.

Professor Chen (陳進金), a professor of Taiwan history at the National Dong Hwa University began by introducing Su Beng, and telling the class that ninety-seven-year-old Su Beng had arrived straight from Taipei late last night, around 11pm.

NOTE: Su Beng is considered to be ninety-seven in Taiwan but is ninety-five according to the Gregorian calendar. Read this prior post for an explanation of how someone's age is counted in Taiwan. 

Professor Chen was the facilitator for Su Beng's class that day and Su Beng's most attentive student! I watched Professor Chen as he sat front row and center, dilligently taking taking notes and listening intently to Su Beng.  

On the screen behind Su Beng, simultaneous translation in written Chinese characters was being provided. As Su Beng spoke, Bin Hong (one of Su Beng's assistants) typed what he was saying in Chinese characters. Yes, that's right, she was typing a Chinese translation of what Su Beng was saying in Taiwanese. You may be wondering why the students needed translation.

When Su Beng speaks publicly, he prefers to speak in Taiwanese. That's what he's most comfortable speaking in. Actually, since Su Beng was born during the Japanese era of Taiwan, his "first" language is a toss up between Japanese and Taiwanese.

But why don't a lot of students or young folks understand Taiwanese? Because they've been educated in Mandarin Chinese. When the Nationalist Chinese party (Kuomintang) fled from China to Taiwan, they declared that Mandarin Chinese would be the official language going forward and also banned the usage of other languages like Taiwanese, Hakka or Aborgine. They exercised this policy vigilently and students were punished for speaking languages other than Mandarin Chinese in school. Over several generations, without formal language classes in Taiwanese, Hakka or Aborgine, people's language proficiency has consequently eroded.

During the break many students who had brought their own copies of Su Beng's book TAIWAN'S 400 YEAR HISTORY lined up to have him autograph their books.

When Su Beng's book was initially printed and published, it was immediately banned by the Chinese Nationalist authorities in Taiwan. But people found a way to get a hold of it. Copies circulated underground and people copied and reprinted it- with Su Beng's permission. Afterall, Su Beng was motivated to write this book because he thought that the people of Taiwan needed to know and understand their history in order to know who why are, where they had come from and what they'd want for their nation going forward.

Technically the title of the Chinese language version should be translated as THE TAIWANESE PEOPLE'S 400 YEARS OF HISTORY (台彎人四百年史). 

Below is a photo of a rarely seen copy of Su Beng's book, 台彎人四百年史 with an orange/yellow cover. 

Wherever we go with Su Beng, people often stop him for a photograph or autograph. I have seen many different versions of THE TAIWANESE PEOPLE'S 400 YEARS OF HISTORY floating around. Probably the earliest version was the one with a green hardcover, I've also seen a red soft cover version, a navy blue hardcover version, a coffee colored cover and a three volume set consisting of two black and one white hardcover. One could probably guess the origin of the book by looking at its cover. In other words, by looking at the cover you could probably guess from whom or where the book came from. So I guess you really could "judge a book by its cover" in this case. 

During a few of the breaks Bin Hong and I took the opportunity to take some photos outside of the university's campus and surroundings.

The deck right outside of the classroom. Photo courtesy of : Bin Hong

Conversing with Su Beng during lunchtime.

Photo courtesy of Bin Hong.

I've been to several of Su Beng's classes and talks at this point and I have to say that Professor Chen did an excellent job of setting the pace for the class. He made sure that there were breaks throughout the day and before each break he'd summarize and highlight the most important points of what Su Beng had said.

At the end of the class, people of course lined up asking Su Beng to autograph things- like this flag that Su Beng gave out. The Chinese characters on the flag: 台彎民族主義, translate as "Taiwan Nationalism."

Below is a photo taken at dinner at the end of the day before we headed back to the train station to catch a train back to Taipei. 

When we arrived back in Taipei it was nearly midnight!

Photo courtesy of: Jolan Hsieh

May 31- June 1

The following weekend (May 31-June 1) Su Beng was back at the Taipei train station and on the way to Taichung.

He had been invited to a ceremony for the unveiling of a monument commemorating the Taiyuan incident at the Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation. In brief, the Taiyuan incident involved group of politicial prisoners at the Taiyuan prison who planned to takeover the prison and began a guerilla campaign aimed at realizing independence for Taiwan. 

Afterward Su Beng was going to give a one and a half day class also at at the Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation. 

A rare photo of me with Su Beng at the Taipei train station, taken by his assistant Bin Hong. I was posting photos that I'd just taken of Su Beng to Facebook. 

Photo courtesy of Bin Hong.

Su Beng on board Taiwan High Speed Rail with his live-in assistant Mr. Lee.

At the Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation. 

The bread that Su Beng was eating in the photo above, and shown in the photo below is called “kiam gong bian” (in Taiwanese). When Su Beng was in Maryland in 2011, I paid him a visit and brought him some New York bagels. At the time he had said that they reminded him of something called “kiam gong bian.” So I had a chance to try "kiam gong bian." They were homemade and so delicious! The texture is definitely similar to a bagel, but I found it much softer and less dense than a bagel.  

We had to walk up a hill to get to the site where the monument was. Meanwhile Su Beng was pushed up the hill slowly in his wheelchair. When we were two-thirds of the way there, Su Beng insisted on walking. Su Beng is not that ambulatory these days and now walks hunched over with a stoop. So it is really quite an effort for him to walk in general, nevermind walking up a steep hill!

I didn't take any photos of this since I was busy capturing this on video. I often find myself torn between shooting video or taking photos of Su Beng. in most cases I choose to shoot video because I reason that if I need a photo, I could always just get a frame from the video footage after the fact.

Here's a photo of Su Beng at the top of the hill waiting for the ceremony to begin. There were many former political prisoners, relatives of political prisoners, and Taiwan history experts at the event.

Su Beng speaking at the event.

Some would say that the Jingmei Military Detention Centre (景美軍事看守所), now a Taiwan Human Rights Memorial and museum in Taipei, would have been an ideal spot for a monument commemorating the Taiyuan incident  but I won't get into why the monument isn't there. Earlier that week I had happened to stop by Jingmei. It had been on my list of places to visit in Taipei.

Here are some photos from my visit: 

This what the courtroom for the Formosa Incident (aka Kaohsiung Incident) looked like.

This is a photo of the visiting area, where people could visit with and speak to the political prisoners being held there. Prisoners and their guests were not allowed to speak in any languages other Mandarin Chinese.

See the slots at the bottom of the floor outside of the doors? Meals were passed through these slots into the cells for prisoners.

White liles were placed by the monument commemorating the Taiyuan incident at the Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation. 

Later that Saturday evening, Su Beng gave part I of class at the Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation. Part II was on Sunday. 

Our Country, Our Dream (June 14, 2014)

Su Beng's next speaking engagement will be on Saturday, June 14, 2014, 3:00-5:00 pm in Changhua.

Here's the English translation of the event, followed by the original description in Chinese (The event will be held in Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese):

EVENT THEME: “Our Country, Our Dream”

LOCATION: Mazu Hall, Third floor (Address: No. 31, Minzu 1st Street, Changhua City) 

TIME: Saturday, June 14, 2014, 3:00-5:00 pm

ORGANIZER: Medical Professionals Alliance of Changhua County, The Awakening of Changhua Youth Alliance
=============================

SCHEDULE:

3:00 - 3:10 pm 
Opening remarks: Chiu Chian-fu, Changhua City Mayor 
Moderators: Yang Zhu-jin, Yang Zi-shian: The Awakening of Changhua Youth Alliance

3:10 - 3:50 pm
Topic: "An International Law Perspective on Taiwan's sovereignty." 
Panelists: Cheng Zhong-mo, former Justice Dean, the former Chief of Justice 

3:50 - 4:40 pm 
Theme: “The Steps to Build a New Taiwan Nation—The challenge and breakthrough in self-determination for Taiwan”

Introduction: “My Perspectives of O-ji-san,” presented by Huang Bin Hong, Li Zheng-zhong 
Speaker: Su Beng 

4:40 - 5:10 pm
General Discussion Q & A 
Moderators: Yang Zhu-jin, Yang Zi-shian
Panelists: Cheng Zhong-mo, Su Beng, Huang Bin Hong, Li Zheng-zhong

【演講訊息：咱的國家咱ㄟ夢】

時 間：2014/6/14(六) 15:00~17:00
地 點：媽祖會館三樓（彰化市民族一街31號）
主辦單位：彰化縣醫療界聯盟、喚醒彰化青年聯盟

15：00~15：10 
致詞：邱建富市長 
主持：楊筑鈞、楊子賢｜喚醒彰化青年聯盟

15：10~15：50 
主題：「從國際法看台灣的主權定位」
與談人：城仲模｜前司法院副院長、前大法官

15：50~16：40 
主題：「台灣建國ㄟ腳步–民族自決之困境與突破」
引言：「我眼中的歐吉桑」｜黃敏紅、李政忠
與談：史明

16：40~17：10 綜合討論Q&A
主持：楊筑鈞、楊子賢
與談：城仲模、史明、黃敏紅、李政忠

Su Beng's upcoming lectures in June

For the first half of June Su Beng has a number of lectures and workshops scheduled.

June 4th and 5th (Taipei)

This week on June 4th and 5th, there will be two days of lectures and workshops at the School of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts.

*PLEASE NOTE, LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS PERTAINING TO SU BENG INCLUDE:

1) A talk given by Na Su-phok, one of the authors of 史明口述史 (THE ORAL HISTORY OF SU BENG).

6/4/14@ 10:10am-12:10pm 

2) Three part talk given by Su Beng

6/4/14@ 3:10pm-6:00pm

6/5/14@ 9:30am-12:00pm and @ 1:00pm-3:30pm 

HERE'S A COMPLETE CHINESE LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION OF THE TWO DAY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (WHICH WILL BE HELD IN MOSTLY IN MANDARIN CHINESE, AND TAIWANESE):

[2014干擾學院] 史明革命工作坊，你妳你妳你怎麼可以不參加！

●工作坊時間：2014/6/4（Wed）、6/5 (Thur）
●工作坊地點：國立臺北藝術大學 美術學院

Venue: School of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA)
●參加對象：不限，共50名 (開放給校外同學一起參與)
●活動流程：（虛線以下活動為自由參加）

Schedule for two-day workshop 

【第一天103/6/4（三）】

08：30－09：00　報到（美術系館前）
09：00－09：30　活動說明（studio F309）
09：30－10：00　短片（F309）
10：10－12：10　那人，以及他的世界──史明與近百年來的台灣社會／藍士博（F309）
13：00－15：00　電影放映：〈五月風暴〉（Après Mai）（F309）
15：10－18：00 「歷史與台灣革命」（一）／史明（F215）
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
18：00－23：00　電影放映：〈Che〉上、下（F309）

【第二天103/6/5（四）】
09：00－09：30　導讀及討論（F215）
09：30－12：00 「歷史與台灣革命」（二）（F215）
13：00－15：30 「歷史與台灣革命」（三）（F215）
15：30－16：00　茶敘（F215前）
16：00－18：00　關於全民參選的那些事／何燕堂（F215）
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
18：00－19：30　電影放映：〈廣場〉（The Square of TNUA）（F309）

*HERE'S A LOOSE TRANSLATION OF THE EVENTS IN ENGLISH (WHICH WILL BE HELD IN MOSTLY IN MANDARIN CHINESE, AND TAIWANESE):

Venue: School of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA)

No. 1, Xueyuan Rd, Beitou District, Taipei City, Taiwan 112

Tel: (02) 2893-8250 

Website: finearts.tnua.edu.tw

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

08:30-09:00 Registration (former Department of Fine Arts Museum) 

09:00-09:30 Opening description of events (studio F309) 

09:30-10:00 Movie (F309) 

10:10-12:10 "The man and his world over the past century ─  Su Beng (aka Shi Ming, 史明) and Taiwanese society" / Speaker: Na Su-Phok, one of the authors of 史明口述史 (THE ORAL HISTORY OF SU BENG) (F309) 

13:00-15:00 Film Screening: Après Mai (aka Something in the Air)  (F309) 

15:10-18:00 "History and Taiwan revolution" (a)/ Speaker: Su Beng (aka Shi Ming, 史明) (F215)

18:00-23:00 Film Screening: Che, Part 1 and Part 2 (F309) 

Thursday, June 5, 2014

09:00-09:30 Introduction and discussion (F215) 

09:30-12:00 "History and Taiwan revolution" (b)/ Speaker: Su Beng (aka Shi Ming, 史明)  (F215) 

13:00-15:30 "History and Taiwan revolution" (c)/ Speaker: Su Beng (aka Shi Ming, 史明)  (F215) 

15:30-16:00 Coffee Break (in front of F215) 

16:00-18:00 "Regarding referendum and election"/ Speaker: Heyan Tang (F215) 

------------------------ 

18:00-19:30 Film Screening: <Square> (The Square of TNUA) (F309)

June 7th and 8th (Taichung & Tainan)

This weekend Su Beng will be speaking in Taichung on Saturday, June 7th and Tainan on Sunday, June 8th.

Saturday, June 7, 2014, 1:00pm-5:00pm (Taichung)

Su Beng will be speaking at 中興大學 (National Chung Hsing University, located in Taichung at: No. 250, Guoguang Rd, 402). See below for a complete description in Chinese.

Sunday June 8, 2014, from 6:00pm-9:00pm (Tainan)

Su Beng will be speaking at Masa Loft in Tainan, which is located at 台南市大學路西段53號 (No. 53 University Road, Section 4, Tainan City). See details below. (in Chinese).

Days of May with Su Beng- Part I

On May 1st Su Beng was invited to speak at the Chung Shan Medical University located in Taichung. 

Su Beng waiting at the Taipei main train station for the high speed rail to Taichung.

While waiting for the high speed rail, Su Beng's assistant Bin Hong gave him the daily Facebook status update.

A poster for Su Beng's class at Chung San Medical University on May 1st. 

Class is now in session with Su Beng.

The pamphlet on the desk was written by Su Beng and is about Taiwanese nationalism. It was handed out to students that day.

Here's my now familiar handy HD digital video camera (courtesy of my MAKING HISTORY contributors), which has appeared in several of my photos. It accompanies me everywhere I go with Su Beng. It's captured several historic moments during the occupation of the Legislative Yuan, recorded my interviews with Su Beng and documented my time here with Su Beng.

I am so glad that I've upgraded from recording on miniDV tapes! I'm reminded of the generosity and support of contributors to the MAKING HISTORY campaign each time I use it.

Afterward Su Beng stopped by Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation for afternoon tea and some lively discussion.

Since I arrived in February, I've been meeting with Su Beng weekly regarding the biography. I've also been able to do quite a bit of background research on topics related to Su Beng's biography. Besides meeting with several Taiwan history professors, I've met with people to discuss topics such as: the White Terror Era in Taiwan, Kuomintang in China (during the 1940s), the Chinese Communists in the 1940s, underground radio in Taiwan (Su Beng had an underground radio show in the 90s), and the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan.

After one of my weekly interviews with Su Beng, I was invited to join him for dinner with his friends in an old neighborhood of Taipei called "Banga" (in Taiwanese).

Of course someone brought along a copy of Su Beng's TAIWAN'S 400 YEARS OF HISTORY and asked Su Beng to sign it.

There was lots of sake. Yes that's a container of sake in the photo below! Look closely at the center of the photo and you'll also see Su Beng's signature (史明). The restaurant's owner asked Su Beng to sign the wall behind him!

It was a fun night with lots of merriment and traditional Taiwanese food with a twist like this oyster omelet sandwich.

Like I've said before, Su Beng maintains a very busy schedule. On the weekends he often opens his home to groups of "young" people wish to visit with him. By "young" I mean twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings (i.e. those under the age of forty).

So it wasn't anything out of the ordinary when Tony Chang of 台獨流行ing invited a group of young people over to Su Beng's on May 10th. The group plans to meet with Su Beng weekly!

Su Beng had a captive audience that night.

Here's a group photo taken at the end of the night.

On May 14th Su Beng was invited by students of Fu Jen Catholic University to speak there.

Afterward there was an impromptu dinner with Su Beng. Some of the students wanted to hear more from Su Beng, since he had been allotted a little less than an hour to speak. Su Beng generously invited the students to eat with him, as I've seen him do several times before. I've heard that when he was living in Japan and running his noodle shop there, he'd often invite overseas Taiwanese students over for a bite to eat- on him.

When this passerby (who happened to live in the neighborhood) saw Su Beng, he went home to get his copy of TAIWAN'S 400 YEARS OF HISTORY. 

Then he came back with it to ask Su Beng to sign it.

To be continued... my next post will be about the last half of May.

Crowdfunding-campaign-related news

This weekend the "T-shirts of Courage" arrived! So I'll be ready to deliver them to contributors of my MAKING HISTORY crowdfunding campaign come July. It's also a sign that my time here is coming to an end. 

I've been wanting to post about this sooner, but I got caught up with some things that I had to take care of this weekend and on Monday I headed to Chiayi with Su Beng for a memorial service for Chan I-Hua (詹益樺).

Last week Su Beng signed copies of the TAIWAN'S 400 YEAR HISTORY book cover poster, another one of the incentives of my MAKING HISTORY crowdfunding campaign.

I'm feeling rather behind on updating this blog and I will try to get to that next week since I will be heading to Hualien with Su Beng this weekend.

But first, here are some photos from our trip to Chayi to attend Chan I-Hua's memorial- a trip that Su Beng makes annually.

As we waited at the train station in Taipei to take the high speed rail to Taichung on Monday, May 19th, Bin Hong, Su Beng's assistant went over some updates on Facebook with him.

It had been raining in Taipei that day and Bin Hong remarked that every year on this particular day (May 19th), somehow, it would always rain. 

During the drive from Taichung to Chiayi there were flashes of rain so heavy that there was little to no visibility on the road and at times it seemed worse than driving in a fog. As the rain swelled, the view from the windshield blurred. And the car's windshield wipers seemed like they were unable to keep up with the pounding, torrential rain, and motorists drove with their hazard lights on. Then, just as soon as the downpour had struck, it would abate. But that was not the end of it. For the downpours stuck again a several times throughout the drive.

The intermitent rain continued throughout the memorial service for Chan I-Hua in Chiayi. I had to run for cover a few times. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come because today was the third straight day of heavy rains here in Taiwan. 

Here are some photos from the memorial service:

Su Beng at the memorial service for Chan I-Hua in Chiayi.

Flowers for Chan I-Hua.

Su Beng was stopped for photographs and autographs while he was there.

Photo courtesy of : 敏紅

We drove back towards Taichung in the rain, and stopped for dinner before heading to the high speed rail station. 

Su Beng waiting to head home on the platform of the high speed rail in Taichung later that day.

As you can see, as I've accompanied Su Beng to his events and on his travels around Taiwan, it's not at all unusual to have someone stop and ask Su Beng to take a photograph with them, or for Su Beng to be asked to sign something.  However, this time on the high speed rail ride back to Taipei, he got a really unique request. Su Beng was asked to sign a plate! 

The plate was specially designed with a groove in it so that you can more easily scoop those pesky last kernels of rice that are always so hard to get off of a plate. If you look closely at the photo above you'll see that there is a groove at the bottom of the plate.

Su Beng wrote on the plate: 青年有志, which can be translated as: Youth with righteous aspirations. 

Photo courtesy of : 敏紅

I'll try to post more about what went on earlier this month, but I'm headed to Hualien for the weekend with Su Beng. 

Also, Su Beng will be speaking this Friday, May 23rd from 7-10pm at the National Taiwan University, Convention Center.

For those interested in attending here's the address of the location where he'll be speaking:

集思台大會議中心
台北市大安區羅斯福路四段85號B1

National Taiwan University, Convention Center: No. 85 Roosevelt Road, Section 4, B1

The event is also listed (in Chinese) here on Facebook.

Witnessing History In The Making

A month ago today, on March 27th, the Legislative Yuan was still being occupied by protesters of the cross strait services agreement and on that day I had the opportunity to enter the chambers with Su Beng.

Then on April 7th the Sunflower Movement activists who were occupying the Legislative Yuan held a press conference and issued a press release which stated: [...] we've decided that the time has come to convert the energy gathered by a students' movement into a citizen's movement.  

On April 10th at 6pm the Sunflower Movement activists vacated the Legislative Yuan. I was there outside of the building on Jinnan Road with Su Beng. It was touching to see the recognition and applause he received from the crowds gathered there when he arrived. I captured it on video that day and made a short clip of it. *On April 28th I added the video clip to this blog post and you can watch here:

Su Beng sat alongside tens of thousands of supporters of the Sunflower Movement to witness the end of the occupation. 

Su Beng and his assistant Bin Hong 

Just as I had witnessed the beginning of the occupation, I was there at the end. 

At the end of the night, the song "Island's Sunrise"〈島嶼天光〉, which has become the anthem of the Sunflower Movement played over loud speakers as the crowd enthusiastically sang along and screamed for an encore when the song ended. 

My time here in Taiwan has been loaded with historic moments like this: the first ever occupation of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, the birth of the Sunflower Movement (which to date is the largest student-led protest not only in Taiwan but in all of Asia), the thousands of people gathered outside of the Legislative Yuan daily throughout the 24-day-long occupation, the hundreds of thousands of people (possibly up to 500,000) who participated in the March 30th Protect our Democracy Rally in Taipei and thousands more who stepped out in cities around the world- also on March 30th in support of the Sunflower Movement.

The day after the end of the occupation of the Legislative Yuan (April 11th) Su Beng went to Changhua. There he led a procession affirming that the Sunflower Movement was not over, it had just begun; the people of Taiwan would not blindly accept a trade pact with China; the Taiwanese are not Chinese and Taiwan should be independent.

Afterward, he delivered a speech to a crowd in front of the Changhua train station. In his speech he offered strong words of encouragement urging people to be courageous, to stand up for Taiwan's future, and to take back the power to rule Taiwan for themselves.

I was in Changhua with Su Beng and for me it was a nonstop weekend!

The following day while Su Beng stayed in Taichung, I went from Changhua to Tainan to meet with Reverend Kao Chunming (高俊明) to talk to him about the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. From Tainan I went to Kaohsiung that evening. There I met up with a few friends for dinner and spent the night.

On Sunday, I promptly went back up to Taipei so that I could be there in time for an afternoon meeting that had been arranged between Su Beng and the Honorable David Kilgour. Mr Kilgour is a former Canadian Member of Parliament and Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific, 2002-2003) and we actually met several years ago, through my parents in Ottawa, where I grew up. Before we'd met for the first time, I'd been told that Mr. Kilgour has been a good friend to Taiwan and a very outspoken critic of the Chinese Communists Party's human rights abuses. When we had met all those years ago, I had told Mr. Kilgour about my project to document the life of Su Beng.

With David in Taipei, I was very excited he and Su Beng were going to meet. And I was glad that I'd be able to help Su Beng to communicate with David. Being with Su Beng and Mr. Kilgour in Taipei at the Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Foundation that day, it was as if certain things in my life had come full circle. 

Photo courtesy of Bin Hong

David was curious to know about Su Beng and his thoughts on Taiwan's independence, and the Sunflower Movement. As David asked about Su Beng's life, Su Beng talked about his time in China, his thoughts on Deng Xiao Peng, his plot to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek, how his Tokyo noodle shop funded the activities of his underground network, and more. Upon hearing all this David said, "You haven't had a dull moment!" 

After the meeting with David, Su Beng went to the Legislative Yuan and spoke to the people who had gathered in front of the building.

I never would've thought that such monumentally historic events would have unfolded right before my eyes during my time here in Taiwan. What serendipity! But it's all relevant to the story of Su Beng. This latest chapter in Taiwan's history speaks volumes about the impact that Su Beng has had on the hearts and minds of young people in Taiwan. It also can't hurt that I've captured some really amazing video footage as a result. 

A Vigil For Taiwan's Democracy

Around 7:30pm this Friday night (April 11th)  Su Beng will be speaking at the Changhua train station, where there will also be a memorial for 25th anniversary of the death of Cheng Nan-Jung (Nylon) followed by a vigil for the democracy of Taiwan. Chen Nan-Jung (Nylon) was the founder of the Freedom Era Magazine. He was charged with sedition for publishing a proposal for a constitution for the Republic of Taiwan.  When the police tried to break into his office on April 7, 1989 to arrest him, he committed suicide by setting himself on fire. 

Complete details for the event can be found of the Facebook event page by clicking HERE.

Almost Two Months

Almost two months have passed since I first arrived in Taiwan!

The two weeks that I stayed with Su Beng in March were extremely fruitful. Through Su Beng I have met so many people who will be able to help with the research I'm doing to complete his biography.

I've also seen how his assistant Bin Hong is right there by his side, always keeping him up to date with what's going on on Facebook.

While I was staying with Su Beng I purchased a new computer for him with some of the funds raised by the MAKING HISTORY crowdfunding campaign. I had the help of a few friends who know quite a bit more about computers than me. First we assessed what kind of computer Su Beng needed and then we went on a little shopping trip to pick out the computer.  Special thanks for this- you know who you are!

I already knew that Su Beng is quite a foodie, but this time I also learned that sometimes he likes to indulge in pizza and especially Kentucky Fried Chicken- which is a favourite of his!

While staying with Su Beng I discovered that keeping up with his schedule is a full-time job in it and of itself! I've been trying to find a balance- between getting involved with everything Su Beng has going on and doing the research that I need to do.

Now that I am back at my uncle's place in Shi Lin, I've been focusing on arranging interviews with people for background research on the biography of Su Beng. I still meet with and see Su Beng several times a week. 

These are exciting, historic times to be in Taiwan. When the Kuomintang attempted to bypass a review of the cross-strait services agreement, sit-ins began on March 17th. The agreement is essentially a trade pact between China and Taiwan. Protesters believe that the trade pact will have a negative impact on Taiwan's economy and civil liberties.

Things escalated on the evening of March 18th when a group of about 300 students and protesters broke into the Legislative Yuan (LY) building and occupied it in protest. Their initial plan was to stay until March 21-- the day that the LY was scheduled to vote and pass the trade pact. 

As soon as I heard about the break in, I went over to the LY to see what was happening for myself.

Riot police stationed at 青島東䟯 and 鎭江街 on the night of March 18, 2014.

Since then, thousands have been gathering in the areas surrounding the LY building in support. The protest, now dubbed the Sunflower Movement is going into its third week. During this time, I've been to the LY site several times with Su Beng.

Rain or shine, protestors have been gathered outside in areas around the Legislative Yuan.

Su Beng speaking to the people gathered at the front entrance of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. (March 20, 2014)

I was also with Su Beng when he went to Taichung to teach a two-day class (March 22-23).

With no response from the government, another group of students and protesters stormed the Executive Yuan and occupied it on the night of March 23rd, but it was short lived. Water canons were used to expel the protesters. The police also cracked down by forcefully removing the approximately 2,000 protestors inside and outside of the building. 

Back in Taipei from Taichung, we saw 6-7 police vehicles rushing toward the Executive Yuan. (March 23, 2014)

As part of my research here I was planning to meet with the authors of the book 史明口述史（SU BENG AN ORAL HISTORY), which was published last year. The authors of the book were students at the National Taiwan University when they first met Su Beng in 2005. At the time, Su Beng had been sitting in front of the National Taiwan University for 13 days (March 15-26) in silent protest of China passing the anti-secession law.

Now nine years later, those students have graduated and several of them are involved with the Sunflower Movement. So I'm not sure if any of them will be able to meet with me right now, but hopefully I will be able to meet with a few of them at some point.

Over the years, Su Beng has been invited to meet with several student activist groups, and that's how Su Beng first met student activist and leader of the Sunflower Movement, Lin Fei-fan.

On March 27th Su Beng was able enter the Legislative Yuan chambers which has been occupied by students and protestors.

While he was there he was greeted by Lin Fei-Fan who is a student activist and one of the movement's leaders.

While in the LY chambers, Su Beng spoke to the students and told them amongst other things, that "The future of Taiwan is on your shoulders now [...] The Taiwanese need to stand up and rule for themselves." Then he sang his TAIWAN NATIONALISM song to the students as they clapped along.

Afterwards, the students chanted "Retract the trade pact! Save democracy!" a few times to express their resolve. Upon hearing this, Su Beng said, "I wanted to encourage you, but instead it is you who have encouraged me."

With still no response from President Ma to the protesters demands, the Sunflower Movement called on people to participate in the Protect Our Democracy Rally in Taipei on Sunday March 30th. Su Beng was there of course with his Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade.

Hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps up to 500,000 participated in the Protect Our Democracy rally on Sunday, March 30th.

Yesterday, Su Beng visited the Legislative Yuan again. This time it was to personally deliver some KFC for the students to eat.

Student activist Lin Fei-fan came and greeted Su Beng

I'll end this post by sharing the music video for a song called 島嶼天光 [Island Sunrise] about the Sunflower Movement. The music video made by the students the National Taipei University of Arts and there's a cameo appearance of Su Beng in it! I recognize the clip of him from first time time he visited the occupied Legislative Yuan. 

My First Week At Su Beng's (Part II)

On Thursday, March 6th, Su Beng was interviewed by 台獨全民革命ing (which I'll translate as: Taiwan Independence Citizens Revolution). 台獨全民革命ing was recently started by 張慶恩 (Tony Chang). 

全民革命ing is an ongoing campaign advocating Taiwan's independence through nonviolent means. The group produces daily web TV shows and participates in rallies against the Republic of China, a regime in exile, which occupied Taiwan after loosing the civil war in China to the Chinese Communist Party. The goal of 全民革命ing is to summon at least 20,000 protesters to call for Taiwan's independence.

全民革命ing is such a new group that is only in its fifth week of web TV shows! You can visit their Facebook page HERE to learn more about them.

The shoot for Su Beng's interview with 台獨全民革命ing (Taiwan Independence Citizens Revolution)

The two part interview with Su Beng is currently up on Facebook.

You can watch Part I by clicking HERE. 

Part II of the interview is available for viewing clicking HERE. 

If you'd like to watch more videos by 台獨全民革命ing, go to this YouTube channel HERE. 

On Saturday, March 8th, Su Beng went out with his Taiwan Independence Action (TIA) Motorcade, but instead of their usual rounds around Taipei city, the motorcade participated in the anti-nuclear rally in Taipei which took place on Ketagalan Boulevard, near the East Gate. 

I rode atop one of the TIA Motorcade trucks with Su Beng and shot footage of the ride and of Su Beng talking to a crowd at the rally.

The anti-nuclear rally was an islandwide rally, taking place in several cities throughout Taiwan that day. 

The Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and 台獨全民革命ing. The Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade trucks can be seen behind the two groups. Photo courtesy of: 張慶恩 (Tony Chang).

The following day Su Beng attended a wedding reception. Now that's what I call a very full week!