Special screening of 'In Search of a Mixed Identity' held in Taipei

Taipei, March 20 (CNA) A special screening of the documentary "In Search of a Mixed Identity" about the life of a 228 Incident victim Tang Te-chang (湯德章) was held at Wonderful Theatre in Taipei Wednesday, with Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲), the film's directors and Tang's relatives in attendance. 

In a statement, the National Human Rights Museum, which hosted the special screening, said director Huang Ming-cheng (黃銘正) hoped to help the audience look back at history through the dramatic life of Tang, who was executed at the age of 40 in the aftermath of 228.

"Through this journey of discovery, we can explore the history that is ours and how it translates to the present, and hopefully help spark public interest on the issues of personal and national identity," the museum said.

The film recounts Tang's experiences from the perspectives of those who knew him, including Tainan fruit store owner Lee Wen-hsing (李文雄), reporter Yang Shu-fen (楊淑芬), and Tang's adopted son Tang Chung-moo (湯聰模).  

The Feb. 28 Incident in 1947 and subsequent White Terror period from 1949-1992 are the most painful scars inflicted by the then authoritarian Kuomintang (KMT) regime in Taiwan, Shih said.

"Telling the story of Tang Te-chang is also telling the story of Taiwan's people," he said.

An anti-KMT government uprising in 1947, the 228 Incident resulted in a brutal crackdown, leaving tens of thousands of people, including many Taiwanese intellectuals and elites, dead or imprisoned.

Tang was born in Tainan to a Taiwanese mother and a Japanese father during Japanese colonial rule. When he was eight his father was killed in the Tapani conflict, the last major Taiwanese uprising against Japanese rule that took place in Tainan in 1915.

After growing up, Tang followed in his father's footsteps and became a policeman. But succumbing to his dreams, he quit his job and left for Japan to pursue legal studies. In 1943 he returned to Tainan where he practiced as a lawyer and helped the poor.

Throughout his life, Tang had several different names such as Lin Te-chang, Arai Tokusho, and Sakai Tokusho, a reflection of how his identity changed with the times and how one's fate was largely out of their control during that period.

After the 228 Incident occurred, Tang, who served as public security chief at the Tainan branch of a 228 settlement committee was arrested by KMT troops and tortured before being paraded and executed in a local park (now the Tang Te-chang Memorial Park) on March 13, 1947, at the age of 40.

According to Shih, Huang and co-director Lien Chen-hui (連楨惠) spent five years filming the documentary.

"We hope that through narrating Tang's life, we will be able to explore the memories of this land," Shih said.