Taiwan Docs

In Taiwan, at the heart of Tainan City, there is a park and a road named after Thng Tek-chiong, though most local citizens don't know who he is.

Thng Tek-chiong was born in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period. His father, a Japanese policeman, died when Thng was eight during an armed confrontation between the locals and the authorities. Following in his father's footsteps, he joined the police force before becoming a lawyer. After World War II, he forgot the lesson taught by his father’s history and died in the February 28 incident, a conflict that erupted amid the transition of political power in Taiwan. As a half-Taiwanese, half-Japanese man, Thng witnessed the injustices of colonization and spent his life searching for the truth of his identity.

The history of the Thng Tek-chiong family not only reflects the confusion and the pursuit of Taiwanese identity throughout the eras but also serves as a cautionary tale for the people living in Taiwan.