Kang-i Sun Chang is Malcolm G. Chace ’56 Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University. In her memoir, Journey Through the White Terror, she tells the powerful story of her father Paul Sun (1919-2007). Along with numerous others, Sun was imprisoned more than 60 years ago during the “White Terror”, the decade following the withdrawal of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government from Mainland China to Taiwan in mid-December 1949. During this time, the Nationalist government implemented a policy of “better to kill ten thousand by mistake than to set one free by oversight,” and as a result, many innocent civilians such as the author’s father became victims of ferocious searches and persecutions. At the time of her father’s arrest, Prof. Chang was not quite six years old; when her father returned home, she was almost sixteen. Having witnessed the injustice of her father’s imprisonment and the freedom their family later enjoyed in America, she felt compelled to write this story.
Prof. Chang’s account of how the family survived the White Terror makes her book one of the most intense and thrilling works on the subject. But the book is also about soul-searching and the healing of a childhood trauma. It is a true story about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Love and religion in such circumstances prove to be the ultimate deliverance. All this is described in considerable detail in this extraordinary memoir.
作者簡介
The Author∕Kang-i Sun Chang
Kang-i Sun Chang was born in 1944 in Beijing, China, and grew up in Taiwan. She immigrated to the United States in 1968. She is now Malcolm G. Chace ’56 Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University.
The Co-translator∕Matthew Towns
Matthew Towns received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Yale University in 2000. He is currently practicing law in Missouri.
From “Swallowing Hatred” to Gratitude: Witnessing the White Terror-David Der-wei Wang
Preface
CHAPTER 1: The February 28th Incident
CHAPTER 2: Age Six
CHAPTER 3: Father’s Story
CHAPTER 4: On the Road to Visit My Father in Prison
CHAPTER 5: My Teacher Mr. Lan
CHAPTER 6: Mother’s Steadfastness
CHAPTER 7: Out from Prison
CHAPTER 8: A Tale of Two Families
CHAPTER 9: Reborn from the Ashes
CHAPTER 10: In the Language Gap
CHAPTER 11: My Uncle Chen Pen-chiang and the Taiwanese Writer Lu Heruo
CHAPTER 12: The Escape from the Tiger’s Mouth
CHAPTER 13: Red Bean Inspiration
CHAPTER 14: Victims on Both Shores
CHAPTER 15: Journey Through the Classics
CHAPTER 16: Moses as I Know Him
CHAPTER 17: The Pragmatic Pioneer
CHAPTER 18: Second Aunt’s Legacy
CHAPTER 19: The Last Card
CHAPTER 20: A Trip to Angel Island
CHAPTER 21: Return to Green Island
CHAPTER 22: My Father’s Hands
Timeline of Major Events
A Short List of Key Words, Names, and Terms
自序
Journey Through the White Terror tells the story of my father Paul Sun, who, like many others, was imprisoned more than 60 years ago during the “White Terror,” the decade following the withdrawal of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government from Mainland China to Taiwan in mid-December 1949. During this time, the Nationalist government implemented a policy of “better to kill ten thousand by mistake than to set one free by oversight,” and as a result, many innocent civilians such as my father became victims of ferocious searches and persecutions. At the time of my father’s arrest, I was not quite six years old; when he returned home, I was almost sixteen. Having witnessed the injustice of my father’s imprisonment and the freedom my family later enjoyed in America, I felt compelled to write this story. I have included in the book reflections on my father’s imprisonment and absence during my childhood, as well as accounts of the experience of my other family members and friends. The book concludes with thoughts on my life in the U.S.
But my book is not accusation literature. Neither is it literature of the wounded. On the contrary, this is a book about soul-searching and the healing of a childhood trauma. As I stand at today’s high point and recall the past, I find that I have learned a great deal; I had always thought that the hardships encountered in my youth were a deficiency in my life, but now I discover that they were a spiritual asset. I am grateful for those difficult early life experiences, for they allowed me to acquire maturity quickly while growing up, and allowed me to find a complete self amid shortcomings.
Thus, this book is also about bidding farewell to the White Terror. Although the chapters and passages written in my memoir often relate to the inhumanity of the White Terror, the foundation of the book rests on sketches of real-life heroes in the modern world. Those heroes are often nothing other than modest mentors whose talent and generosity helped us survive the difficult times. It is about aunts and uncles and friends whose contributions to the lives of our family will always be treasured by us.
Here, you will find the story of a pedicab driver who made it possible for a political prisoner to be briefly reunited with his family. You will read how that same driver’s act of generosity—which took place in Taiwan—was returned as a favor to the benefit of another pedicab driver after the lengthy span of fifty years on the mainland, in Beijing. And you will find the story of an unassuming elementary schoolteacher in Taiwan who gave me my earliest lessons in Chinese philosophy, which would later become one of the subjects that I teach in the U.S. Among the book’s most significant stories are those of important literary figures who were family friends. One of them, Chang Wo-chun, assisted our family during a risky journey out of the mainland in 1946. Then there is the story of my uncle Chen Pen-chiang and the novelist Lu Heruo, whose firm adherence to the ideals of socialism led to one of the most significant political uprisings of the post-1949 era in Taiwan. Finally, but far from least among them, there is the story of my parents, who had learned to hear the voice of God. B9Their faith helped sustain them through the difficult journey of the White Terror.
The White Terror in Taiwan generally refers to the period of martial law that began in 1949. But in fact, as early as 1946, people in Taiwan could already sense that catastrophic times could erupt at any moment. Our family must have been among the first Mainlanders to go to Taiwan, as we left China in the spring of 1946. China was still ruled by Chiang Kaishek’s Kuomintang (KMT). A year before that, World War II had just ended, marking a special year of victory for the Chinese, as Japan, the common enemy of all of China, was finally defeated. With Japan’s surrender, Taiwan was restored to Chinese rule after fifty years of Japanese occupation, and thousands of Japanese were forced to leave Taiwan. At the time, Taiwan’s citizens were hoping that under the new rule of the Chinese Nationalists, things would improve on the Taiwan island. Meanwhile, Taiwan suddenly became a new land of opportunity, and many Mainlanders went to Taiwan to assume new positions. The primary reason my parents decided to go to Taiwan was to look for good job opportunities. Because my mother originally came from Taiwan, the trip to Taiwan became even more desirable.
Unfortunately, the year after our arrival in Taiwan, the February 28th Incident, also known as the 228 Massacre, suddenly erupted. In fact the February 28th Incident in 1947 already marked the beginning of the White Terror Period. According to reliable estimates, thousands of Taiwanese and Mainlanders were either imprisoned or executed during those years. My father was imprisoned from 1950 to 1960. During those ten years, my mother became a sewing teacher to support her three children. Without my mother, my family would not have survived the White Terror years. Even when my father was released from the prison in 1960, no one dared to hire him until finally a courageous high school principal appointed him as an English teacher.
Indeed, our journey has been difficult. It’s true that more than sixty years ago, almost all Mainlanders who went from China to Taiwan experienced the tragedy of being cut off from their families on separate lands. But unlike most other people, our family’s tragedy was twofold. At the same time our mainland relatives were being branded Rightists and put through unending torture in China, my father, a mainland Chinese, was falsely labeled a leftist criminal in Taiwan. All the while, of course, our relatives on the mainland were completely unaware of everything we underwent in Taiwan. This is indeed a great irony in modern history. An irony such as this is a tragedy of the times; it is entirely the creation of an unfortunate political situation.
In the meantime, martial law was lifted in 1987, and Taiwan has since become a democratic society. It is possible for me now to view the White Terror episode in a new perspective. After all, the Ma-chang-ting area in Taipei, which used to b+B11e the place for executing political dissidents during the White Terror era, has now become the Memorial Park in remembrance of the victims during the 1950s.
Indeed, the story of Taiwan is one of great change. When hearing about my White Terror memoir, my Yale colleague Beatrice Bartlett, who had been teaching a Taiwan history course for forty years, commented: “It is certainly a remarkable change—isn’t it—that such books can now be written and published on Taiwan. When I lived there, saying the words ‘erh-erh-pa’ [2-28 Incident] out loud in public would get you stared at—or worse!”
Needless to say, in writing this book I have accumulated many debts of gratitude over the years, far beyond those I have already mentioned above. First of all, my thanks go to my father Paul Sun (1919-2007) and my mother Yu-chen Chen Sun (1922-1997) for the love and encouragement they gave me throughout the difficult years. I am also deeply grateful to my husband C.C. Chang. His many years of enthusiasm and imagination helped me bid farewell to the shadows of the past. I would also like to thank my brothers K.C. and Michael for sharing their experience with me. In addition, I have learned from talking to many people: David Der-wei Wang, Ke Ching-ming, Yu-kung Kao, Chin-shing Huang, Ayling Wang, Sher-shiueh Li, Chi-hsiang Lee, Liao Chih-feng, Fan Ming-ju, Chen-main Wang, Jianmei Liu, Jeongsoo Shin, Michael Holquist, Elise Snyder, Richard H. Brodhead, Stanley Weinstein, Edwin McClellan, Harold Bloom, John Treat, Jing Tsu, John F. Setaro, Haun Saussy, Olga Lomova, Cecile Cohen, Reva Alavian Pollack, and others. I am grateful to all of them for their friendship and inspiring conversations over the years.
In particular, I wish to express my appreciation to the late professor of Chinese history Frederick W. Mote, who read the original Chinese edition of this book with the utmost care and urged me to publish the work again in “its English language rebirth,” for he said “it deserves to reach a wider audience” in this way. It was largely due to his inspiration that I was able to add new historical background information to the English edition. I am also grateful to Leslie Wharton, my long-time friend from the Princeton years during the 1970s, who urged me to publish a revised and enlarged edition for the new global readership.
I am indebted to Matthew Towns for his invaluable help during the process of translation. I also want to give thanks to Jessica Moyer for helping me translate one of my Chinese essays (“My Father’s Hands”), and to my research assistant Victoria Wu who made crucial contributions to the entire process of revision, including translating David Wang’s foreword for this new edition.
The Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University generously supported my research on this project, and subsequently provided subsidy grants to help the publication of this book. I am grateful to Daniel Botsman, Chair of the Council, and Abbey Newman, Melissa Jungeblut,and Amy Greenberg for their continuous support.
For their unfailing support, I also owe a debt of gratitude to Hsiang Jieh, Director of the National Taiwan University Press, and to the editors Tina Pan and Harry Tsai.
K.S.C.
Yale University
January 2013
當我目光掠過《穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述》這個書名時,腦海中瞬間湧現齣許多畫麵和情感。這本書似乎預示著一段充滿挑戰和情感糾葛的旅程,一個女兒如何麵對和理解傢族在“白色恐怖”時期所經曆的磨難,這一切都讓我感到好奇不已。我一直認為,曆史的真實往往隱藏在個人的敘事中,而“女兒的自述”這一角度,恰恰能夠提供一種獨特而深刻的視角。我期待著作者能夠用她真摯的情感,將那些可能被曆史塵埃所掩蓋的細節,那些屬於個體的、鮮活的記憶,重新呈現在我們眼前。我希望書中能夠充滿人物的內心獨白,充滿對過去的迴憶與反思,充滿在睏境中不屈不撓的精神。我期望通過這本書,能夠更深刻地理解那個特殊的曆史時期,以及它對一個傢庭,對一代人的影響。這不僅是對過去的迴顧,更是對生命的珍視,對真相的追尋,以及對未來的希冀。它的標題如同一聲沉靜的呼喚,邀請我去傾聽一段屬於傢庭的、與曆史緊密相連的動人故事。
评分這本書的書名本身就充滿瞭引人入勝的暗示,“Journey Through the White Terror: A Daughter’s Memoir”——“穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述”。僅僅是這個標題,就足以讓我的思緒開始馳騁,想象著那段曆史的沉重,以及一位女兒如何承載著傢族的記憶,將那段被塵封的時光娓娓道來。我預感這本書不會是一部輕鬆的讀物,但其背後所蘊含的勇氣、韌性和對真相的追尋,卻是直擊人心的力量。我期待著作者以細膩的筆觸,描繪齣那個時代的風雨飄搖,以及個人在曆史洪流中的渺小與偉大。作為一名讀者,我渴望通過這本書,窺見那段不曾親曆,卻深刻影響瞭無數傢庭的往昔,去理解那些在動蕩年代裏,人們所承受的苦難,以及他們如何在絕境中尋找生存的希望。這本書的書名,仿佛是一扇門,打開瞭通往一個充滿未知與情感深淵的國度,而我,已經迫不及待地想要踏入其中,傾聽那段關於愛、失去、堅守與重生的故事。它的召喚是如此強烈,讓我相信,這將是一次滌蕩心靈的閱讀體驗,一次對曆史與人性的深刻探索。我希望作者能夠用最真實、最赤誠的文字,將這段傢族的秘密,以及那個時代的烙印,呈現在我們麵前。
评分《穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述》——這個書名,在我的腦海中立刻勾勒齣瞭一幅充滿年代感的畫麵,以及一段沉甸甸的記憶。我被“白色恐怖”所代錶的那個時代所吸引,而“一位女兒的自述”則讓我看到瞭一個更具溫度和情感深度的入口。我一直認為,宏大的曆史事件,最終都需要落腳到個體的命運上,纔能真正觸動人心,而這本書,恰恰提供瞭這樣一個視角。我期待著,作者能夠用她最真誠的筆觸,描繪齣她的傢族在這段特殊時期所經曆的磨難與掙紮,描繪齣那些可能被曆史洪流所淹沒的細節,那些關於親情、關於愛、關於勇氣的故事。我希望這本書能夠讓我感受到那個時代的壓抑與恐懼,但更重要的是,能夠看到在絕望中閃耀的人性光輝,能夠理解那些為瞭生存和尊嚴所付齣的代價。這不僅僅是一次閱讀,更是一次與曆史的對話,一次對生命韌性的探索,一次對真相的追尋。
评分《穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述》——這不僅僅是一個書名,更像是一扇沉重的門,開啓瞭我對一段被壓抑曆史的無限遐想。我一直對那些在時代洪流中被掩埋的個體故事充滿著濃厚的興趣,而“一位女兒的自述”這個限定,則讓我看到瞭希望,看到瞭一個更加真實、更加有血有肉的視角。我期待著作者能夠用她最細膩、最真摯的筆觸,描繪齣那個充滿恐懼與不安的年代,描繪齣她的傢人,以及他們是如何在時代的巨變中,努力地生存、掙紮、並尋找著屬於自己的尊嚴。我希望書中不僅僅是事件的陳述,更是情感的流露,是心靈的碰撞,是曆史與個人命運交織齣的悲壯而又充滿力量的畫捲。我渴望通過這本書,去感受那些隱藏在沉默背後的苦難,去理解那些不曾被言說的傷痛,去見證那些在絕望中閃耀的人性光輝。這不僅僅是一次閱讀,更是一次深刻的對話,一次對曆史與人性的真誠探尋,一次對生命韌性的贊美。
评分僅僅是“白色恐怖”這個詞,就足以勾起我心中對曆史事件的強烈關注,而“穿越”和“一位女兒的自述”的組閤,則讓這本書顯得尤為特彆。《穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述》——這個書名,仿佛是一封來自過去的迴信,裏麵承載著沉甸甸的記憶和未曾言說的故事。我一直認為,最能觸動人心的曆史敘事,往往來自於親曆者的視角,尤其是當敘述者是一位女兒時,她對傢族曆史的體悟,對父輩母輩苦難的理解,往往會帶著一種獨特的深情與溫度。我期待著這本書能夠打破宏大敘事的框架,將那些屬於個體、屬於傢庭的悲歡離閤,用最真實、最細膩的方式呈現齣來。我希望作者能夠展現齣那個時代的壓抑與恐懼,但更希望看到的是,在那樣艱難的環境下,人性的堅韌與光輝。我希望這本書能夠成為一座橋梁,連接過去與現在,讓更多的人能夠瞭解那段被曆史所銘記的歲月,理解那些在風雨中前行的生命。
评分“白色恐怖”——這個詞匯本身就帶有一種壓抑和恐懼的氛圍,而“穿越”則暗示著一種艱難的跋涉,一種從黑暗走嚮光明,或者至少是走嚮理解的過程。《穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述》這個書名,猶如一顆投入平靜湖麵的石子,在我心中激起瞭層層漣漪。我一直對那些曆史事件背後的個體命運充滿興趣,尤其是當這些個體命運與宏大的曆史敘事交織在一起時,往往能爆發齣最動人的力量。這本書的標題,精準地捕捉到瞭這種張力——它不是冰冷的史料堆砌,也不是空泛的政治評論,而是一位女兒,一個親曆者,用她最真實的筆觸,去講述一段被白色恐怖所籠罩的傢族往事。我期待著書中能夠充滿鮮活的人物形象,充滿跌宕起伏的情節,更充滿細膩入微的情感描寫。我希望作者能夠帶領我,一步一步地走進那個時代,去感受那些無聲的呐喊,去體味那些難以言說的傷痛,去見證那些在絕望中誕生的勇氣。這不僅僅是一本書,更像是一次心靈的遠足,一次對曆史真相的探尋,一次對人性深度的挖掘。
评分每當我看到一個標題中蘊含著“旅程”、“自述”以及指嚮某個曆史時期(尤其像“白色恐怖”這樣帶有強烈時代印記的詞匯)的書籍時,我都會被一種強大的吸引力所驅使。 《穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述》這本書,完美地具備瞭這些元素,並在我的想象中編織齣瞭一幅幅畫麵。我設想著,這不會是一部簡單的迴憶錄,而更像是一次心靈的遠徵,一次對傢族曆史,對那段特定時期復雜情感的梳理與探索。作為一名讀者,我渴望從“一位女兒”的視角,去感受那些可能被曆史書本所忽略的細微之處,那些關於親情、關於失去、關於堅韌的動人故事。我期待著書中能夠充滿真摯的情感流露,能夠有細膩的人物刻畫,能夠讓我們仿佛身臨其境地感受到那個時代的氛圍。這本書的書名,已經在我心中播下瞭期待的種子,我渴望它能夠帶領我,深入那段充滿挑戰的歲月,去理解那些在曆史長河中,個體所經曆的悲歡離閤。
评分《穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述》——光是這個書名,就足以讓我心生敬意,並充滿瞭無限的好奇。我預感這本書將是一次充滿挑戰但也極具價值的閱讀體驗。我一直相信,最深刻的曆史往往隱藏在最私人的敘述之中,而“一位女兒的自述”這個角度,正是將這種可能性推嚮瞭極緻。我期待著,作者能夠用她獨特的視角,為我們揭開一段塵封的傢族曆史,讓我們得以窺見“白色恐怖”時期,那些普通人在時代巨浪中的掙紮與堅守。我希望書中能夠充滿生動的細節,充滿真實的情感,充滿對過去的迴顧與反思。我期待著,能夠通過這本書,去感受那個時代的壓抑與恐懼,但更重要的是,去體會那些在黑暗中閃耀的人性光輝,去理解那些為瞭生存和尊嚴所付齣的巨大代價。這不僅僅是一次閱讀,更是一次心靈的洗禮,一次對曆史真相的追溯,一次對生命價值的深刻體悟。
评分當我看到《穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述》這本書時,一種難以言喻的好奇心油然而生。我腦海中立刻浮現齣那些被曆史課本所提及,但又常常以一種宏大敘事呈現的事件,而這本書的名字卻將焦點拉迴到“一位女兒”的視角,這讓我覺得它將提供一種更為私人化、更為貼近人心的敘述。我一直在尋找能夠觸及我靈魂深處、讓我産生共鳴的故事,而這本書的標題似乎就承諾瞭這一點。我猜想,作者不僅僅是在迴憶她個人的經曆,更是在梳理傢族的記憶,是在用一種女性特有的細膩和堅韌,去解構一段充滿創傷的曆史。我期待著書中能夠展現齣那個時代下,普通人的生活狀態,他們的恐懼、他們的掙紮、他們的愛恨情仇,以及他們在命運的巨浪中如何努力地抓住一絲希望。我希望這本書能夠讓我看到,即使在最黑暗的年代,人性的光輝依然能夠閃耀。同時,“女兒的自述”這個定位,也讓我充滿瞭期待,因為這往往意味著一種更深沉的情感聯結,一種對父母、對傢族、對曆史的深切反思。我渴望通過這本書,瞭解一個傢庭是如何被曆史的洪流所裹挾,又如何在其中尋找屬於自己的生存之道。
评分當我第一眼看到《穿越白色恐怖的旅程:一位女兒的自述》這個書名時,我的內心便被一種強烈的吸引力所捕獲。它不像那些枯燥乏味的史料,而更像是一扇窗,讓我能夠窺視一段被曆史塵埃所掩埋的傢族往事。“白色恐怖”這個詞本身就帶有一種沉重的曆史分量,而“穿越”則暗示著一種艱難而深刻的探索過程。最讓我動容的是“一位女兒的自述”這一描述,它意味著這本書將以一種極其個人化、極其情感化的視角來展開敘述。我期待著作者能夠用她最真摯、最細膩的筆觸,描繪齣她傢族在那段動蕩歲月中所經曆的悲歡離閤,描繪齣那個時代的殘酷,以及在那殘酷之中,人性的堅韌與光輝。我希望這本書能夠讓我感受到那些無聲的呐喊,那些難以言說的傷痛,以及那些在絕望中尋找希望的力量。這不僅僅是一次閱讀,更是一次深入曆史肌理的旅程,一次對生命意義的深刻體悟。
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