Obituary: Tehpen Tsai, teacher, author, dramatist, and political prisoner

Those of you with an interest in twentieth century Taiwan may enjoy this piece by Michael Cannings (one third of Camphor Press) on Tehpen Tsai, a fascinating character shaped by the tides of history.

Fear was rife in the detention center. President Chiang Kai-shek had written that it was “better to kill a hundred innocents than let one guilty person go free” (可錯殺一百,不可錯放一人) and mixed in with genuine Communists were plenty of men incarcerated on entirely spurious grounds. Here Tsai learned that he had been named by Chang Pi-kun in the hope of avoiding the death penalty. Tsai told his cellmates that he could endure the ordeal, unjust though it was, if it would save his friend’s life. After further interrogation over several months, Tsai’s case was brought to trial and he was found guilty. The verdict cited his “close association with convicted rebels” and possession of “reactionary literature,” including a Japanese volume on materialism, the writings of Lu Xun, and the underground periodical Kuangming Bao (光明報), but the Mao book he had always denied having was omitted.

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Great write up. Thank you for posting this.

Formosans who are interested in Tsai’s work could also have a look at this thread here:

Guy

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