Chinese Name: 陳耀昌
Born: 1949
Place of Birth: Tainan (Southern Taiwan)
Did You Know?
Over the course of his life, Chen Yao-chang has worn many hats. As a physician, he was a pioneer in bone marrow transplantation and stem cell medicine in Taiwan and a driving force behind the passage of the Forensic Pathologist Act; as a social activist, he was active in the political movement, served as a delegate to the National Assembly, and was involved in organizing a political party; as a writer, he has written several historical novels, including "Lady the Butterfly (傀儡花)," which was adapted into the television series "Seqalu: Formosa 1867," broadcast in 2021.
Born in Tainan in 1949, Chen Yao-chang was influenced by his parents' love of reading from an early age. After graduating from Tainan First High School, he enrolled in the Department of Medicine at National Taiwan University. He later worked as a hematology researcher at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, and after returning to Taiwan, he worked as a hematologist and oncologist at National Taiwan University Hospital for 30 years, becoming a pioneer in bone marrow transplantation and a leader in stem cell medicine in Taiwan.
In 1983 and 1984, Chen and his medical team completed the first autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplants in Taiwan, and helped to establish the Bone Marrow Donor Information Center, which has benefited numerous patients with blood disorders. As the founding director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at National Taiwan University School of Medicine, he spared no effort in promoting the Forensic Pathologist Act during his tenure.
Chen also served as the founding director of the Stem Cell Center of the National Institutes of Health while conducting his stem cell research. His professional achievements have been recognized by the Taiwan Oncology Society, which awarded him the Hsu Chien-tien Award for Excellence in Cancer Research (徐千田癌症研究傑出獎). He was also honored with the National Innovation Award of the Research Center for Biotechnology and Medicine Policy, and the Health and Welfare Professional Medal of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
In addition to his professional research, Chen was also active in social movements and human rights advocacy. Before the National Assembly was consigned to history, he served as a delegate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He also founded the Red Party and served as its chairman, as well as the convenor of the Department of Health's Human Rights Protection and Promotion Group for People with Leprosy, focusing on the rights of patients with leprosys.
In 2009, when 60-year-old Chen Yao-chang went to South Korea to attend an international conference, he casually wrote down an idea for a novel on the letterhead of his accommodation. Motivated by the search for his own family history, "A Tale of Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa (福爾摩沙三族記)" depicts the story of the interactions between various ethnic groups during the Dutch rule of Taiwan from the perspective of the three different ethnic groups, namely the Siraya, the Dutch, and the Han Chinese, and was a finalist for the 2012 Taiwan Literature Award from the Ministry of Culture.
His trilogy of Taiwanese historical novels is also a must-read. "Lady the Butterfly" with 1867's Rover Incident, when an American merchant ship ran aground on the southern part of Taiwan Island. When the crew was beheaded for trespassing on the territory of the Seqalu tribe, the US sent Charles Le Gendre, consul to Xiamen, to investigate. Amid an atmosphere of impending war, the book tells the story of Cuqicuq Garuljigulj, Paiwan leader, resolves the conflict with his wisdom. In his novel, Chen Yao-chang strives to present the diverse perspectives of indigenous Formosans, Han Chinese, and Westerners, and was awarded the Gold Medal in the 2016 Taiwan Literary Awards in the category of Book-length Fiction. Sequels "Lady the Lionhead (獅頭花)" and "Bangas (苦楝花)" are based on the battle between the Tjuaquvuquvulj community and the Qing army in 1875, with the former awarded the Taiwanese Historical Fiction Award in 2017 by the New Taiwan Peace Foundation.
Chen Yao-chang writes in a "fictionalized history" style, with all of his historical content being rigorously researched and investigated in the field. Now rarely involved in politics, Chen still has a deep feeling for Taiwan in his heart, but he has turned to his writing to explore Taiwanese identity and his expectations for the joint prosperity of the communities that make up the nation. He hopes to move from a single-value centrism to a pluralistic view of Taiwan’s history and to seek reconciliation between communities.