It has been 70 years since the Chinese Civil War, it is time for Taiwan to stop with the stereotypes of "the mainlander (外省人)" and "the old vet (老兵)." These mainland refugees experienced massive upheaval, yet continued on with their lives in a strange new land. "A Temporary Inn—1949" is an exhibition focused on post-war literature by migrants to Taiwan, running until Dec. 22, 2019 in Tainan. From the works on display, one can get a glimpse of the humanity, sorrow, and compassion of these people whose lives were dictated by the wheels of circumstance.
The focus of the exhibition is on so-called "mainlander literature," written by those who arrived in Taiwan some seven decades ago. The National Museum of Taiwan Literature has looked into the writings of these authors, seeking out the circumstances of these "mainlanders" at different stages by looking at the interactions among people from different provinces in China and Taiwan, and most importantly, how this was expressed in literature.
Through this, the museum hopes that people will be able to savor these authors' words, enrich their own knowledge, and gain new insight. When facing political issues, literature can help readers put themselves in the positions of others through its particular perspectives, helping ease the conflicts between different groups in Taiwan.
The name of the exhibition, "A Temporary Inn," is derived from ancient poetry. Take, for example, Li Bai's (李白) "Preface to the Feast in Peach and Plum Garden on a Spring Night (春夜宴桃李園序)," the first line of which says "The universe is a temporary inn for all living things. Time has seen the transit of hundreds of visiting generations."
Taiwan itself is somewhat of a "temporary inn," with all her residents having originated elsewhere — some more recently than others — throughout history. All who live here are, in some way, "visitors," drawn together by fate. This exhibition hopes to use writings, items, and manuscripts to help sketch out how those who came to Taiwan in the post-war period have interacted, both among themselves and with those who had come before, and to share their particular histories and experiences.
For this exhibition, the NMTL has enjoyed the help of several benefactors, including:
- Artifacts from the Homeland Returning Movement (老兵返鄉運動) and a documentary on the July 13 Penghu Incident of 1949 (澎湖山東流亡學生案) from the Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology's "Digital Archive for Memories and Narratives of Taiwan";
- Items from the eve of the first-ever allowed visits to family members in China, such as the shirts worn by members of the Mainlander Home Visit Promotion Association (外省人返鄉探親促進會), which bore slogans that spoke of their resolve to see their ancestral home again;
- Valuable artifacts from the Nanying Military Dependants' Village Cultural Center (南瀛眷村文化館), which illustrate the intense governmental control exercised over the freedom of speech and material conditions of military dependents who came to Taiwan after the war;
- Audiovisual materials licensed from the Taiwan Film Institute, Academia Sinica research fellow Hu Tai-li (胡台麗), documentarian Huang Sun-quan (黃孫權), and founding member of the now-disbanded Black Hand Nakasi Workers' Band Yang You-ren (楊友仁).
With documentaries and music accompanying the literary displays, the exhibition aims to help visitors gain a better understanding of the wealth disparity, class conflict, and conflicts of interest at that time. "A Temporary Inn—1949" is dedicated to the soldiers who thought they would be temporarily decamping to Taiwan in 1949, their families, their descendants, and every other group that lives alongside them on Taiwan.
More information on the Tainan-based literary exhibition can be found here.