Night Tour

Political Liberation, Street Clashes, Teenage Sexual Enlightenment, and 1980s Subculture: Ignorance in a Time of Great Change

"Compared to the depths they've sunk into, I'm just a tiny scratch."

Fang Huizhen's affectionate look back and the memory of a girl's body

In these major historical events that she was unaware of, from martial law to the lifting of martial law, a page was turned quickly.



Writer Fang Huizhen's experiences before and after the lifting of martial law—still mired in the authoritarian era of corporal punishment in school, the physical enlightenment of teenage girls, and a cultural medley of MTV, disco, Walkman, and erotic cinema—simultaneously coincided with a massive uproar in Taiwanese society. Looking back over thirty years later, her physical memories are immediate and intense, while her political awareness is belated.


In 1986, Taiwan's streets were in turmoil. The junior high school she attended during the day became a playground for extramarital affairs at night. The airport incident was a major event, and her father, who worked there, didn't return home with a single word. She obtained an Indonesian passport.
In the summer of 1987, martial law was lifted, and she spent her summer vacation with her Indonesian relatives, who were surrounded by servants.
In 1988, during the May 20th Farmers' Movement, the Legislative Yuan sign was torn down. She pledged her loyalty to her teacher and revealed her secrets.
In 1989, Zhan Yihua and Cheng Nanrong perished in a fire, the bloodshed of the Tiananmen Square Massacre raged in the distance. She and her sister were queuing outside a disco to see a concert.
In 1990, the Wild Lily Student Movement took place. She was completely oblivious.
In the mid-1990s, the Taipei mayoral election was a resounding success. She went to college, dropped out, re-took the exam, and lived with her boyfriend on a derelict street. Her body was open, and she never got used to sex.
In 1995, during the Taiwan Strait missile crisis, her father "fled" back to Indonesia to avoid the disaster, but failed to escape the disaster. Her mother flew to Southeast Asia and brought back her father who was like a puppet in the trap.
In 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, a vicious wolf was on the loose in northern Taiwan, breaking into homes and raping women. She was alone in her rented house, staring at the window before going to bed.
In 1998, amidst social unrest and widespread anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia, a young woman from a relative's family fled across the sea to Taiwan. Taipei at the end of the century was bustling and bustling...



Growing up in the late 1980s, the strictures of school life gradually dissipated, but the authoritarian and conservative atmosphere on campus remained unchanged. She seemed to have grown up peacefully. The innocent eyes of a middle school girl, observing those years of raging street movements, were filled not with sorrow or grief, but with adolescent curiosity and fearless nighttime wanderings. Years later, as a journalist, she revisited that history, adjusting to the time difference, and discovered a light at the end.

2024-06-04

春山出版

312

9786267478028