The Taste of Democracy: Before Freedom—Jail, Imprisonment, and Sentence: The Clash and Resistance on Everyday Taste Buds

\ 108 Curriculum "Social Field" must read!
A must-read for those aged 40 and above to supplement their historical knowledge!

What Taiwanese dreams are hidden in Chunfenglou? Did Lei Zhen go to jail after eating steamed noodles? Does the "Suzhou" sandwich have a hidden anti-American history?
Listen to stories from food and learn history at the dinner table!
15 flavors, 15 stories, recording the victims of power, writing the history of democratic development in Taiwan!
The best textbook for building democratic literacy, detailing historical truths that should not be forgotten.

When false charges are laid, imprisoned for years, and taken away without a trace...
How can we achieve today's democracy and freedom by simply adhering to the law in an unusual atmosphere?

If freedom is the DNA engraved in human blood, then they must be the important force that awakens DNA!

In the early days of Japanese rule, Taiwan's Governor-General combined executive, legislative, and judicial powers. Intellectual elites launched a parliamentary petition movement, marking the beginnings of democratic consciousness in Taiwan. However, the end of Japanese rule in 1945 did not free Taiwan from its colonial status. The February 28 Incident of 1947 was followed by the imposition of martial law in 1949, which initiated a decades-long crackdown on dissent.

People who once insisted on their ideals and freedom of speech ended up becoming victims of the power of the state machine?
If democracy and freedom are universal and sweet, how many times have they gone stale before achieving their sweetness?
The pain, suffering, repression and persecution we have experienced have made the pursuit of democracy and freedom even stronger.
Gradually loosen the authoritarian system, allowing a ray of light to shine through the cracks, so that freedom can shine as naturally as the sunshine today.

This book approaches the subject from the perspective of food, connecting the sweetness and preciousness of freedom and democracy. It recounts the complex and moving moments of life between individuals and the greater times in Taiwan's democratic history, records the taste of those who defend democracy, and uses taste memory to find our connection with history.

What does democracy really feel like?

◆ "Chunfenglou" holds a Taiwanese dream. What did the intellectuals of the Japanese colonial era discuss at the dinner table? Why did they violate the Public Security Police Act? In prison, they ate rotten, blackened rice mixed with rat droppings and small stones, all for the sole purpose of promoting a petition movement in the Taiwan Legislative Yuan.

◆The bowl of cooled squid porridge: Soak the dried squid until softened, then shred it into strips and add it to the porridge filled with soft rice. The delicious and nutritious squid porridge is ready. The steaming smoke gradually dissipates, but lawyer Li Ruihan, who disappeared after the February 28 Incident, has not yet drunk the bowl of cooled squid porridge.

◆A general without a gun plants roses. The innocent "spies" confirmed the "mutiny." General Sun Liren, once a famous anti-Japanese general, had his salary cut off, his body imprisoned, and his voice silenced. However, during this period of stagnation, roses bloomed, adding fragrance to the delicious food.

◆The anti-American history sandwiched in the "Congress Sandwich" originated in the United States. In Shanghai nightclubs, it was transformed into the "Congress Sandwich". In Taiwan, it became the "Congress Sandwich" with rich local flavors. In addition to food, these imported American cultures also have a forgotten anti-American history.

◆Left-leaning youths were eating lunch boxes of fried shrimp, fried mackerel, salted duck eggs, cabbage, and peanuts in the mezzanine. Postman Shi Shuihuan prepared a lunch box for her younger brother and secretly passed it to the ceiling. However, this violated the crime of subverting the government under the Criminal Law. Under the gun of the White Terror, his life stopped at the age of 30.

If democracy had a flavor, what would it taste like? While we freely express our opinions, choose our stances, and take to the streets for our rights, have we ever wondered how democratic mechanisms actually came into being? This book explores 15 flavors that touch upon everyday life, exploring historical sources. Following teachers from the "Taste of Democracy Community" at the Human Rights Education Resource Center of the Ministry of Education, starting with food and spanning the period of Japanese colonial rule to the relocation of the Nationalist government to Taiwan, this book explores every significant moment in Taiwan's democratic history and rediscovers the thread that led to the development of freedom and democracy. Perhaps the scars of the past are difficult to repair, but confronting history is the first step toward transformative justice. Following seemingly ordinary dishes, we arrive at those extraordinary pasts and understand that the freedom we take for granted today is not a gift from colonialism or dictators, nor is it simply a coincidence of historical chance. Instead, it is the result of idealistic martyrs who bravely devoted themselves to the struggle. The hard-earned flavor is concentrated between the lines and deserves to be carefully savored by generations of Taiwanese people.

Features of this book

★The taste of daily life. Understanding history is as simple as eating. Food culture records the lives of ordinary people and carries the development of the times. Facing history directly only needs to start with "eating"!
★ Follow the recipes and experience the experience yourself with your taste buds. Each article provides a corresponding recipe. Use your taste buds to travel through time and space, connect memories, and experience the flavors of the martyrs' struggle for freedom.
★Spanning the period from the Japanese colonial era to the Republic of China, the historical development context is clearer. The promotion of democracy is constantly changing with the times. This book includes relevant events from the Japanese colonial period to modern times to make the historical development context clearer.
★Breaking away from the provincial framework, this book provides objective historical facts to discuss the diverse composition of history, regardless of province or ethnicity. This book discusses historical facts from an objective perspective, providing readers with a comprehensive perspective.
★ Suitable for readers of all ages, this is the best textbook to help build democratic literacy. The text is clear and easy to understand, vivid and exciting, and it breaks away from the textbook format without losing its educational significance. It is a history of democratic development that generations of Taiwanese people must know.


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Recommended by Zeng Lingyi | Associate Professor of General Education Center, Taipei Medical University

Hong Qingzai | Principal of National Tainan Girls' High School, Fan Xunlu | Supervisory Committee Member, Member of the National Human Rights Commission (2021-2022)
Zhang Longzhi | Chen Yilong, Associate Researcher, Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica | Chen Junhong, History Teacher, Taichung Municipal First Senior High School | Cai Weiqun, Professor of Political Science, Soochow University and former Director of the National Human Rights Museum | Xie Shiyuan, History Teacher, Taipei Municipal First Girls' Senior High School | Associate Professor, Department of History, National Cheng Kung University

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2023-08-26

麥田

272

9786263105096