exhibition view Gallery Moon 101, Daegu, Korea 2023
exhibition view Gallery Moon 101, Daegu, Korea 2023
exhibition view Gallery Moon 101, Daegu, Korea 2023
The Sleepless Night at the Age of 16
I was sixteen, a freshman in high school. One evening after school, I casually picked up a book called “Song of the Covered Wagon” at a bookstore near the 228 Park. I sat down on the floor in the corner of the bookstore and started reading.
As I read about the revolutionary youth was sentenced to death by the government, singing the song that he had shared with his beloved wife, “Song of the Covered Wagon”, while dragging his shackled feet toward the execution ground, my heart trembled. The impact was so strong that I couldn’t even get up from the floor.
It was a story set during the White Terror period (1939-1987), where people disappeared without a trace.
I didn't just shed tears because of the tragic story, but because the world I knew began to crumble. What I had learned in school, what was printed in textbooks, turned out to be untrue. No one had ever told me the true history of Taiwan, I never knew that a great leader could also be an executioner.
I didn't just shed tears because of the tragic story, but because the world I knew began to crumble. What I had learned in school, what was printed in textbooks, turned out to be untrue. No one had ever told me the true history of Taiwan, I never knew that a great leader could also be an executioner.
Who should I believe after all? Who indeed is lying? Is there any truth to be found in the world?
That sleepless night, the memory remains vivid.
十六歲失眠的夜晚
高中一年級某個放學後的傍晚，到228公園附近的書店隨性挑了一本《幌馬車之歌》， 坐在書店角落地板讀了起來， 當讀到書中的革命青年被政府判了死刑，唱著與妻子的定情之曲『幌馬車之歌』，拖著腳鐐走向行刑場時，心中撼動。力道之大，讓我無法從地板起身。
那是一個描寫白色恐怖時期（1939~1987年間），人民無故人間蒸發的故事。 不只因故事的悲情而流淚，而是我所認識的世界也隨之崩解了，原來多年來學校教的，課本上印的都不是事實，從來沒有人告訴我真實的臺灣歷史，從不知道偉大領導人原來也可以是殺人劊子手。
我到底該相信誰？是誰在說謊？這世上有真理可尋嗎？
那個失眠的夜晚，
記憶猶新。