228

It happened on 28 February 1947, sparked by the beating of a female vendor by authorities for selling untaxed cigarettes. For decades, when Taiwan was under martial law, the massacre was a taboo.

Even now, it's still a taboo here. We don't talk about it. Grandda is afraid of mainland-born Chinese and Grandma won't let us say a word of it. Somehow, I feel bad for them. When I studied aboard, Grandparents warmed me to stay away from Japanese and mainland Chinese. But, they never tell me why. Until now, Grandma believes those government police still exists.

The first time to hear of 228, it was about 10 years ago. I remembered about Kaohsiung incident (Formosa incident) was a taboo too. We live in Kaohsiung for years, it happened here in 1979, but we never heard of it. But we read on newspaper about Annette Lu and most of DPP members were sentenced for sedition. For years, we studied Chinese history, most of Taiwanese story were under cover. None of them were told until 2000 (I think). It's a pitty to being a Taiwanese and learn about the history on this land until now. However, it's not too late yet. Even most of the TW story are still wait for discover, old generation are dying, story will be gone with them. But, I believe, somehow, the history will be remembered and hopefully, the mistake won't repeat.