1. Lien Heng was a Taiwanese historian, politician, poet, merchant, editor of a Tainan's local newspaper.
19 Facts About Lien Heng
1. 2.
Lien Heng was born on 17 February 1878 in Taiwan Prefecture, Qing-era Taiwan.
3.
Lien Heng gained an early interest in Chinese and Taiwanese culture and history from stories told him by his father and private tutors.
4.
When Lien Heng was 13 years old, his father gave him a book about the introduction of Taiwan, inspiring Lien Heng's mind for recording Taiwan's history.
5.
Lien Heng was 17 when Taiwan came under Japanese imperial rule as a result of the Qing defeat in the 1894 Sino-Japanese War.
6.
Lien Heng felt as little connection to the foreign Qing China as he did to the new Japanese Empire, and he soon began research on the ancient history of China.
7.
In 1895, Lien Heng helped Liu Yongfu, the commander of Black Flag Army, defeat the control of Japanese army.
8.
Lien Heng moved out from his house where the Lien Heng family had lived for seven generations for Black Flag Army to station.
9.
Two years later in 1897, Lien Heng's studies led him to Shanghai, a hub of progressive thought and western ideas.
10.
On returning to Taiwan in 1898, Lien Heng married Lady Shen Ao.
11.
In 1899 Lien Heng was recruited as editor-in-chief by the Tainan News Daily.
12.
Back in Taiwan, Lien Heng devoted himself to the cause of writing the history of Taiwan.
13.
Lien Heng searched the island for archaeological and written remains of the earliest settlers of the island in order to gather information.
14.
On moving to Taichung in 1908, Lien Heng was offered a job as editor for the Taiwan Daily.
15.
In 1921, Lien Heng published the Taiwan T'ung-shih covering Taiwanese history from the Sui dynasty up until the Japanese occupation.
16.
Lien Heng divided the General History of Taiwan into three sections: 1.
17.
The scope of Lien Heng's work was immense, covering subjects spanning from historic migrations of Han Chinese from the mainland to Taiwan, famous women of the island, the reign of Koxinga, pirates, and the common people.
18.
At the beginning and end of each section, Lien Heng gives his own analysis and interpretation on the topic, modeling the style used by Sima Qian on his Records of the Grand Historian.
19.
Lien Heng used the General History of Taiwan as a way to interpret historical events and their importance in the formation of a national Taiwanese identity.