The diary of novelist Lu Ho-jo (呂赫若) has been restored and is on display at the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, the Ministry of Culture said.
Known as “Taiwan’s foremost talent” (台灣第一才子), Lu was born in 1914 in the current-day Tanzih District (潭子) in Taichung and went on to become a well-known writer, vocalist and playwright during the Japanese colonial period.
After World War II ended, and with it 50 years of Japanese rule over Taiwan, Lu became the editor-in-chief of the pro-communist Kuangming News (光明報) and joined the underground resistance movement against the government.
Photo: CNA
It is believed that he went missing in the mountains of today’s New Taipei City’s Shihding District (石碇) as he hid from the authorities and died around 1950, aged 36.
Amid the tense political atmosphere during the White Terror period, Lu’s family buried all of his manuscripts and works — except for his diary, as it contains notes on the birth dates of his children — in their home garden in Taichung, where the paper rotted with age, the ministry said.
Lu kept the diary from 1942 to 1944, which also included details about his life, friendships and works during the three most active years of his creative life, it said.
In 2020, his oldest son, Lu Fang-ching (呂芳卿), donated the diary to the museum to help preserve it, the ministry said.
The mottled and cracked book box, taped-up cover and the spine covered by kraft papers revealed the years it had been through, the museum said.
After discussing it with researchers, the museum decided to restore the diary to its original appearance to preserve the memories of Lu Ho-jo, it said.
Restorers carefully removed the tape, sewed back the pages that had come loose and reconstructed the spine and the cover of the diary, it said.
The process, along with interviews with academics, had been videotaped and turned into a documentary, which people can watch at the exhibition or online, it said.
The restored diary is part of a special exhibition, which is to run until July 14, displaying the museum’s famous collections and restored pieces, it said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS