Description
In 2010, Kim Liao traveled to Taiwan to reconstruct the lost story of her grandparents. But upon arrival, she found that four decades of Taiwanese history had been silenced by Chiang Kai-Shek's KMT Government during the White Terror period.
As the leader of the first Taiwanese Independence Movement after WWII, in 1947, her grandfather Thomas Liao became a fugitive: his family's land was seized, his relatives were arrested, and his nephew was sentenced to death. With their lives under threat, Thomas's wife Anna decided to abandon their marriage and take her children to America to start a new life. Grandma Annanever spoke of Thomas again, presiding over a hushed silence about the past to protect her family.
When Kim arrived in Taiwan six decades later, she was shocked to learn that the KMT government had erased the story of independence from the official historical record--even in a now democratic society. Many young Taiwanese citizens had been kept in the dark about their nation's own violent history. The silenced voices of Taiwanese history mirrored the silencing of Kim's family's story, making her that much more determined to find the truth and share it with the world.
Despite this suppression, the history of the Taiwanese Independence Movement was kept alive by the memories and personal archives of former independence leaders. Once Kim gained entry into this network, she discovered how her Grandpa Thomas and the Liao family played a pivotal role in achieving democratic freedom in Taiwan--becoming one of the first English-speaking witnesses to the White Terror period. As she excavated this lost chapter of Taiwanese history, Kim discovered two stories: her family's story of love and loss, as well as Taiwan's fight for freedom.
About the Author
Kim Liao's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, The Rumpus, McSweeney's, The Millions, Salon, Fourth River, Hippocampus, and others. A former Taiwan Fulbright Creative Research Scholar, her work has received support from the Vermont Studio Center, the Jentel Foundation, the Hambidge Center, the Anderson Center, and the Ragdale Foundation. She lives with her family near New York City and teaches writing to students of all ages.