Thu, Apr 23, 2026 page8

• From windmills to trading floors

  • By Hugo Tseng 曾泰元
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Every year on April 23, the global literary community observes World Book and Copyright Day, a date established by UNESCO in 1995 to champion the written word. While the day is rooted in the legacies of European masters, its modern pulse beats with surprising vigor in Taipei. In the Chinese-speaking world, this date serves as a bridge between the Golden Age of Spanish and English literature and a thriving contemporary marketplace that remains the “heart” of Asian publishing.

  The choice of April 23 was a tribute to two titans who perished in 1616: Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare.

  While both men are recorded as having died on April 23, 1616, they did not actually die on the same day. Spain had already adopted the Gregorian calendar, while England still clung to the Julian system. In real-time terms, Shakespeare survived Cervantes by 10 days, passing away on what the modern world would recognize as May 3.

  Cervantes, the man behind Don Quixote, gave the world the archetype of the “impractical idealist.” His protagonist — Don is a Spanish honorific for “sir”— is the quintessential dreamer, tilting at windmills in a quest to “right incorrigible wrongs.” This “Quixotic” spirit — naive, unworldly, yet relentlessly romantic — finds a curious echo in the streets of Taipei.

  Taipei is a city that defies the gravity of the digital age. Despite a population of just 23 million, Taiwan boasts the world’s second-highest ratio of new book titles to inhabitants, churning out nearly 40,000 new volumes annually.

  The centerpiece of this industry is the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE). Ranked as the world’s fourth-largest book fair — trailing only Frankfurt, Bologna and BookExpo America — it is the undisputed heavyweight of the Asian market. In an era where publishing margins are under siege and digital distractions are ubiquitous, Taipei’s publishers remain stubbornly committed to “experiential reading.” Like Quixote charging his giants, they view the act of physical publishing as a noble, if difficult, pursuit of “the unreachable star.”

  If Cervantes represents the soul of the idealist, Shakespeare represents the pinnacle of linguistic influence. The Oxford English Dictionary credits the Bard with 32,585 citations — surpassing the Bible by a margin of 6,000. Hamlet alone accounts for nearly 1,900 entries.

  Shakespeare’s reach extends into the narrow alleys of Taipei’s Wen-Luo-Ting (溫羅汀) district — the bohemian enclave surrounding National Taiwan University. Here, in independent bookstores like Bookman and Tangshan, Shakespeare’s explorations of existence — to be, or not to be — remain the intellectual bedrock for avid readers.

  What distinguishes Taipei on the global stage is its unique “dual-track” system. Unlike the Frankfurt Book Fair, which is strictly a professional trade event for rights and licenses, the Taipei fair is a hybrid.

  The opening days are a high-stakes arena for literary agents and scouts — the professional side of the industry. However, as the weekend arrives, the gates open to a reading carnival. The halls are flooded not just with bibliophiles, but with the energy of the “ACG” (anime, comics and games) subculture. It is a spectacle where high-brow rights trading lives comfortably alongside costumed teenagers.

  From the historical dramas of Richard III to the tragic depths of King Lear, Shakespeare was described by his contemporary Ben Jonson as being “not of an age, but for all time.”

  This enduring relevance is what World Book Day seeks to protect. In the lights of the Taipei World Trade Center, the “literary cipher” of 1616 is decoded daily. The legacies of Cervantes and Shakespeare are not merely museum pieces; they are the blueprints for a city that refuses to stop reading. In Taipei, the book is more than a commodity — it is a cultural imprint, a refusal to surrender to the mundane and a testament that the most profound human connections are still found between the pages.

  Hugo Tseng holds a doctorate in linguistics. He is a lexicographer and a former chair of Soochow University’s Department of English.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    First person arrested as Danjiang Bridge opens

  • 2

    TSMC shares stumble on report, but losses minor

  • 3

    Navy needs 12 subs for modern fleet: CSBC head

  • 4

    Snake on a train spooks riders on Taipei MRT line

  • 5

    HIMARS to be deployed to islands