Sat, Nov 06, 1999 page4

• Wife fights to save war hero's home

  BITTER MEMORIES Despite the suffering the government has caused Yen Hsiu-feng, she is working with authorities to preserve her husband's family home as a historic site for future generations to appreciate

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  At the age of 78, Yen Hsiu-feng (嚴秀峰) hardly looks like the archetypal war veteran: short and gray-haired, she resembles more the matronly image of a Buddha.

  But the spirited grandmother has been struggling for more than a decade, she says, to preserve a legacy -- one that began in China during the anti-Japanese War, and then brought her to Taiwan.

  Since the early 1980's, she has dedicated herself to preserving the 142-year-old family farmhouse of her husband, Lee You-pang (李?籵1), the celebrated leader of the Taiwan Militia (台灣義勇?) that fought in China until 1945.

  

  Yen Hsiu-feng, widow of Lee You-pang who led the Taiwan Militia in China during the anti-Japanese war, in front of her husband's family home which she is preserving as a historic site.

  PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Yen says the preservation of the house is a necessity.

  "The house is a witness to Taiwan's modern history. It records the glorious struggle of the Lee family as well as that of the island."

  The history she recounts sounds like something out of legend and is full of patriotism, tragedy, and hope.

  For her, it began in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in 1938 when she was 17-years-old. Her father had, at that time, refused to let her join the anti-Japanese war effort.

  "I told my father how I was inspired by the heroic stories he had told me, especially the one with the heroine `Mulan,' and I told him that I wanted to be like her," she said. Finally, her father gave in. "He told me `patriotism and filial piety cannot coexist (忠孝?ㄞ鄖漭),'" she said.

  Her father also told Yen not to tell her mother about her going away, but she found out anyway at the last minute, and Yen nearly had a change of heart. "But then I heard a voice saying `patriotism and filial piety cannot coexist,' so I steeled my heart, told my parents good-bye and walked out the door."

  Fate brought Yen and her husband Lee to Jinhua (金華), Zhejiang?Province (座揉翱?, in 1939. Lee had just organized the Taiwan Militia (台灣義勇?), whose mission was to "Guard the motherland, and recover Taiwan" (保衛祖國,|炭_台灣). His idea was that to reclaim Taiwan, China must first be victorious in its conflict with Japan.

  "I had secretly taken a vow not to get married if China didn't win the war against Japan. Likewise, he said that he would remain single if Taiwan was not returned to China," Yen said with a chuckle.

  "When he learned about my secret pledge, he proposed to me and said that we should combine our strengths to save the country."

  Lee had come from a well-to-do farming and literati family in Luchou, near Taipei, and had been discontent about Japanese colonial rule. His feelings got him in trouble in 1924 when Lee was expelled from Taipei Teacher's College because of his involvement in an unsuccessful attack on the Changsha police station (長沙派出所).

  Lee then fled to Guangzhou, and later formed the Taiwan Independence Revolutionary Party (台灣獨立-2命黨) to further build an anti-Japanese power-base among Taiwanese people living on the mainland. Many young men and women later joined the Taiwan Militia and children joined the Taiwan Youth Corps (台灣?痎~1?.

  The Taiwan Militia changed its name to the Taiwan Militia General (台灣義勇總?) in 1943 after the Cairo Conference (開?會?) gave sovereignty of Taiwan to China.

  After Japan surrendered in 1945, Yen and Lee returned to Taiwan. A year later, the KMT-led government abruptly asked Lee to dismiss the militia.

  "All of a sudden, a revolutionary army ended up being a group of unemployed veterans," Yen said.

  "It was pathetic to see some 30 people in our home. We had only two meals of porridge and one meal of rice a day to share with them."

  Then came the bloody crackdown on civilian protesters on February 28, 1947, known as the 2-28 Incident.

  Yen still remembers that day vividly: "My husband and I stayed home the entire morning until he was called by then Taiwan Provincial Governor Chen Yi (3粉? for an emergency meeting," Yen said.

  Lee then went missing for three days. "I told him [Chen] I was not going to leave until he told me where my husband was," she said. "It was a horrifying feeling not knowing whether he was dead or alive."

  Although they escaped the 2-28 Incident unscathed, bad luck caught up with them during the ensuing era of "White Terror."

  In 1950, Yen was summoned by the intelligence agency for "a talk." They told her she would be able to leave in three days.

  She was charged with "making friends with a bad guy" and given 15 years in prison.

  Two years later, in 1952, Yen's husband was kidnapped and killed by the intelligence agency. She did not learn about his death until 18 months later. "I didn't know why they killed him, and I still have no idea," Yen said.

  After Yen was released, she had trouble finding work and eventually started her own translation company.

  But her past stuck with her, and her focus came to rest on the preservation of her husband's family home.

  The process of making it a historic site, though, was not an easy task. It took Yen about 10 years to negotiate with both the family and the authorities. The site was finally declared a class three historic site in 1985.

  Her dedication paid off in 1996, when Yen successfully convinced the Legislative Yuan to revise the Cultural Property Preservation Law (??ご?ㄚO|s法) to allow the owner of the property to retain ownership after a civilian house was designated an historic site. She was also able to secure the right of the owner to sell part of the land to offset restoration expenses.

  Many people have asked Yen why she gave the house to the government that has made her life so miserable and Yen replies that she does not find the decision contradictory.

  "I was upset about what the government had done to me and my family, but that's different from making the house into an historic site, because this is the preservation of a spiritual legacy and cultural property," she said.

  In retrospect, Yen said that although her life has been difficult, love and hope are what have kept her going all these years. "Only by overcoming everyday obstacles can I see the future. I cannot afford to stumble because I have five children to support," she said.

  When asked if Yen has any role models that she has relied on for strength in her life, she says that her father definitely ranks at the top of the list. "He's inspired me so much," she said. "He taught me to be loyal, just like he was to my mother; he taught me to be kind, just like he was to his friends; and he taught me to be patriotic, just like the heroes in the many stories he used to tell me," she said.
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