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.
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