Today we're going to talk about the 228 incident.

今天我們來談談 228 事件。

Kiddos who paid attention in school might remember it has something to do with some cigarettes and a guy called Chen Yi.

在學校裡留心聽講的孩子可能會記得，這與一些香菸和一個叫陳毅的人有關。

But most of us only care about the day off we get, or if it's a Friday, the three days off we get.

但我們中的大多數人只關心自己能休息一天，如果是週五，那就能休息三天。

Yay!

耶

In 1945, the wars in the Pacific Ocean finally came to an end.

1945 年，太平洋戰爭終於結束。

The Emperor of Japan declared their unconditional surrender.

日本天皇宣佈無條件投降。

Taiwan, still under Japanese rule, burst into tears because it was one of the losers.

仍在日本統治下的臺灣淚流滿面，因為它是失敗者之一。

But soon after Chiang Kai-shek took over Taiwan as a representative of the Allied Powers, Taiwan, now ruled by the ROC, burst into tears because it turned into one of the winners.

但是，蔣介石作為同盟國代表接管臺灣後不久，現在由中華民國統治的臺灣就哭了，因為它變成了勝利者之一。

Taiwan was so happy about returning to the motherland that it practically wet bananas.

臺灣為迴歸祖國而高興得幾乎溼透了香蕉。

But the takeover turned out to be a tragedy, like buying a MacBook and finding out that it runs on Windows 95.

但結果卻是一場悲劇，就像買了一臺 MacBook，卻發現它運行的是 Windows 95。

It was like a beauty turning into goofy, or our invincible troops turning into toy soldiers.

這就像是美女變成了呆萌，又像是我們戰無不勝的軍隊變成了玩具兵。

The 228 incident that happened later on also made Taiwanese people toss and turn in bed.

後來發生的 228 事件也讓臺灣人在床上輾轉反側。

Exactly what happened on this day more than 70 years ago so important that it became a national holiday?

70 多年前的這一天究竟發生了什麼重要的事情，以至於成為全國性的節日？

And how does it impact us today?

它對我們今天有什麼影響？

Ahem, here we go!

咳咳，我們開始吧！

In 1947, an international sensation broke the internet.

1947 年，一個轟動國際的消息打破了互聯網。

Yeah, you know what I'm talking about!

是的，你知道我在說什麼！

Even though there was like no internet at the time, and the event wasn't really like international, people not from Taiwan probably even haven't heard of it.

雖然當時好像還沒有互聯網，而且這個活動也不是真正的國際性活動，但不是臺灣人可能都沒聽說過。

Yeah...

是啊...

The 228 incident.

228 事件。

The 228 incident, of course, is much more than just a few words or some name tossing.

當然，"228 事件 "遠不止幾句話或幾個名字那麼簡單。

We need to discuss it from politics, economics, and culture.

我們需要從政治、經濟和文化等方面進行討論。

First, the politics.

首先是政治。

After 50 years of living like a Japanese, the Taiwanese were looking forward to ruling themselves when they returned to the ROC.

在過了 50 年像日本人一樣的生活後，臺灣人期待著回到中華民國後自己統治自己。

But the chief executive, Mr. Chen Yi, had executive, legislative, judiciary, and military powers all by himself.

但行政長官陳毅先生卻獨攬行政、立法、司法和軍事大權。

It was like another governor-general all over again.

這就像又來了一位總督。

You want to work for the government?

你想為政府工作？

Well, think again!

那就再想想吧！

That's impossible!

這是不可能的！

After komikao education, most Taiwanese people were only able to speak Taiwanese or Japanese, but unfamiliar with the Beijing dialect.

經過 komikao 教育後，大多數臺灣人只會說臺語或日語，但不熟悉北京方言。

So, Chen Yi took advantage of this and excluded Taiwanese people from the system.

於是，陳毅利用這一點，將臺灣人排除在制度之外。

He said they had no political talent, didn't understand Mandarin, and even received Japanese-enslaving education.

他說他們沒有政治才能，不懂國語，甚至接受的是日本奴化教育。

No can do!

沒辦法！

No can do!

沒辦法！

On the other hand, peeps who came from China could easily get fixed up with any office position.

另一方面，從中國來的人可以很容易地獲得任何辦公室職位。

Even a man who's never seen a sugar cane could be the chairman of a sugar factory.

即使是一個從未見過甘蔗的人，也能成為製糖廠的董事長。

Even a man who couldn't read could teach in schools.

即使一個不識字的人也能在學校教書。

All kinds of messed-up doodoos made law-abiding Taiwanese citizens feel that the ROC government had crossed the line.

各種亂七八糟的事情讓守法的臺灣民眾覺得中華民國政府越界了。

But in fact, it's not like the Taiwanese haven't already seen all kinds of jobbery and robbery and messed-up popos.

但事實上，臺灣人也不是沒見過各種搶劫、搶錢和亂七八糟的警察。

I mean, just reload the save file for early Japanese rule.

我的意思是，只要重新載入保存文件，就能獲得日本早期的規則。

To most citizens, little corruption ain't a big deal as long as they had enough to eat.

對大多數公民來說，只要能吃飽飯，貪汙腐敗並不是什麼大事。

But they didn't!

但他們沒有！

In terms of economics, the ROC government not only enhanced the government monopoly system left by the Japanese, it also took over all the public and private companies left from the period.

在經濟方面，中華民國政府不僅強化了日本人留下的政府壟斷制度，還接管了當時留下的所有公營和私營企業。

They were in charge of everything, and when a government monopolizes a market, it's even harder for citizens to run a business.

他們掌管著一切，而當政府壟斷市場時，公民就更難經營企業了。

After finally getting over World War II, China was caught in another civil war.

好不容易熬過了二戰，中國又陷入了內戰。

Rice from Taiwan was shipped to China for support, making it cheaper to buy Taiwanese rice in Shanghai than in Taiwan.

臺灣的大米被運往中國大陸進行支援，是以在上海購買臺灣大米比在臺灣購買便宜。

After one year of the ROC takeover, the price of rice exploded to 400 times more expensive.

中華民國接管一年後，米價暴漲 400 倍。

All these disasters absolutely smashed Taiwan's economy.

所有這些災難對臺灣的經濟造成了毀滅性的打擊。

Exploitation of the bureaucracy and the over-issuance of Taiwanese dollars resulted in inflation.

官僚機構的剝削和臺幣的過度發行導致了通貨膨脹。

So much so that everyone in Taiwan said, we don't need ROC, dude.

以至於臺灣的每個人都說，我們不需要中華民國，老兄。

All we need is food.

我們需要的只是食物。

Besides the politics and economics, cultural differences worsened the conflicts between islanders and mainlanders.

除了政治和經濟問題，文化差異也加劇了島民與大陸居民之間的矛盾。

After 50 years of Japanese rule, Taiwan's modernized lifestyle was new to many Chinese soldiers.

經過 50 年的日本統治，臺灣的現代化生活方式對許多中國阿兵哥來說都很新鮮。

They would ride away unlocked bikes or borrow stuff from unlocked houses.

他們會騎走沒有上鎖的自行車，或者從沒有上鎖的房子裡借東西。

All these barbaric actions made the Taiwanese royally pissed off.

所有這些野蠻行徑讓臺灣人惱羞成怒。

As for the Chinese troops, they just finished a bloodbath with Japan.

至於中國軍隊，他們剛剛結束了與日本的浴血奮戰。

And now they saw Taiwanese folks wearing kimonos and acting all Japanese?

現在他們看到臺灣人穿著和服，一副日本人的樣子？

It was hard for them to not relate the two together.

他們很難不把這兩者聯繫在一起。

And of course, by association, they cursed the Taiwanese.

當然，連帶著，他們也詛咒了臺灣人。

Japanese slave!

日本奴隸

Japanese slave!

日本奴隸

This cultural gap created serious misunderstandings.

這種文化差異造成了嚴重的誤解。

On February 27th, 1947, a cigarette became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

1947 年 2 月 27 日，一支香菸成了壓垮駱駝的最後一根稻草。

An officer beat up a cigarette vendor who didn't even have time to run away, and the warning shot accidentally hit a bystander in the crowd.

一名警察毆打了一名香菸小販，小販甚至來不及逃跑，而鳴槍示警的子彈意外擊中了人群中的一名旁觀者。

On February 28th, the crowd gathered and demanded the government to hand out the killer.

2 月 28 日，民眾聚集在一起，要求政府交出凶手。

However, the military police shot the crowd instead.

然而，軍警卻向人群開槍。

This incident spread all over Taiwan through radio broadcast and turned a small protest that originated in Taipei into an island-wide rebellion.

這一事件通過電臺廣播傳遍了整個臺灣，使一場發源於臺北的小規模抗議活動變成了全島範圍內的叛亂。

Hold on, let's clarify something real quick.

等等，讓我們快速澄清一些事情。

Speaking of this 228 incident, a lot of innocent Taiwanese sacrificed, but there are also some easily overlooked victims.

說起 228 事件，有很多無辜的臺灣人犧牲了，但也有一些容易被忽視的受害者。

Ever since the shooting incident spread out, the situation went out of control real quick, and the public rage inflicted mainlanders from China.

自從槍擊事件傳開後，局勢迅速失控，來自中國的大陸人受到了公眾的憤怒。

Many innocent mainlanders became scapegoats.

許多無辜的大陸人成了替罪羊。

Bleh.

真糟糕

However, the chaos soon got under control.

不過，混亂很快得到了控制。

The 228 Incident Settlement Committee was also formed to try communicating in a peaceful way.

228 事件解決委員會也已成立，嘗試以和平方式進行溝通。

Students also grouped public security service teams to maintain peace, reminding islanders to stop beating mainlanders.

學生們還組織公安服務隊維護和平，提醒島民停止毆打大陸居民。

However, what made the 228 incident a real tragedy was not only the casualties, but also because the army still rushed to Taiwan after things had calmed down.

然而，"228 事件 "之所以成為真正的悲劇，不僅在於人員傷亡，還在於事態平息後，軍隊仍匆匆趕往臺灣。

The Chinese army landed on March 8th, and began a two-month-long armed suppression.

中國軍隊於 3 月 8 日登陸，開始了長達兩個月的武裝鎮壓。

The 228 Incident Settlement Committee was announced illegal, and members of the committee were arrested one by one.

228 事件解決委員會被宣佈為非法，委員會成員被逐一逮捕。

Compared to the secret executions of elites in the North, the fierce armed rebellion in the South was faced with public execution that was much more extreme.

與北方對精英的祕密處決相比，南方激烈的武裝叛亂面臨的是更為極端的公開處決。

For example, artist Chen Cheng-po was murdered in front of the Chiayi train station right in midday.

例如，藝術家陳澄波正午時分在嘉義火車站前被謀殺。

The Taiwan garrison commander Ke Yuan-fen cited rather kill 99 innocent than free 1 guilty.

臺灣駐軍司令柯元芬舉出了 "寧殺九十九無辜，不放一有罪之人 "的例子。

Geez, no wonder Death Note is so popular.

天哪，難怪《死亡筆記》這麼受歡迎。

Troops continued resident checks and arresting suspicious citizens, causing local people to toss and turn at night.

部隊繼續對居民進行檢查，並逮捕可疑公民，導致當地居民夜裡輾轉難眠。

Totally Nessun Dorma up in here.

這裡完全是《尼桑-多爾瑪》。

Writers, artists, teachers, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, reporters, professors, they were all on the kick-the-bucket list.

作家、藝術家、教師、企業家、醫生、律師、記者、教授，他們都在 "被踢出名單 "上。

Therefore, after the 228 incident, there was a huge gap in Taiwanese social elites.

是以，"228 事件 "發生後，臺灣社會精英出現了巨大落差。

To Taiwanese people nowadays, this tragedy isn't just a remote incident that affected only their ancestors.

對現在的臺灣人來說，這場悲劇不僅僅是影響他們祖先的遙遠事件。

Its damage continues to hurt us to this day.

時至今日，它的破壞仍在傷害著我們。

After the 228 incident, the rulers unilaterally defined it as a rebellion, a riot.

228 事件發生後，統治者單方面將其定義為叛亂、暴動。

They neglected the public's wish for reformation and instead turned into an authoritarian government to surveil public opinion.

他們忽視了公眾的改革願望，轉而變成了一個監視民意的專制政府。

The victims' families, the indignant people had no choice but to remain silent.

受害者家屬、義憤填膺的人們別無選擇，只能保持沉默。

In the 1980s, Taiwan caught the waves of democratic reformation and 228 was finally not considered taboo anymore.

20 世紀 80 年代，臺灣掀起了民主改革的浪潮，228 終於不再被視為禁忌。

It was made a memorial day and the government apologized, but many mysteries of the incident remain unsolved.

這一天被定為紀念日，政府也進行了道歉，但事件的許多謎團仍未解開。

Where did the missing people go?

失蹤的人去哪兒了？

Who exactly were the perpetrators?

肇事者究竟是誰？

Today, truth investigations of the 228 incident are still ongoing.

如今，228 事件的真相調查仍在進行中。

By practicing transitional justice, the Taiwanese are working hard to mend this wound.

通過實踐過渡時期司法，臺灣人正在努力彌補這一創傷。

It may take decades or more, but no one said it was easy to overcome a multifaceted trauma that involves race, culture, and values.

這可能需要幾十年甚至更長的時間，但沒有人說克服涉及種族、文化和價值觀的多方面創傷是一件容易的事。

All right, after all that talk, I'm a bit thirsty.

好了，說了這麼多，我有點渴了。

After finishing this glass of Gaoliang, we'll see you next time.

喝完這杯高粱酒，我們下次再見。

Cheers!

乾杯