/ 台灣大地文教基金會董事長 楊緒東醫師
photo source: 鄭南榕基金會
*粗體字為楊緒東醫師撰寫之書評
重生的郭南榕，精神永遠不死
至於肉身，他已決定
將在烈焰火光之中為台灣人
擊碎那囚禁他們四百年的牢籠
一個在驚恐中懷胎的外省囝仔
將以一具焦黑的屍體
成為台灣共和國的父親
1989年4月7日凌晨
國民黨重兵壓境，強行攻打雜誌社
鄭南榕反身進入總編輯室
熾烈熱火猛然冒起
熊熊火光中
鄭南榕成了祭壇上活活的犧牲
天上地下的
台灣人的列祖列宗
那前行的
冤屈含恨以歿的先人
都起來吧
有人以生命成就了義
新的台灣人，已在烈火中受胎
那些活著的
拭去淚吧
捆綁你們的枷鎖已經解去
你將因信稱義，不再畏懼，得著自由
寫於1997年4月
He was born in the year of the February 28 Masscare.
A life branded by the doomed day.
He grew up in a grim era of authoritarian rule.
Yet he remained upright and unafraid.
He committed himself to be a thinker of action,
A mainlander-Taiwanese striding on the thorny land with vitality.
When he ignited his life,
The burn of calamity finally turned into ashes,
And the land was illuminated with the reflection of blazing flames.
The rioting broke out on February 28,1947 in Taipei city.
Soon started to spread.
Townspeople enraged by the muddleheaded,greedy and savage KMT government officials who took over the island’s administration.
Beat up whichever mainlander they saw.
They came to the doorway of the Chengs’house in a towering rage.
Mr.Cheng returned to his hometown in Fouzhou to visit his relatives.
His wife,carring a three-month pregnancy,was at home alone……
Some forty years later,the oldest son of the Chengs,
The fetus at that time talked about this past thing he heard from his mother.
My mom hided in the house ,dared not go out.
Fortunately a neighbor stood forward and said,
This family was a mainlander husband marrying a Taiwanese wife.
Let’s skip them……
And that was how my family escaped the misfortune and
I had a chance to stay alive……
The terror of the February 28 Masscare followed Cheng Nan-jung
Even before he was born.
In his adulthood,he wrote such words
In his curriculum vitae for his first job application:
I was born in the year of the February 28 Masscare,
Which had brought me lifetime torments.
That incident had been afflicting him,until the moment when.
His body turned into charred remains in blazing flames……
Cheng Nan-jung studied philosophy,specializing in logics,A science
That is to distinguish true from false,cause from effect,right from wrong,
Where there is no room for ambiguity and compromise
But Fearless persistence.
He believed in classic liberalism,
Upholding the values of individual dignity
And he said,”I am a thinker of action.”
He refused to take the elective of Sun Yat-Sen’s doctrine,
Even which meant disqualification for university diploma.
He went into business in order to practice his belief in liberalism.
During the first election after the Kaohsiung Incident,
He threw himself into the opposition movement.
At that time there was no one who asked for his curriculum vitae.
Yet on his tanned face we could almost see the mark of
The February 28 Masscare that had plagued him for his entire life.
He distributed flyers on the streets,
Gathered news in the Legislative Yuen,
Did assistant work for a Legislator.
In early 1984,
He collected university diplomas and funds from every source
In order to register the publication of Freedom Era Weekly from the Government information Office.
The thinker was about to take action.
Since March 12,1984,
The Weekly and its successive series had run for five years and eight months,
Totally three hundred and two issues,
Until six months after his death.
Since the beginning,
He had introduced a strong entrepreneurship to the business.
To resist the suppression and confiscation by the Taiwan Garrison Command,And the ruling to ban publication by the Government Information Office,
He registered in total 18 licenses
And step by step built up a network of printing,shipping and distribution.
He contended with the enemy with a broad vision and resourcefulness
And strived to publish every issue on schedule whatever it cost. As disclosed by the inscription at the back cover of the Weekly,
The mission of his founding the Freedom Era Weekly was to
“Fight for a 100％ freedom of speech.”
For this,regardless of the tense and sensitive political atmosphere,
He reprinted in full text Biography of Chiang Ching-kuo written by Henry Liu.
Made public Chiang Ching- kuo’s medical condition on many occasions.
And exposed the shady dealings and abuses of the military.
As a result,the magazine was suppressed,
And publication suspended a record-breaking number of times.
Several people were sued by high ranking military officers.
Cheng Nan-jung was himself framed and sent to prison.
The thinker had practiced his belief in liberalism through actions,
Yhe with a dear price.
Since 1986,
Cheng Nan-jung started to intensify and magnify the breadth of his actions.
In 1986,he organized”May 19 Green Movement”,
Leading a crowd to assemble at Lung Shan Temple to protest against,
The 37-year rule of martial law.
In 1987,he initiated the”228 Peace Day Promotion Association”,
Holding demonstrations and giving speeches all over Taiwan
Demanding an investigation into the truth,redrees of injustice,
And reconciliation among different ethnic groups.
In 1988,he and”Formosan Political Prisoners Association”jointly promoted.
The”New Nation Movement”,
Marching around the whole island of Taiwan for 40 days.
Along the trail of these actions,
Cheng Nan-jung faced up to what had troubled him all his life
And in fact shackled Taiwan for decades-
The 228 Masscare
.
On April 16,1987,
At a speaker meeting in Chin-Hwa Junior High School in Taipei,
He stood on the platform,
Declaring without hesitation and restraint:
“I am Cheng Nan-jung,and I advocate Taiwan Independence.”
Many years after,
Colleagues in Freedom Era Weekly still talked about
How Cheng Nan-jung,in his office of Editor in Chief,would
Listen to the recording of his declaration in that speech over and over again With an ecstatic smile.
The 228 Masscare,his lifetime torment,
Was like an inescapable immense net.
Enveloping the whole country strictly and tightly.
His outcry pierced the oppressive net
Letting in a beam of light into the gloom,
Welcomed by all with an exciting cheer.
Again and again,on every public speech occasion
Before crowds of thousands,
He repeated with shining eyes:
“I am the‘gin-ah’(Taiwanese for child)of a mainlander,
And I advocate Taiwan Independence.”
His twisted mind regained clarity,and
His torn dignity reintegrated.
He finally got rid of the shadow of 228,
And was reborn as a brand new,integral and independent human being.
He was among the first
To join in the establishment of the Taiwan Democracy Party in the U.S.,
And became the first party member on the island.
He published Dr.Hsu Shih-kai’s”Draft for a Taiwan Republic Constitution”
And thus received a summons from the Taiwan High Court
For”being under suspicion of sedition”.
A reborn person had surpassed death.
When the unjust regime came to him by cowardly means,
He put down:
OVER MY DEAD BODY
“The KMT will only take my body,they will never take me alive.”
January 27,1989,Cheng Nan-jung began his self-confinement.
He never again set foot outside his office henceforth.
He put three barrels of gasoline and taped a green lighter
Under the desk of his Editor in Chief office.
And he also constructed defense works inside and outside the magazine office.
Volunteers from various places came to guard the place day and night
Against forced apprehension by the military and police.
During the 71 days,
Worried kith and kin came to visit him one after another.
Rev.Chi Yuan-teh at Gikong Presbyterian Church led a family worship service
At the magazine office every week.
Seeing his calm and composed smile.
Many people turned and wiped off their tears.
The spirit of a reborn Cheng Nan-jung would never die.
As to the body,he had decided that
He would,amid blazing flames,
Advance to destroy the cage
That had kept the Taiwanese in captivity for 400 years
A child of a mainlander conceived in terror
Would become the father of Taiwan Republic
In the form of a charred body.
In the early hours of April 7,1989
Large numbers of KMT troops surrounded the area and
Made an attack by force on the magazine building.
Cheng Nan-jung swiftly turned into his Editor in Chief office,
And in a sudden it was burning in fervent fire and heat.
Amid the flames,
Cheng Nan-jung became the live sacrifice on the altar.
Ancestors of the Taiwanese in heaven and under the earth,
Forerunners died in injustice and with regret,
You may all rise to your feet.
Someone has accomplished justice with his life.
The new Taiwan Republic has been conceived amid the blazing flames.
For those who are alive,
Wipe off your tears.
The shackles that once trussed you up have been removed.
You shall be justified by faith,have no more fear,
And be blessed with freedom.
鄭南榕基金會，2009，"他的火焰是我們的洗禮／林世煜、胡慧玲"，《好國好民－鄭南榕逝世20周年紀念特刊》，海王，台北縣，圖文拉頁。
（未完待續，撰於2009/06/01）
延伸閱讀：
2009鄭南榕逝世20周年紀念特刊—我讀．我見（1）
「我是鄭南榕，我主張台灣獨立」 談鄭南榕的死與生
悼念鄭南榕 不自由毋寧死精神長存
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