The Taiwan Minpao was one of the essential newspapers written in Chinese, founded by the Taiwanese during the Japanese rule in Taiwan. It was formerly known as Taiwan Chinglian Monthly or Taiwan Monthly.
History
editTokyo Period
On April 15, 1923 (Taisho year 12), The Taiwan Minpao was founded in Tokyo, Japan, entirely in Chinese (known as the Taiwan Chinglian magazine before that and the Taiwan magazine after its new name was half Chinese and half Japanese). Known as “the only public opinion organization for Taiwanese,” it was once a newspaper with millions of circulations as three major newspapers, Taiwan Daily New Newspaper, Taiwan News, and
Tainan New Newspaper, during the Japanese colonial period. [1] Relocation to Taiwan On August 1, 1927 (Showa year 2), The Taiwan Minpao was relocated to Taiwan under the condition of adding a Japanese version.In March 1930 (Showa year 5), The Taiwan Minpao increased its capital and was
reorganized to change its name to The Taiwan New Minpao. On January 9, 1932 (Showa year 7), the application for the publication of Taiwan Minpao
Daily was approved and officially published on April 15 of the same year.
Content
editThe Taiwan Minpao spanned from the 1920s to the 1930s. It was considered the public newspaper of various social movements in Taiwan. It is also indispensable historical material for studying Taiwan from the 1920s to the 1930s. The Taiwan Minpao enthusiastically supported the political and social movements. The petition movement for the establishment of a Taiwanese parliament actively advocated for farmers, laborers, and women, fighting for their rights. It also supported the student movement, cultural enlightenment movement, and petition movement for establishing Taiwan’s parliament. Moreover, it echoed the demand for Taiwan’s autonomy and criticized the Taiwan Governors Office. The Taiwan Minpao also made many contributions in advocating new literature and art and promoting vernacular Chinese. It was also an important venue for publishing new literature in Taiwan.