Lian Heng

Lien Heng (; 1878–1936) was a Taiwanese historian, politician, poet, merchant, editor of a Tainan's local newspaper. His most representative work was the . Some have claimed that he contributed to the creation and spread of a unified and strong Taiwanese cultural identity through his historical research and works of poetry. Early life Lien Heng was born on 17 February 1878 in Taiwan Prefecture, Qing-era Taiwan (modern-day Tainan, Taiwan). Lien grew up in a prosperous merchant family, the third son of Lien Te-Cheng. Lien's ancestors originated from the city of Longxi County (now part of Longhai City), Fujian Province. The family had moved to Taiwan at the end of the Ming dynasty as they were adamantly opposed to Manchu intrusions into China and the later foreign Qing dynasty. Born to a well-off family, Lien received an education in the traditional Chinese fashion, learning Chinese characters, poetry, and the Confucian Classics. Lien gained an early interest in Chinese and Taiwanese culture and history from stories told him by his father and private tutors.When Lien was 13 years old, his father gave him a book about the introduction of Taiwan, inspiring Lien's mind for recording Taiwan's history. With this exceptional schooling, Lien quickly developed into a young scholar-poet. Life under Japanese Rule Lien Heng was 17 when Taiwan came under Japanese imperial rule as a result of the Qing defeat in the 1894 Sino-Japanese War. The island falling to Japanese control in the following Treaty of Shimonoseki and the death of his father in the same year had a great effect on Lien. Lien felt as little connection to the foreign Qing China as he did to the new Japanese Empire, and he soon began research on the ancient history of China.In 1895, Lien helped Liu Yongfu, the commander of Black Flag Army, defeat the control of Japanese army. Lien moved out from his house where the Lien family had lived for seven generations for Black Flag Army to station. After Japanese army fully controlled Taiwan, Lien's house was expropriated by the Japanese government and used as a district court, forcing Lien being homeless at that time. Two years later in 1897, Lien's studies led him to Shanghai, a hub of progressive thought and western ideas. Due to illnesses and death in the family, he returned to Taiwan, where he began to create a genealogical record of the Lien family.