QuJianghua : Disposing of and Re-appraising the Remnants of Chiang Kai-shek’s Reign on Taiwan

Abstract

This article explores attempts that were made by pro-independence political forces in Taiwan between the mid-1990s and 2008 to purge the remnants of the Chiang Kai-shek personality cult from Taiwan’s landscape. It explores a set of policies culminating in the renaming of Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in January 2008, and which were referred to in the Taiwanese media as quJianghua — ‘de-Chiang-Kai-shek-ification’. This article demonstrates, however, that rather than resulting in Chiang’s removal from historical debates in Taiwan, the contradictory policies that were pursued in this era have led to the emergence of new interpretations of Chiang and his legacy on the island.