Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract/Objectives

This course examines the life and writings of Lü Heruo, a major Taiwanese novelist of the Japanese colonial period. Lü Heruo (1914–1950) was an outstanding Taiwanese writer under Japanese rule. He published the Japanese-language short story collection Clear Autumn and, within his brief thirty-six years, demonstrated talents in music, theatre, and literature. He was celebrated as “Taiwan’s foremost prodigy,” yet his life was marked by hardship and misfortune. From the 1930s through the early postwar years—his most active period as a writer—he first faced persecution under the Kōminka (Japanization) movement and the war, and later the upheaval of the February 28 Incident. He then entered an underground anti-government movement and ultimately died tragically after being bitten by a venomous snake at the “Luku Base.” For a long time, both Lü Heruo’s life and his literary work were largely forgotten. It was only after the lifting of martial law that his writings began to be systematically compiled, translated, and studied. The publication of Seasonal Field Guide in July this year offers a more comprehensive view of the trajectory of his fiction, while the now-public The Diaries of Lü Heruo (1942–1944) further illuminates Lü Heruo and his times, and reveals the “fighting spirit” of a literary figure.

Results/Contributions

This course centers on the life and works of Lü Heruo (1914–1950) and is organized into five units that follow his writing alongside the historical contexts of his time—from the Taiwan New Literature Movement, through the wartime “decisive battle” mobilization, to the early postwar period. Through this structure, students examine how major historical upheavals—colonial rule, the Kōminka (Japanization) movement, war, and the February 28 Incident—shaped literary expression and the conditions of intellectual life.


Combining lectures with small-group discussions, the course draws on The Complete Fiction of Lü Heruo as well as newly unearthed and curated materials such as The Diaries of Lü Heruo (1942–1944) and Seasonal Field Guide. Students are trained to conduct close reading, corroborate interpretations with historical sources, and analyze texts within their socio-historical contexts, enabling them to identify narrative strategies, affective structures, and ethical choices, while reflecting on the relationships among “literature/history/memory.”


With assessment composed of 40% group discussion and 60% a final paper, students develop skills in source gathering, argumentation, and academic writing through both collaborative and independent research. The course also helps students translate concerns with human rights, cultural preservation, and public memory into sustainable learning outcomes, with applications that extend to educational settings and broader public communication.

Keywords

Lu Heruo, Taiwan under Japan Colonial Period, Qingqiu, The 228 Incident, The Deer Grotto Incident

Contact Information

臺灣研究教師在職進修碩士學位班，蘇淑芬
gpts@my.nthu.edu.tw