Leveraging the power of the media, Tangwai Magazine challenged the authoritarian regime during the martial-law period. Not only did it raise people’s awareness of democracy and build their Taiwanese identity, Tangwai Magazine played a key role in bringing about democracy. However, it was often banned for criticizing the government or violating martial-law decrees. The magazine’s origins can be traced back to Free China, established by Lei Chen and others in 1949. The publication of Free China ended when Lei was imprisoned in 1960.
When speaking of magazines of this sort, one first thinks of Taiwan Political Review founded by Huang Hsin-chieh and Kang Ning-hsiang. Taiwan Political Review is considered to be the first magazine on democratic movements launched by local elites in postwar Taiwan. Other magazines soon followed, such as China Tide, New Generation, Demo Voice, Long Bridge, 1980s, Formosa, Cultivate, Care, and Freedom Era Weekly.
The library holds nearly 3,000 magazines on Taiwan’s democratic movements, generously donated by Ke Tsai A-li (as Ke Chi-hua’s Collections), Chin Tung-cheng, Teng Wen-yuan, Su Meng-lung, Yen Po-chuan, Tsai Ming-hua, and others. While we seek other publications and individual issues, the current collection already shows the core spirit of democratic movements in those days.