In the course of 50 years of colonial rule by the Japanese and several decades of separation from China, Taiwan's social, legal, and cultural system had evolved into something different than that of China in 1940s. The most disparate conflict was in language. The official language in Taiwan had been Japanese during the colonial period, and most Taiwanese under 50 years of age could not speak nor understand Mandarin, despite the fact that the provincial dialect, Taiwanese Amoy, shares the same writing style. With the lack of a means of verbal communication --- as well as a mutual understanding of cultural and social specificity --- a deep-seated bigotry developed between the Taiwanese civilians and the new Nationalist government. The ensuing confusion and complexity is represented in a notable scene from City of Sadness, where a conversation between two characters necessitates translations between four languages. (A: 18: 10-19:50)
Instead of trying to bridge the gap, the Nationalist government enlarged it through its authoritarian rule, depriving native Taiwanese the right to share political power in what became a corrupt bureaucracy that initiated an economic depression. The spark for the massacre came when officials from the government tobacco monopoly, backed by about a dozen police, confiscated the goods of a woman selling smuggled cigarettes. The woman was mercilessly beaten by a policeman when she resisted their actions. Their brutality outraged bystanders, sparking clashes in which a man was killed. The next day --- February 28, 1947 --- an incensed crowd gathered in the streets of Taipei, and consecutive rebellions erupted in many cities of the island. Martial law was declared, and troops fired on the crowds. The rebellion was ultimately suppressed, but the army followed up in subsequent days by arresting and executing people thought to be capable of leading resistance to Nationalist rule. Many of those who died or disappeared were among the island's intellectual and political leaders. Contemporary reports by foreign eye-witnesses are included in our section entitled soc.culture.taiwan Thread. They give a good idea of how indirectly the film deals with the incident. The entire crackdown became known as the February 28 Incident (or 2.28 Incident).
With the lengthy Executive Yuan task force report on the February 28 Incident, which was released on its 45th anniversary, the government has admitted that its army killed an estimated 18,000 to 28,000 native-born Taiwanese in the 1947 massacre. The report also amounts to an apology for government handling of the 1947 Uprising and the subsequent four decades of Nationalist rule in Taiwan. Along with the release of the report, the taboo imposed upon the matter for four decades became a symbol of political struggle against authoritarian government for native- born Taiwanese.