Renjian Magazine (人間雜誌)
30-Second Overview
In November 1985, a magazine called Renjian (人間, meaning "Human World") was born in Taipei. Its founder, Chen Yingzhen (陳映真, pen name Xu Nancun), did something no one dared to do at the time over 47 issues and four years: he pointed his lens at farmers, laborers, and indigenous peoples—at the Taiwan realities that the government considered "dark aspects."
This wasn't a political magazine or a literary journal, but a quiet revolution launched with photography and writing. It cultivated an entire generation of documentary writers and photographers, changed how Taiwanese people viewed their own land, and then quietly ceased publication in 1989 due to financial pressures.
Why It Matters
The "documentary photography" we take for granted today, the concern for the disadvantaged we consider normal, the storytelling through lenses we find natural—all of these were revolutionary in the 1980s.
Renjian magazine was the starting point of Taiwan's documentary literature. It proved one thing: true power doesn't lie in loud proclamations, but in quietly recording, witnessing, and discovering. When everyone was making political statements, Chen Yingzhen chose another path—pointing his lens at people truly living on the land.
This magazine existed for only four years, but the seeds it planted are still sprouting today.
Chen Yingzhen: One Man and One Magazine
Chen Yingzhen's birth name was Chen Yongshan, born in Danshui in 1937. His life was like an epitome of Taiwan's post-war history—complex, contradictory, and controversial, but always maintaining certain convictions.
In 1968, 31-year-old Chen Yingzhen was sentenced for sedition due to organizing reading groups and spent seven years in prison on Green Island. This experience profoundly influenced his later writing and thinking. He read Lu Xun, Chekhov, and Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, contemplating how literature could intervene in reality and speak for the voiceless.
After his release, Chen Yingzhen became an important writer for Xiachao (Summer Tide) magazine, continuing the leftist intellectual tradition. But the political winds of 1980s Taiwan confused him: "The Kuomintang was fighting with both hands—one against so-called 'communist elements,' meaning us Xiachao people; the other against Taiwan independence. In being beaten, we were the same as the 'dangwai' (opposition), but I couldn't stand on the dangwai's platform and route... At this time, I thought, why not open another battlefield?"
This "other battlefield" was Renjian magazine.
Historical Context: Taiwan Before the Lifting of Martial Law in the 1980s
Taiwan in the 1980s was on the eve of dramatic change. Chiang Ching-kuo was still in power, martial law hadn't been lifted, but society's grassroots were beginning to stir. The economic takeoff brought not just prosperity but also wealth inequality, environmental pollution, and labor rights issues.
Rural areas were declining, young people flocked to factories, and traditional culture struggled in the wave of modernization. Indigenous peoples faced cultural extinction, old soldiers longed for home but couldn't return, and new immigrants survived on the city's margins.
These stories weren't covered by mainstream media. The government considered them "negative issues" that would damage Taiwan's international image. Opposition media were busy with political resistance and had no capacity to focus on society's bottom layers.
It was in this gap that Renjian found its position.
What Was Inside 47 Issues
Renjian's mission statement was simple: "A magazine that uses images and text to conduct reporting, discovery, recording, witnessing, and commentary."
But how radical these 16 characters were at that time is hard for people today to imagine.
Each issue of Renjian was like a cross-section of Taiwanese society. You would see:
Rural Features — Not romanticized pastoral poetry, but real survival struggles. Pesticide pollution, land expropriation, youth exodus—these issues that persist today already appeared on Renjian's pages 35 years ago.
Worker Stories — Child laborers in factories, miners in pits, fatal accidents on construction sites. These people's voices were amplified for the first time; someone was finally willing to squat down and listen to them speak.
Indigenous Culture — Not tourist brochure song and dance performances, but crises of cultural transmission, land rights disputes, and identity confusion under modernization's impact.
Folk Crafts — Disappearing skills, master craftsmen's handmade wisdom, cultural heritage under industrialization's wave.
Each report was accompanied by extensive photography—not decorative illustrations, but narrative language equal to the text. Photographers went deep into scenes, using lenses to capture overlooked moments.
A Revolution in Documentary Photography
Before Renjian, Taiwan had no true "documentary photography."
First photo editor Wang Xinwei defined this concept: documentary photography must possess "informativeness and guidance"; it is "a critical attitude and a force for critical reform."
This wasn't art photography or news photography, but a new media language. Photographers weren't just recorders but witnesses, critics, and reformers.
Guan Xiaorong's lens followed farmers to fields, Ruan Yizhong went deep into indigenous villages, and Cai Mingde photographed the lives of urban marginal people. Their photographs had a special tension—objectively recording reality while being filled with humanistic care.
These photographers later became important figures in Taiwan's documentary photography, but their enlightenment all came from Renjian.
Issue 15: Exclusive Coverage of the Taoyuan Airport Incident
On November 30, 1986, blacklisted opposition figures including Xu Xinliang attempted to return to Taiwan from Japan but were blocked. The Democratic Progressive Party mobilized over a thousand supporters to Taoyuan Airport for solidarity; military police deployed water cannons for dispersal—the water was mixed with red dye to mark protesters' identities. The standoff lasted ten hours.
That evening, three official television stations only broadcast footage of crowds throwing stones, calling protesters "rioters." The only publication that dared to show police brutality was the Independence Evening Post, edited by Yan Wenge.
In January 1987, Renjian's Issue 15 exclusively interviewed Yan Wenge, deeply revealing the other side of the Taoyuan Airport incident. In an era when television stations were controlled by the party-state and most media remained silent, this interview's weight was more than just news reporting—it was a frontal challenge to "who has the right to define truth."
"Opening Another Battlefield": Neither KMT nor Opposition
Chen Yingzhen's political stance was always controversial. He was a leftist unificationist, supporting cross-strait unification and opposing Taiwan independence. This position is an absolute minority in today's Taiwan and wasn't accepted by the mainstream then.
But Renjian's significance doesn't lie in Chen Yingzhen's political views but in the "third path" it pioneered.
When the KMT was busy maintaining stability and the opposition was busy with resistance, Chen Yingzhen chose a completely different battlefield: social care. He didn't discuss unification or independence, didn't discuss democracy—he only discussed one question: How are the people living on this land doing?
This perspective allowed Renjian to avoid political whirlpools while giving it power that transcended politics. Farmers don't distinguish between blue and green, workers don't distinguish between unification and independence, indigenous people don't distinguish between parties. Suffering is common, and care should also be common.
The People Cultivated and Seeds Left Behind
Renjian magazine cultivated an entire generation of Taiwan's documentary literature and photography talent:
Chen Lie — Later became an important prose writer; his representative work Years on Earth records the lives of Green Island political prisoners.
Lan Bozhou — Inherited Chen Yingzhen's leftist tradition, writing important documentary literature works like Song of the Caravan.
Guan Xiaorong — Representative figure in rural photography, using lenses to record changes in Taiwan's agricultural society.
Ruan Yizhong — Godfather figure of Taiwan's humanistic photography; works like Taipei Stories and Bachi Gate Notes had profound influence.
Cai Mingde — Focused on photographing urban marginal people, recording human nature during Taiwan's social transformation period.
These people later became important figures in Taiwan's cultural circles, but their starting point was all Renjian magazine. More importantly, they continued Renjian's spirit: viewing the disadvantaged with warm eyes, recording reality with professional skills.
After Cessation
In September 1989, Renjian magazine ceased publication due to financial pressure. 47 issues, four years—a generation's record thus ended.
Chen Yingzhen later moved to Beijing, where he died in 2016. His political stance always sparked controversy, but his literary achievements and Renjian magazine's historical value could not be denied by anyone.
After Renjian's cessation, Taiwan's documentary literature didn't break off. On the contrary, the seeds it cultivated bloomed in various fields. From media to NGOs, from photography to documentaries, the "Renjian spirit" continued in various forms.
Today, when we see Public Television's in-depth reports, independent media's concern for the disadvantaged, documentary directors going deep into remote areas for filming, we can all find traces of Renjian magazine.
Remarkable Facts
47 Issues, Zero Political Slogans — Despite founder Chen Yingzhen's strong political coloring, Renjian magazine's 47 issues barely involved unification-independence disputes, focusing on social issues.
Issue 15's Exclusive Scoop — January 1987's Issue 15 exclusively interviewed Independence Evening Post editor-in-chief Yan Wenge, revealing the inside story of the December 1986 Taoyuan Airport incident, shocking Taiwan's political circles.
Four Chief Editors, Consistent Style — Pan Tingsong, Gao Xinjiang, Chen Yingzhen (under pen name Xu Nancun), and Zhong Qiao served as four chief editors, but the magazine's style remained consistent, showing clear editorial direction.
Remarkable Photography Proportion — Photography work in each Renjian issue occupied nearly 40% of total content, extremely rare in Taiwan's periodical world at the time.
Influence Beyond Circulation — Renjian's circulation wasn't large, but almost every issue sparked media attention and social discussion, with influence far exceeding circulation numbers.
Chen Yingzhen's Contradiction — As a leftist unificationist, Chen Yingzhen used Renjian to record the most authentically Taiwanese local life; this contradiction actually achieved the magazine's uniqueness.
Final Regret — Renjian originally planned to complete 50 issues symbolically, but financial pressure caused it to cease at Issue 47.
Successors' Tribute — Many later Taiwan documentary literature works mention Renjian magazine in acknowledgments, considering it their source of enlightenment.
Further Reading
Original Materials
- Renjian Magazine Issues 1-47 (1985-1989) — Complete periodicals collected in Taiwan's major libraries
Related Works
- Chen Yingzhen's *Chen Yingzhen Complete Works* — Literary works by the founder, understanding his intellectual context
- Lan Bozhou's *Song of the Caravan* — Representative work by documentary literature writer cultivated by Renjian
- Guan Xiaorong's *Taiwan Photographer: Guan Xiaorong* Photography Collection — Classic works by Renjian photographer
- Ruan Yizhong's *People and Land* — Representative works by Taiwan's humanistic photography master
Research Papers
- "Documentary Literature and Taiwan Society: Using Renjian Magazine as Example"
- "Research on Taiwan's Magazine Culture in the 1980s"
- "Chen Yingzhen and Renjian Magazine's Social Care"
Visual Materials
- The Invisible Country — Directed by Huang Mingchuan, about Chen Yingzhen and Taiwan's leftist literature
- Renjian Magazine-related interview footage — Digital archives in major university libraries
47 issues, four years, one person's persistence, a group's ideals, a generation's record. Renjian magazine reminds us: true power doesn't lie in how loud the voice is, but in whether one is willing to bend down and hear the most authentic voices from the land.