People
· Important figures and stories that shaped Taiwan's development 231 articlesIn 1987, when tsmc-morris-chang established Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Hsinchu Science Park, every semiconductor company in the world designed and manufactured their own chips. No one believed a company that only did contract manufacturing could survive. Thirty-eight years later, TSMC's market value exceeds 90% of global enterprises, and the world's most advanced chips are all produced in Taiwan.
The same year, Taiwan lifted martial law that had lasted for thirty-eight years.
These two seemingly unrelated events share the same backdrop: an island long under compression that, once given space, grows things at an unexpected speed. Taiwan's human stories are this repeated dialectic of compression and release.
Academia and Education 1
Arts and Creativity 2
Cuisine and Craftspeople 1
Digital & Media 3
Daptoper: From "Dark Laptop" to One Million Subscribers — The Data Curator Who Defined the Roblox Generation
In 2023, YouTuber "Daptoper" (real name Chou Chih-Hsuan) hit one million YouTube subscribers. From early Minecraft st...
He Feipeng (何飛鵬)
Founder of Cite Media Group and a key architect of Taiwan’s publishing industry—how He Feipeng guided print culture i...
Ray (YouTuber)
Born in 2005, Taiwanese high school student Hsu Chen-Jui gained viral fame when he said 'My name is Ray, I'm from Tai...
Education & Society 2
Stanley Yen: From the Mailroom to Taiwan's Godfather of Tourism — Then He Gave It All Up
High school diploma. Mailroom clerk at 23. General manager at 28. President of Asia's finest boutique hotel at 32 — w...
Huang Kuo-chen: Teaching Taiwan's Children to 'Understand' Not Just 'Finish Reading'
Founder of Pin Xue Tang, promoting reading literacy education in Taiwan, working to change the educational predicamen...
Education and Society 2
Yang Shen-Keng: The Education Philosopher Who Brought Two Oxygen Tanks to His Student's Dissertation Defense
On December 13, 2020, Yang Shen-Keng took leave from National Taiwan University Hospital, brought two oxygen tanks, a...
Yeh Ping-cheng
NTU Electrical Engineering professor who, dissatisfied with rote learning, built PaGamO — a gamified learning platfor...
Film & Theater 3
Niu Cheng-Ze: Talent and Controversy in Taiwan Cinema
Niu Cheng-Ze is a renowned Taiwan director and actor, famous for films like 'Monga' and 'Paradise in Service.' From c...
Brigitte Lin: From Romance Icon to Martial Arts Legend
The legendary actress who dominated both Qiong Yao romance films and Tsui Hark's martial arts cinema, becoming an ete...
Gwei Lun-Mei
From 'Secret' to international film festivals, a low-key method actress who represents Taiwan's new generation of cin...
Historical Figures 2
Robert Swinhoe: When a Diplomat Became a Naturalist
In 1856, a 19-year-old British interpreter recorded the first bird he spotted on the western coast of Formosa. Four y...
Chu Yi-kuei, the Duck King: Taiwan's First Self-Proclaimed King and Rebel Leader
An account of the 1721 Chu Yi-kuei Incident — from a duck farmer to a self-proclaimed king — and the far-reaching eff...
Music 2
Teresa Teng: A White Headband in Happy Valley, a Plastic Bag of Kinmen Air, a Five-Minute Gap in Chiang Mai
On May 27, 1989 — eight days before the Tiananmen crackdown — Teresa Teng walked onto a Hong Kong racetrack stage wea...
Jolin Tsai (蔡依林): Taiwanese Pop Queen — Career, Age, and Rise to Stardom
Born 1980 in Taipei, Jolin Tsai debuted at 19 and became Asia's most spectacular live performer. From a dance instruc...
Music & Performance 1
Music and Performance 4
Rainie Yang: From Weather-Girl Avatar to Self-Produced Ambiguous 2025
On September 9, 2025, on the exact 20th anniversary of the original release of "Ambiguous," Rainie Yang released a se...
HUR+: From DD52 Runners-Up to Zepp New Taipei — A Nine-Member Girl Group That Never Stopped
In the 2020 idol competition finale, they lost by 2.5 points. Six years later, the champions have disbanded, and the ...
Lien Ying: Six Years from 'The Dance Standard a Girl Group Should Have' to a Solo EP
In 2020, a twenty-one-year-old girl from Taichung looked at Pan Wei-Po and said: 'I want everyone to know the standar...
Fish Stick: A Name Like a Street Snack, a Sound That Hits Like Post-Hardcore
On December 31, 2019, Fish Stick released their first full-length album Antidote on the last day of the year. Three c...
Political Figures 1
Politics & Democracy 3
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien
From political prisoner to vice president: The first female vice president in the Chinese-speaking world
Kao Chun-ming
A pastor who risked his life and church for a stranger he barely knew — the faith choice behind the Kaohsiung Incident
Ko Wen-je
The surgeon who rewrote Taiwan's political script — from ECMO pioneer to third-party presidential candidate
Politics and Democracy 1
Pop Culture 4
Ahn Ji-hyun
From Korean pro cheer to lead foreign performer of TSG Wing Stars—she brings cross-border performance experience to t...
Byun Ha-yul
From a CTBC Brothers Korean cheer pillar to a cross-season regular—beyond high popularity, she has also spoken in pub...
Nam Min-jung
A Korean member who stayed seasons with Fubon—turning "short-term heat" into "predictable appearances" as professiona...
Muscle Mountain
A Korea-born creator who has put down deep roots in Taiwan, building social influence through fitness and bilingual h...
Popular Figures 1
Science & Academia 2
Sports 6
Lee Yang
The young man who gritted his teeth through Division A, now gritting his teeth to fight institutional corruption in s...
Yang Chuan-kwang: Taitung Tribal Community, Rome Silver Medal, and the Asian Iron Man Who Forced the IAAF to Rewrite Its Rules
Born July 10, 1933, in the Malan Amis tribal community of Taitung, Yang Chuan-kwang was Taiwan's first Olympic medali...
Kevin Lin (Lin Yi-jie)
From rejected track team tryouts to becoming the first person to run across the Sahara Desert on foot
Li Chih-kai
From 'Market Kai' in the documentary Tumbling Boys to an Olympic silver medal — sixteen years of tumbling through lif...
Wei-Yin Chen
The left-hander who signed Taiwan's highest sports contract but only received 47% of the money
Yang Yung-Wei
Taiwan judoka who won silver medal in men's 60kg at 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Taiwan's first Olympic judo medal
Tech & Business 2
政治人物 8
Hsiao Bi-khim
Born in Japan, elementary school in Tainan, raised in New Jersey, Oberlin graduate — the 'Cat Warrior' who became Tai...
Han Kuo-yu
The first directly elected mayor in ROC constitutional history to be recalled, then became President of the Legislati...
Puma Shen: He Studied China's Cognitive Warfare; Then China Put Him on a Satellite Map
In 2021, Puma Shen and strategic studies scholar Ho Cheng-hui co-founded Kuma Academy. Robert Tsao donated NT$600 mil...
Lu Hsiu-yan: From 10,000 Bottles of Guguan Air to the 'Arms Procurement as Insurance' Doctrine — The Undefeated Queen
On 2018-12-25, she spent her own money to commission 10,000 glass jars of 'Guguan Air' and distributed them to citize...
Cho Jung-tai: From Hsieh Chang-ting's Legislative Aide to the Premier Who Refused to Co-sign the Fiscal Revenue and Expenditure Act
The 31st Premier of the Republic of China. Starting in 1987 as Hsieh Chang-ting's legislative aide, he spent 38 years...
Hsu Chiao-hsin: From Breakfast Shop Daughter to the 'NT$800 Billion Arms Deal' Legislator's Youth-Driven Traffic
Legislator for Taipei City's Seventh Electoral District. Born in 1989 into a Taipei breakfast shop family, became the...
Ji Lin-lian: From a Chen Shui-bian–Favored General to the Vice Chairman Who Wanted Han Kuo-yu Expelled from the KMT
On the afternoon of April 29, 2026, at a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting, 78-year-old Vice Chairman Ji Lin-lia...
Chiang Kai-shek
His bronze statues are being removed, but the foundations he laid — whether you call them construction or shackles — ...
政治與民主 12
Lai Ching-te: The Public Health Physician from a Mining Family to the Presidential Office
Taiwan's 16th president and the first political figure in the constitutional history of the Republic of China to run ...
Zheng Nanrong: The Equation of a Mainlander's Son Who Traded His Life for Freedom of Speech
During the 228 Incident of 1947, his father Zheng Musen was hidden by Taiwanese neighbors to survive. Forty-one years...
Ma Ying-jeou: The Harvard Doctor of Law Who Entered Chiang Ching-kuo's Office as an English Interpreter, Served Eight Years as a President Grounded in a 'Clean' Image, and Left Behind Cross-Strait Policy, the Sunflower Movement, and 22K
On November 7, 2015, at the Shangri-La in Singapore, he shook Xi Jinping's hand for 1 minute and 20 seconds: the firs...
Tsai Ing-wen: From an 800,000-Vote Defeat to an 8.17 Million-Vote Re-election as Taiwan’s First Female President
Taiwan's first female president (2016–2024), a scholar of international trade law by training, who oversaw Asia's fir...
Chen Chih-chung: From the Spotlight of the First Family to Political Ups and Downs Under the 'Blacklisting Clause'
In 2008, Chen Chih-chung was forced to interrupt his studies and return to Taiwan due to an overseas money laundering...
Chen Chu
From death-row prisoner at Meilidao to the South's all-powerful 'Mama Mayor' — she is the most vivid witness to Taiwa...
Shih Ming-te: Twenty-Five Years Behind Bars, He Finally Raised a Flag Against His Own Party
After the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident, Shih Ming-te — charged as the mastermind — stood at his military tribunal and refu...
Fu Kun-chi: The Spiral of Power from the East Coast's 'Hualien King' to Legislative Caucus Convener
From the 1990s stock-market magnate known as 'Kai Ju Little Fu,' to entering the legislature in 2001 and taking contr...
Chen Shui-bian
Taiwan's 10th and 11th president and the architect of the 2000 democratic power transition. From the son of a Tainan ...
Lin Yixiong: From Taiwan Provincial Councilor to the Moral Symbol of the Anti–Nuclear Four Movement
Lin Yixiong was born in 1941 in Yilan, graduated from the National Taiwan University Department of Law, and practiced...
Chen Chien-jen: SARS Health Minister, Vice President, 31st Premier
Born June 6, 1951, in Qishan Township, Kaohsiung County, Chen Chien-jen is an internationally renowned epidemiologist...
Lee Teng-hui
The paradoxical life of an agricultural economist who became the first democratic leader in the Chinese-speaking world
教育與社會 4
Audrey Tang: Every Famous Decision She Has Made Has Been a Refusal of the Label 'Genius'
At age 8 she was kicked unconscious by classmates; at 14 she declined direct admission to Taipei Municipal Jianguo Hi...
Liu An-ting
In 2008 she left Taichung Girls' Senior High School for Princeton. In 2013, at 23, she quit her New York consulting j...
Lu Kuan-wei: He Passed the Medical Licensing Exam but Never Put on a White Coat, Betting Instead on Something Harder to Prove Than Saving Lives
He passed the medical licensing exam but never put on a white coat. Instead, he took over the Junyi Academy platform ...
Huang Guang-xiong: The Man Who Built a College of Education on a Chiayi Field
In 1996, Huang Guang-xiong traveled south from NTNU to Chiayi, founding the Graduate Institute of Education at Nation...
數位與媒體 9
Brian Tseng: He Can Calculate a Punchline, but Not Society
Born in 1990, Brian Tseng went from headphones on a desk at Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School to double majors in ...
Howhow: The Person Who Laid Sponsored Content Out in the Sun, and the Increasingly Expensive Honesty He Sustains Alone
In 2015, a YouTuber with fewer than 100,000 followers was flown to New York by Samsung. He thought he was being hired...
Zun: From 'Yellow-Haired Pig' to Two Million-Subscriber Channels, the Lonely Weight of a 27-Year-Old 'Clean Stream'
In January 2018, 19-year-old Chu Yu-en became Taiwan's youngest million-subscriber YouTuber. Eight years later, at 27...
Pa Chiung: From Hualien Truku Youth to the 'Spy-Master' Wanted by the CCP for One Million Yuan
In November 2025, the Quanzhou Public Security Bureau in Fujian issued a wanted notice — targeting Taiwanese influenc...
Chang Chih-chi: The 'Information Curator' Seeking Dialogue in a Polarized Age — from Simpleinfo to Shasha77, Seven Years of Daily Updates
Known for seven years of daily updates and 1.65 million subscribers on 'Shasha77,' this information designer translat...
Huang Brothers: Behind the Fresh-Faced Label, the Reality and Tenderness Forced into the Open
Beginning with a prank video in 2017, the Huang Brothers broke through Taiwan's YouTube scene with a “fresh, positive...
Red Shin (Kouki): From Eleven-Year Daily Upload Machine to Million-Subscriber YouTuber Who Reclaimed His Life
On October 15, 2023, game streamer Red Shin (Kouki), with 3 million subscribers, uploaded his final scheduled video, ...
Ray Du: From a Young Exchange Student Who Hated English to the 'Block Captain' of Taiwan's YouTube World
In 2020, YouTuber Ray Du launched the New York Times advertising crowdfunding campaign that showed the world Taiwan e...
Chu Ke-liang
Icon of Taiwan's show culture, beloved national comedian, passed away in 2017
文學 12
Li Ang: Lukang 1952, the Trailblazer Who Opened the Path of Taiwanese Feminist Literature with 'The Butcher's Wife'
Born in April 1952 in Lukang, Changhua, under the birth name Shih Shu-tuan. In 1983, 'The Butcher's Wife' was seriali...
Lin Liang: Shallow, Yes — But Shallow with Flavor
From the eldest son who lost his father on the banks of the Jiulong River in 1944, to the 95-year-old grandfather who...
San Mao: The Person Who Wrote Escape as Freedom
Born Chen Ping in 1943 in Chongqing, she moved to Taiwan with her family in 1948. She dropped out of junior high afte...
Chen Yingzhen: The Pro-Unification Literary Conscience from Zhunan to Beijing
Chen Yingzhen (1937-2016), born Chen Yongshan, was born in Zhunan, Miaoli, and grew up in Yingge. In 1964, “The Gener...
Long Ying-tai: Daliao 1952, Public Intellectual from *Wild Fire* to Taiwan's First Minister of Culture
Born 1952/2/13 in Daliao Township, Kaohsiung City. MA in English and American Literature, Kansas State University; do...
Xi Murong
Author of "Qili Xiang" and "Youth Without Regret", the best-selling poet in the Chinese-language poetry scene, of Mon...
Chu Tien-wen: 1956 Taipei, from *San San Journal* to *A City of Sadness* and the Golden Lion at Venice
Born in Taipei in 1956, daughter of novelist Chu Hsi-ning. In 1977, co-founded *San San Journal* with Hu Lan-cheng an...
Huang Chun-ming: Born in Luodong, 1935 — Chronicler of Small Figures from 'The Days of Watching the Sea' to 'The Sandwich Man'
Born February 13, 1935, in Luodong, Yilan. 'The Days of Watching the Sea' (1967) and 'The Sandwich Man' (1969) repres...
Huang Zhen-nan
Huang Zhen-nan is a Taiwanese cultural historian, book collector, and writer. Through his 'Huoshuilaifang' page, he s...
Pai Hsien-yung: Taipei People (1971) to the Youth Edition of the Peony Pavilion's 20-Year Tour
Born in 1937 in Guilin, Guangxi, son of Bai Chongxi. Entered the National Taiwan University Department of Foreign Lan...
Zhong Lihe: Meinong 1915, the Writer Who Fell in a Pool of Blood
Born on December 15, 1915, into a Hakka family in Meinong, Kaohsiung. Went to Northeast China in 1938 and returned to...
Hung Hsing-fu: A Prematurely Fallen Giant of Nativist Literature
Born in 1949 into a poor farming family in Erlin, Changhua, Hung Hsing-fu published his first short story at age 18. ...
文學與詩人 2
Ya Hsien: After Writing Abyss, He Stopped Writing; in the United Daily News Supplement, His Later Life Became a Page in Poetry History
In 1968, at age 36, Ya Hsien gathered ninety poems into Abyss and then stopped writing. From 1977 to 1998, he edited ...
Cheng Chou-yu: The Wanderer Who Wrote “Error” and Finally Registered His Household in Kinmen
In 1955, the 22-year-old Cheng Chou-yu wrote in On Dreamland, “My clattering horse’s hooves are a beautiful error,” a...
歷史人物 8
Charles Le Gendre: The Treaty-Maker and the Traitor Were the Same Man
In 1867, the American merchant ship Rover wrecked off the Hengchun Peninsula, and 14 crew members were killed by the ...
Mona Rudao: The Anti-Japanese Hero on the Twenty-Dollar Coin, and the World Without China or Japan
In 2001, Taiwan's Central Bank placed the face of anti-Japanese hero Mona Rudao on the twenty-dollar coin. But the mi...
Yoichi Hatta: From Hydraulic Legend to the "Biting Canal," the Colonial Imprint of a Technocrat
In the 1920s, Japanese engineer Yoichi Hatta built the Wushantou Reservoir and the Chianan Canal on Taiwan's Chianan ...
Wu Baifu (Momofuku Ando): From Puzi, Chiayi to Tables Worldwide, a Global Legend of Taiwanese Genes and Japanese Packaging
In 1961, Momofuku Ando purchased Chang Kuo-wen's patent application rights for instant noodles for 23 million yen. Th...
Shao You-lian: The Conservator in Liu Ming-chuan's Shadow, and the True Anchoring of Taipei as Provincial Capital
Was he the culprit whom history marked as having “ended the New Policies,” or the most pragmatic fiscal gatekeeper of...
Liu Ming-chuan: Lighting Taiwan's First Electric Lamp, a Modernizing Pioneer Running Through Power and Controversy
From the son of a salt smuggler to Taiwan's first governor, Liu Ming-chuan spent six years in Taiwan not only promoti...
Koxinga
A half-Japanese pirate's son who spent sixteen years fighting the Qing, nine months conquering Taiwan, five months fo...
Rather Burn Out Than Rust Out: Mackay and His Beloved Formosa
From extracting over 20,000 teeth to founding Taiwan's first school for girls, how Canadian missionary George Leslie ...
流行人物 6
Park Sung-eun
From exchange guest to official Fubon member, she became a new-generation representative of the five Korean cheerlead...
Jin Enoki
Having built million-scale influence through narratives of life in Taiwan, she turned “Koreans in Taiwan” from a news...
Lee Ah-young
One of the defining representatives of Korean cheer squad 'long-stay' performers in Taiwan, she converted high visibi...
Lee Da-hye
From Korean professional baseball cheerleading to front-line support representative in Taiwan's professional baseball...
Lee Ju-eun
From the "AI goddess" craze to her full-force move into Taiwan, her path has rewritten the imagination of Korean chee...
Park Min-seo
Joining the TSG Hawks Wing Stars under the name 'Mingo,' she took on the roles of performance director and Korean imp...
科學與學術 7
Wu Ta-you: The Academia Sinica President Who Recommended Yang and Lee to the US, and His Eleven Years Laying Taiwan's Scientific Foundations
Theoretical physicist and president of Academia Sinica; mentor to Nobel laureates Yang Chen-ning and Lee Tsung-dao; t...
Lee Yuan-tseh
1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, pioneer of chemical dynamics with crossed molecular beam technique, Taiwan's ...
Hsu Cho-yun: Writing the Long River of Chinese History with Two Fingers, Wang Leehom's Great-Uncle's Ninety-Five Years
A historian born in Xiamen in 1930, who followed the Nationalist government to Taiwan in 1949 and went to Pittsburgh ...
Lin Chi-er: From Taipei to Low Earth Orbit, the Taiwan-Born Physician Who Played Bagpipes in Space
Born in Taipei in 1973, Lin Chi-er (Kjell N. Lindgren) is the first NASA astronaut born in Taiwan. After graduating f...
Yang Wei-cher: From Calculus to the Mother Tongue, the Performing Artist of the Mathematics World
Yang Wei-cher, professor emeritus in National Taiwan University's Department of Mathematics, is known for teaching in...
Paul Ching-Wu Chu: Co-discoverer of High-Temperature Superconductivity at Tc=93K, Breaking Through the Liquid-Nitrogen Temperature in 1987
Born in Hunan in 1941, Paul Ching-Wu Chu is a Taiwanese American physicist. In January 1987, he and Maw-Kuen Wu joint...
Henry Lee
Built a forensic legend from a handful of bone fragments — yet a 'bloodstain' on a towel sent two men to prison for t...
科技與企業 13
Jensen Huang
From a Kentucky reform school to history's first $5 trillion company — how a toilet-scrubbing boy from Tainan bet on ...
Morris Chang
The father of semiconductors, founder of TSMC, and legendary entrepreneur who transformed the global technology indus...
Tzu-Hsien Tung: From Taipei Tech to Pegatron, Apple's Largest Manufacturing Partner
Born June 25, 1960, Tzu-Hsien Tung graduated from the Department of Electronics at Taipei Tech (now National Taipei U...
Yung-ching Wang: From a Rice Shop to the Twenty-Year Battle for the Sixth Naphtha Cracker, and the Posthumous Family Inheritance War
Born on January 18, 1917, in Xindian, Taipei, Yung-ching Wang dropped out of school at 15 and borrowed money to open ...
Mark Liu: The Berkeley PhD Who Succeeded Morris Chang — Six Years of Decision-Making in the US-China Chip Crossfire
In June 2018, Morris Chang retired, and Mark Liu and C.C. Wei jointly took the helm of TSMC. This UC Berkeley electri...
Yeh Kuo-yi: From Shilin Commercial High School to Building a Half-Century Manufacturing Empire
Born on April 21, 1941, Yeh Kuo-yi had no university degree. Starting from Shilin Commercial High School, he founded ...
Terry Gou: Banqiao 1950, Hon Hai Plastics 1974, and the Founder of a Contract-Manufacturing Empire
Born in Banqiao, Taipei County, on 1950/10/18. Founded Hon Hai Plastics Enterprise in 1974 with NT$100,000 and 10 emp...
Xu Wen-long: Tainan 1928, Chi Mei Corporation 1959, and the Founder of the World's Largest Violin Collection Museum
Born 2/25/1928 in Tainan, passed away 11/18/2023 (age 95). Founded Chi Mei Corporation in October 1959 (capital of NT...
C. C. Wei: Born 1953, from NCTU Electronics to Yale PhD to TSMC Chairman and President
Born in 1953. B.S. and M.S. in Electronics Engineering, National Chiao Tung University; Ph.D. in Electrical Engineeri...
Jamie Lin: From Academia Sinica to Google Taiwan, Still on the Startup Front Line After Retiring in 2020
Born in 1963, Jamie Lin holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from National Taiwan University; his doctora...
Lin Bai-li: Shanghai 1949, Founder of Quanta Computer and the Notebook ODM King Who Has Fought Cancer for Two Decades
Born April 24, 1949, in Shanghai. Co-founded Quanta Computer with Liang Ci-zhen and others in 1988. Diagnosed with lu...
Steve Chang: A Fu Jen Catholic University Math Graduate Who Sold Antivirus Software to the World
Born in 1954, Steve Chang graduated from the Department of Mathematics at Fu Jen Catholic University, then went to th...
Tony Hsiao: From Game Product Manager to INSIDE Founder, the Mayor of Taiwan's Internet Scene
In 2009, six internet people launched a collaborative blog, and INSIDE — Taiwan's pioneering tech commentary media — ...
藝術與設計 12
Aaron Nieh: Taiwan’s First AGI Member, from Golden Melody Album Packaging to National Identity Systems Across Two Decades
Aaron Nieh (born 1977) is the first Taiwanese designer admitted to Switzerland’s Alliance Graphique Internationale (A...
Wanwan: She Gave Taiwan's Office Workers a Face, Then Nearly Lost Herself in Twelve Days
In 2004, Hu Chia-wei rose to prominence on Wretch under the name Wanwan, becoming Taiwan's first illustrator valued i...
Chen Chun-Liang: Design Poet and Modern Translator of Eastern Aesthetics
Chen Chun-Liang was born in Tainan in 1958 and founded Freeimage Design Co., Ltd. on his 29th birthday, earning the t...
Fang Hsu-chung: From a Pingtung Military Dependents' Village to the Visual Director Behind Taiwan's Three Major Awards Ceremonies
Joe Fang Studio founder Fang Hsu-chung was born in 1978 in Gonghe New Village, Donggang, Pingtung. He studied in the ...
Stan Lai: The Cross-Strait Theater Bridge-Builder Behind Performance Workshop and the Wuzhen Theatre Festival
Stan Lai was born on 1954/10/25 in Washington, D.C.; his father Lai Chia-chiu was a diplomat. He earned a PhD in Dram...
Xiao Qing-Yang
Grammy Award winner for Best Recording Package, nominated seven times before finally winning with a father-daughter c...
Jimmy Liao: The Yilan Illustrator Who Brought Picture Books to the World Stage After Beating Blood Cancer
Born Liao Fu-bin on November 15, 1958, in Yilan. Graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at Chinese Culture Univer...
Fang-Yi Sheu: Yilan 1971, from Martha Graham Dance Company Principal to 2024 Golden Horse Film Festival Visual Dance Designer
Born in Yilan in 1971. Graduated from the Dance Department of Taipei National University of the Arts. Went to the Uni...
Li Guoxiu
Founder of Ping-Feng Acting Troupe, Taiwan's King of Comedy, passed away from colorectal cancer on July 2, 2013, at t...
Ming Hua Yuan: Founded in Tainan in 1929, the Four-Generation Chen Family's Taiwanese Opera Empire
Founded by Chen Ming-chi in Tainan in 1929, relocated to Chaozhou, Pingtung in 1962. The second generation, Chen Shen...
Shen Sheng-Po
Trained in computer science, Shen Sheng-Po brought code into Taiwan’s contemporary art scene. In just 34 years, he le...
Zhu Zong-qing
A percussion pioneer who returned from Vienna, transforming a niche art form into a people's music over 40 years
電影與戲劇 7
Ang Lee: Behind Two Oscars, the Son Who Never Properly Said Goodbye to His Father
On the Oscar stage in 2006, Ang Lee became the first Asian in history to win Best Director, yet in Mandarin he said, ...
Tsai Ming-liang
Golden Lion Award winner at Venice, Malaysian Chinese master of slow cinema aesthetics
Edward Yang
A central figure of the Taiwan New Cinema movement, Cannes Best Director winner, and poet of urban alienation
Hou Hsiao-hsien
The film poet who rejected close-ups yet conquered the world: a visual revolutionary against cinematic grammar
Wei Te-sheng: Yongkang 1969, the Taiwanese Epic Filmmaker from Cape No. 7's Record-Breaking Box Office to the Venice Main Competition
Born August 16, 1969, in Yongkang Township, Tainan County (now Yongkang District, Tainan City). Graduated from the De...
Chen Yu-hsun
Taiwanese comedy film director, creator of Tropical Fish, The Chef, the Actor, the Scoundrel, and My Missing Valentine
Sylvia Chang: From Chiayi to Director of *Love Education*
Born in Chiayi City in 1953, Sylvia Chang entered the entertainment industry at age 17 through the film *Dreams of th...
音樂 10
Lo Ta-yu: From Radiologist to 1982's 'Zhi Hu Zhe Ye' and a 2025 New Album
Born July 20, 1954, in Taipei. Graduated from China Medical College (now China Medical University) around 1980/81 (th...
Jonathan Lee: After Writing Others' Innermost Thoughts in Plain Speech, Only in Hill Did He Finally Speak of Himself
Jonathan Lee, born in 1958 into a gas shop family in Beitou, feared going back to deliver gas, so he spent his life w...
Chen Chien-nien: The Golden Melody King in the Police Station, the Grandfather’s Songs the Grandson Turned into Ocean
Born on August 1, 1967, in the Nanwang community of the Puyuma people in Taitung. After graduating from the police ac...
Lim Giong: From the Platform of 'Moving Forward' to Cannes for The Assassin — Three Decades of a Hokkien Rock Defector
On December 7, 1990, 26-year-old Changhua native Lin Chih-feng turned Hokkien song from melancholy into rock with 'Mo...
A-mei: Puyuma Singer, from 1996's *Sisters* to 2024 Taipei Dome Five Shows
Born August 9, 1972, in Taitung County's Beinan Township, A-mei is a Taiwanese Puyuma singer and one of the most succ...
Bobby Chen: From Changhua, Debut Album in 1988, and Thirty Years of New Year's Eve as His Calling Card
Born on October 29, 1958, in Xizhou Township, Changhua County, Bobby Chen is one of Taiwan's most distinctive singer-...
Deng Yuxian: Hakka 1906, Four Songs of the Four Months — Thirty-Nine Years of the Father of Taiwanese Ballads
Born July 21, 1906, into a Hakka family in Longtan, Taoyuan; original name Deng Bingyan. Graduated from normal school...
JJ Lin: Singapore 1981, the Mandopop King of Creation from 'River South' to JJ20
Born 1981/3/27 in Singapore. Began piano at age 4. 2003 debut album 'Music Voyager' (1.2 million copies in Asia). 200...
Wu Bai: From Garlic Village, Liujiao, Three Decades of Taiwanese Rock Without Discount
Born Wu Chun-lin in 1968 in Garlic Village, Liujiao Township, Chiayi County. Formed 'Wu Bai & China Blue' in 1992; 'N...
Jody Chiang: The Queen of Taiwanese Pop Who Rose from the Sulfur Smoke of Beitou, and Her Nine-Year Secret War
From singing in Beitou's cabarets at age 10 to becoming a Taiwanese-language pop diva with record-breaking sales in t...
音樂人 2
Mavis Fan: From 'Health Song' Little Witch to 100% Band Frontwoman — Thirty Years of Refusing to Be Defined by Any Single Era
In 1996, 19-year-old Mavis Fan became everyone's Little Witch with 'Health Song.' In 1998 she shaved her head and rel...
Ke Zhi-Tang (Kowen Ko): The Taiwanese Indie Folk Singer Who Traded Seven Years of Silence for an Album
Born in Taiwan in 1990, he won the Hai Xian Award (海弦獎) in 2013 with his Coldplay covers, and that same year became t...
音樂與表演 21
Tzuyu
A Tainan girl who never talked politics. An 8-second flag on Korean TV. An election-eve apology video. And ten years ...
Whyte (壞特?te): The Honor Student Who Spent Nine Years in Medical School — and Pressed Pause
On August 21, 2021, Whyte stepped onto the stage at the 32nd Golden Melody Awards wearing a black hat and sunglasses....
Hebe Tien: The Singer Who Shed the Idol System, One Layer at a Time
When Hebe Tien released her debut solo album To Hebe in September 2010, the poster read 'super newcomer after ten yea...
Crowd Lu: The Triple Crown Champion Who Was Run Over by a Bus
In 2003, a boy from Tainan rode out for a late-night snack and had his leg crushed under a bus. Bedridden and bored, ...
Enno Cheng: Writing the Most Honest Songs in the Most Unfamiliar Language — Seven Years from Coming Out in 2016 to Winning Two Taiwanese Awards at the 2023 Golden Melody Awards
Born in 1987, Enno Cheng (鄭宜農) is the daughter of New Cinema director Cheng Wen-tang. She debuted as an actress in 20...
Waa Wei: Twenty Years of Wanting to Be Heard, from Naturally Curly's "Wawa" to Two-Time Golden Melody Queen
Vocalist 'Wawa' of Naturally Curly in 2003, going solo as 'Waa Wei' after a vocal cord injury in 2006, and winning Be...
Abao (Aljenljeng Tjaluvie): The Future Pop Singer Who Sent the Paiwan Language to the Golden Melody Album of the Year
The 2020 Golden Melody 31 Album of the Year went to the all-Paiwan electronic album 'kinakaian — Mother Tongue.' Abao...
Chen Chien-chi: From Accounting Major to Three-Gold-Winning Producer, the Man Who Tore Down the 'Weird Voice' Red Line in Mandarin Pop Music
Born in 1973 and a graduate of Tamkang University's accounting department, Chen Chien-chi is a rare 'absent author' i...
No Party for Cao Dong: Twelve Years from a Yangmingshan Street Corner to Two Golden Melody Best Band Awards
At the 28th Golden Melody Awards in 2017, a four-piece band that self-pressed 2,000 CDs swept three trophies, decisiv...
Cicada: Fifteen Years of Field Recordings from Typhoon Morakot 2009 to the Source of the Danda River 2022
Founded in Taipei in 2009, Cicada is a fully instrumental, vocally silent independent band. Founding pianist Jesy Chi...
Constant and Change: Ten Years of 'A Band Doesn't Run on Persistence — If It's Not Fun, It Falls Apart'
A four-piece independent band formed in Taipei in 2013, whose name fuses the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus's '...
Ricky Hsiao: Twice Blind, Yet with His 'Eyes for No One' Humor He Fell His Way to a Golden Melody Award
Born in 1976, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Ricky Hsiao lost his sight twice due to congenital cataracts. He is not onl...
Huang Shao-yong: Dropping Out of a Biochemistry PhD to Bring Mother Tongue Music to the Golden Melody Album of the Year
Backstage at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards in 2022, Huang Shao-yong won Best Arranger and pulled a recorder from his ...
LaLa Hsu: From Nurse to Golden Melody Queen, the Singer Who Rewrote the Talent Show Script
In 2008, LaLa Hsu quit her nursing job and secretly entered the third season of Super Star Avenue, nearly buying a bu...
Our Shame (Ao and Mountain): Two Tech Workers Who Said in Synthesizers What They Couldn't Say at the Office
Our Shame (凹與山) is a Taiwanese folktronica duo. Members Estelle H (lead vocals, synthesizer, producer) and Isan (drum...
Chang Yu-sheng: From Idol to Prophet, a Musical Experiment That Crossed Generations
In 1989, the son of an army entertainment troupe leader debuted with 'Miss You Every Day' selling 350,000 copies and ...
Hello Nico: Eight Years of Silence, Then 'I Missed the Stage'
A Taiwanese indie band that won the StreetVoice annual chart with 'Flower' in 2014 and received a Golden Melody Award...
Kuo Chin-fa: The Bass Soul Behind 'Roasted Rice Dumpling'
From a shoemaker's apprentice in Dadaocheng to the 'Island's Bass King,' Kuo Chin-fa used 'Roasted Rice Dumpling' to ...
Shen Wencheng: From Ching Chuan Kang Mechanic to Dual-Golden Singer
Shen Wencheng is a Taiwanese dual-Golden entertainer who has worked across music and television hosting. From aircraf...
VH (Vast & Hazy): Fifteen Years of Directional Calibration for an 'Exit-System Band'
Formed at the Tamkang University Golden Bell Award in 2011, went on hiatus in 2014, returned as a duo in 2017, and wa...
Jay Chou
In 1997, a shy 18-year-old boy rewrote the history of Mandopop
體育 14
Jeremy Lin: From Being Cut Twice in 15 Days to TPBL Double MVP — A Basketball Journey
State champion in high school with zero scholarship offers, undrafted, cut twice in 15 days — then he made the world ...
Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang (The Lin-Yang Duo)
From middle school classmates to Olympic gold: The Lin-Yang Duo defeated China in straight sets within 34 minutes, wi...
Tai Tzu-ying
Record holder for 214 weeks as world number one, Taiwan's badminton queen — from Kaohsiung's Qianzhen District to an ...
Kuo Hsing-chun: From the Injury of a 141-Kilogram Barbell to Three Olympic Weightlifting Podiums
Taiwanese weightlifter, three-time Olympic medalist (2016 bronze, 2021 gold, 2024 bronze), world-record holder in the...
Chuang Chih-Yuan: Six Olympics, 2013 World Champion, and the Olympic Medal That Was One Step Away
Born April 2, 1981, Chuang Chih-Yuan is the longest-serving competitor in the history of table tennis in Taiwan. From...
Chi Cheng: Set 10 World Records, Still Running for Taiwan's Name 50 Years Later
Born in Hsinchu on March 15, 1944, Chi Cheng became the most outstanding female track and field athlete in Taiwan's h...
Chien-Ming Wang: From Jianxing Junior High to the Sinker That Won the Yankees Two Seasons
Born in Tainan in 1980, Chien-Ming Wang is the most representative pitcher in the history of Taiwanese baseball playe...
Lu Yen-hsun: From Wimbledon Quarterfinals to Five Olympics, the Man Who Took Taiwanese Tennis the Farthest
At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, Lu Yen-hsun defeated seventh seed Andy Roddick to become the first male player f...
Cheng Chao-tsun: 91.36 Meters on the Last Throw — The Day Asian Javelin Changed Forever
Born October 17, 1993 in Taichung, Cheng Chao-tsun is Taiwan's most accomplished javelin thrower in history. In the m...
Hong-Chih Kuo: Taiwan's First MLB Home Run and All-Star, His Elbow Said No but He Kept Pitching
Born July 23, 1981, Hong-Chih Kuo was the fourth Taiwanese baseball player to reach MLB and the first Taiwanese playe...
Hsieh Su-wei: Hsinchu 1986, Taiwan's First Grand Slam Champion and Seven Women's Doubles Titles
Born 1986/1/4 in Hsinchu. Father Hsieh Tzu-long (bus driver for Taiwan Motor Transport) passed away in 2023/10. Caree...
Hsu Shu-ching: Lunbei 1991, Taiwan's First Double Olympic Gold Medalist in the 53 kg Weightlifting Category
Born May 9, 1991, into a Hakka family in Lunbei Township, Yunlin County; height 159 cm. At the 2012 London Olympics i...
Yang Dai-Kang: Taitung 1987, Amis Outfielder from Hokkaido Nippon-Ham's Decade of Gold Gloves to Yomiuri Giants via FA
Born 1987/1/17 in Taitung City, Amis, formerly known as Yang Zhong-shou. Graduated from the junior high school of Nat...
Yani Tseng
109 weeks at World No. 1, 15 LPGA titles including 5 majors, became the youngest player in history to claim 5 major c...
其他 20
Tsao Hsing-cheng: From Wafer-Foundry Tycoon to Taiwan's "Eight-Nots" Defender Against China
In 1984 he proposed wafer foundry to Morris Chang and was brushed off. In 1995 he challenged TSMC with a "joint-ventu...
Chiu Chi-hung: Rising from Web 2.0 Failure to Reshape Taiwan's Digital Advertising Ecosystem with an Engineer's Mindset
NCTU computer science PhD Nathan Chiu took lessons from the failure of his Web 2.0 platform funP and founded cacaFly ...
Stefanie Sun: Beat Jay Chou by One Vote, AI Cloned 1,000 Songs, She Said 'Being Yourself Is Enough'
On June 9, 2000, a Singaporean woman debuted in Taiwan with 'Rainy Day,' and her first album sold 330,000 copies to t...
Su Chiao-hui: Stitching New Taipei Together with Law and Detail — A Curator Working Under the Shadow of 'Charge Ahead'
From the daughter of a Formosa Incident defense attorney to a legislator rated Outstanding sixteen times, Su Chiao-hu...
Lai Ho: The 'Changhua Mazu' in a Native Shirt, and His Unyielding Steelyard
On the eve of Lunar New Year's Day 1943, the Changhua physician Lai Ho burned his poor patients' unpaid bills, as was...
Su Tseng-chang: From Formosa Incident Defense Lawyer to the 'Charge Ahead' Premier
In 1979, he defended political prisoners under the shadow of martial law; in 1997, he pulled off an upset victory tha...
Jerry Yang: From Knowing Only One English Word to Launching the Portal Internet Era
In 1978, 10-year-old Jerry Yang immigrated to America knowing only the word 'shoe.' In 1994, hiding from his Stanford...
From Underground to the Presidential Office: Nymphia Wind and the History of Taiwan's Drag Queens' Self-Empowerment
How a Taiwanese boy who was bullied for his gender expression brought the drag art form — once considered a subcultur...
Yin Hai-Guang: The Philosopher Who Planted Liberalism in Taiwan from a House on Wenzhou Street Lane 18
In 1949, a young man from Hubei named Yin Fu-Sheng arrived in Taipei from Nanjing, took the pen name Yin Hai-Guang, a...
Chao Tzu-chiang: The Undefeated Soul Behind the Grandma's Apron
In 1984, Chao Tzu-chiang joined the Lanling Theater Workshop after spotting a 'free all year' ad — launching a legend...
Chiang Wei-shui: The Physician Who Diagnosed a Colonial Society with a 'Clinical Report'
In 1921, physician Chiang Wei-shui published a 'Clinical Report' that personified Taiwan as 'a feeble-minded child of...
Hsu Mei-hua: Ten Years of an Anonymous Civic Pseudonym, from Anti-Tsinghua Unigroup to the Great Recall
"Hsu Mei-hua" is not a real name but a pseudonym that appeared at two critical moments in Taiwan's civil society — in...
Liao Hung-chi: The Ocean-Writing Fisherman Who Measured Taiwan Waters with His Life
Liao Hung-chi turned to life as a fisherman in 1992, founded the Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation, and through the...
Potter King — From 'Pickup Lines' Entertainment to 'Pink Spy' Hunter: A Digital Sovereignty Gambler Caught Between Law and Principle
The career arc of Potter King (Chen Jia-Jin) documents a Taiwanese creator's transformation from harvester of cross-s...
Tsai A-Ga: From Pioneering Influencer to Social Work Mission — The Man Who Used 18 Years of Traffic to Transform Lives
In 2022, Taiwan's first million-subscriber influencer Tsai A-Ga sold his house to establish the 'Home Sweet Home Soci...
Sun Yun-suan: The Engineer-Premier Who Lit Up Taiwan from the Dark
From the five-month miracle of restoring electricity in postwar ruins, to the visionary bet on the semiconductor indu...
Barbie Hsu: From Quirky Teenage Girl to the Fierce Queen of 'Two Deaths, One Critical Injury'
Debuted in 1994 with S.O.S, rose to pan-Asian stardom in 2001 via Meteor Garden, established her beauty icon status w...
Chen Tzu-jian (Retina): Building a Palace of Mockery on the Ruins of State Media, Then Demolishing It at Its Peak
From the inspiration born watching CCTV's Xinwen Lianbo on a cross-strait exchange trip to Fujian, to becoming the yo...
Chuang Chu Yu-nu: From Free Meals for Dock Workers to a Ten-Dollar Buffet That Sold Seven Houses
In 1951, Chuang Chu Yu-nu set up a stove by Kaohsiung Harbor to feed impoverished dock workers for free. Hailed as th...
Taiwan People Knowledge Base Project — 200 People Initiative
Taiwan.md people page expansion roadmap, aiming to cover 200 important figures representing Taiwan
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👥 Curatorial Reading
Taiwan People 👥
In 1987, when tsmc-morris-chang established Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Hsinchu Science Park, every semiconductor company in the world designed and manufactured their own chips. No one believed a company that only did contract manufacturing could survive. Thirty-eight years later, TSMC's market value exceeds 90% of global enterprises, and the world's most advanced chips are all produced in Taiwan.
The same year, Taiwan lifted martial law that had lasted for thirty-eight years.
These two seemingly unrelated events share the same backdrop: an island long under compression that, once given space, grows things at an unexpected speed. Taiwan's human stories are this repeated dialectic of compression and release.
🎬 Film & Theater
When the first Taiwan New Cinema film premiered at Cannes, some audience members left because those fixed long shots were so different from the editing rhythms they were accustomed to. But those who stayed saw another possibility: cinema could be this slow, this still, this honest.
hou-hsiao-hsien and yang-dechang redefined the narrative syntax of Chinese-language cinema in the 1980s. Hou's "A City of Sadness" broke martial law-era historical taboos, becoming the first Taiwan film to win the Venice Golden Lion. Yang's "A Brighter Summer Day" dissected the spiritual state of Taiwan's urban middle class during the transition period with four hours of epic scope. ang-lee progressed from his father-son trilogy to Hollywood, with two Academy Awards for Best Director proving that Chinese directors could handle universal emotions. tsai-ming-liang's extreme art films hold a unique position in European art cinema circles, using static long shots to confront urban loneliness.
wei-te-sheng-taiwanese-epic-filmmaker's "Cape No. 7" helped Taiwan cinema regain audience confidence. 齊柏林 used aerial documentary "Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above" to awaken environmental consciousness, continuing to shoot for this island until his final moments.
ang-lee | hou-hsiao-hsien | yang-dechang | tsai-ming-liang | wei-te-sheng-taiwanese-epic-filmmaker | 齊柏林 | niu-cheng-ze-controversial-filmmaker-monga-director | chen-yu-hsun-taiwan-comedy-film-magician | brigitte-lin-legendary-actress | gwei-lun-mei-versatile-taiwanese-actress | sylvia-chang
📚 Literature
Taiwan literature was never purely an aesthetic matter. When pai-hsien-yung-literary-master wrote "Taipei People," the displacement of the mainlander community in his stories corresponded to the rupture of entire modern Chinese history. When huang-chun-ming-taiwanese-literary-master wrote about Yilan countryside, the survival resilience of those small characters reflected Taiwan society's dramatic changes.
zhong-lihe-nativeland-eternal-seeker transitioned from Japanese to Chinese writing, remaining poor and ill throughout his life but never stopping his pen, called "the plowman who fell in a pool of blood." chen-yingzhen was imprisoned for seven years on political charges, later focusing on the underclass from a leftist perspective. li-ang's "The Butcher's Wife" shocked the literary world with female body politics. Chu T'ien-wen progressed from "A Small Town Called Hibiscus" to "Notes of a Desolate Man," her prose precise as clockwork mechanisms, while also serving as screenwriter partner for Hou Hsiao-hsien films, creating a unique landscape where literature and cinema converge.
wu-ming-yi's "The Stolen Bicycle" was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize, exploring the relationship between humans and nature through ecological writing, translated into over twenty languages. lung-ying-tai's "Wild Fire" ignited social criticism in 1985. These voices prove that good literature is never disconnected from reality.
pai-hsien-yung-literary-master | wu-ming-yi | lung-ying-tai | ximurong | Chu T'ien-wen | li-ang | huang-chun-ming-taiwanese-literary-master | zhong-lihe-nativeland-eternal-seeker | chen-yingzhen | huang-zhen-nan-book-collector-historian
🎵 Music
In the 1930s, deng-yu-xian-taiwanese-song-composer's compositions "Longing for Spring Breeze" and "Rainy Night Flower" remain the deepest melodies in Taiwan's collective memory. These songs were given different meanings across different political eras; the fate of a song reflected the fate of an island.
teresa-teng's voice crossed the Cold War iron curtain. In an era when cross-strait exchanges had not yet begun, her cassettes flowed from Taiwan into mainland China. "Listen to old Deng during the day, young Deng at night" — her cultural penetration exceeded political propaganda. Lo Ta-yu and Jonathan Lee represent two extremes of Chinese creative music: Lo used "Lukang Town" and "Asian Orphan" to directly confront social contradictions; Jonathan Lee dissected middle-aged hearts with "Hill" and "Song for Myself."
In the 2000s, jay-chou redefined the sound of Chinese popular music, fusing R&B, hip-hop, and Chinese traditional elements. a-mei became a diva with her indigenous heritage and explosive vocals, later advocating for LGBTQ rights. mayday grew from underground band to Asia's largest Chinese rock group. wu-bai's Taiwanese rock injected raw vitality into local music.
deng-yu-xian-taiwanese-song-composer | teresa-teng | Lo Ta-yu | Jonathan Lee | jay-chou | a-mei | mayday | wu-bai | 蔡依林 | jj-lin-singaporean-mandopop-king | crowd-lu-indie-folk-treasure | jam-hsiao | bobby-chen-indie-music-pioneer
🎨 Arts & Design
lin-hwai-min founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in 1973, the first contemporary dance company in the Chinese-speaking world. Over forty-six years, Cloud Gate integrated tai chi, calligraphy, and Peking opera movements into contemporary dance, creating a unique Eastern dance vocabulary. Outdoor performances in Chihshang rice paddies transformed contemporary dance from elite art into public culture. Xu Fang-yi emerged from Cloud Gate to become a top dancer on New York's international stage, praised by The New York Times as "the embodiment of power and beauty."
stan-lai-theater-innovation-master's collective improvisation made "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land" a Chinese theater classic, while "A Dream Like a Dream" challenges theatrical time limits with its eight-hour epic scope. Ju Tzong-ching transformed percussion from niche to mainstream, establishing teaching systems nationwide.
In visual design, Aaron Nieh defines 21st-century Taiwan design aesthetics with minimalist yet powerful visual language. xiao-qing-yang-grammy-designer received five Grammy nominations, helping the world recognize Taiwan culture through album covers. Fang Xu-zhong's design spans brand identity and curation. jimmy-liao's picture books cross the boundaries between children's and adult literature, translated into multiple languages.
In new media art, che-yu-wu creates digital life forms through algorithms, with works exhibited at Venice Biennale and Art Basel Miami, bringing over 20,000 students into the world of interactive art programming.
lin-hwai-min | jimmy-liao | Aaron Nieh | Fang Xu-zhong | che-yu-wu | Ju Tzong-ching | Xu Fang-yi | xiao-qing-yang-grammy-designer | Chen Jun-liang | stan-lai-theater-innovation-master | Lee Kuo-hsiu | Ming Hwa Yuan
🏛️ Politics & Democracy
Cheng Nan-jung self-immolated for 100% freedom of speech, making April 7 "Freedom of Speech Day." shih-ming-te led the Kaohsiung Incident and was imprisoned for twenty-five years; the trial became an amplifier for the democracy movement. lin-yi-hsiung-democracy-advocate-tragedy-survivor suffered family tragedy after the Kaohsiung Incident, later using hunger strikes to promote nuclear referendum, demonstrating the power of non-violent resistance.
李登輝 completed Taiwan's "Quiet Revolution" over twelve years: abolishing martial law provisions, opening direct presidential elections, pushing for comprehensive congressional reform. Promoting democratic transition from within the authoritarian system is extremely rare in global political history. tsai-ing-wen is the first elected female national leader in the Chinese-speaking world, facing multiple challenges of pandemic, cross-strait relations, and international situation during her tenure. chen-shui-bian-controversial-president and ma-ying-jeou-cross-strait-reconciliation-leader achieved two peaceful power transitions, establishing Taiwan's democratic system stability.
These people used different sacrifices to push democratic experiments, making this small island the only democratic beacon in the Chinese-speaking world.
tsai-ing-wen | 李登輝 | shih-ming-te | Cheng Nan-jung | chen-shui-bian-controversial-president | ma-ying-jeou-cross-strait-reconciliation-leader | lai-ching-te | annette-lu | chen-chien-jen | lin-yi-hsiung-democracy-advocate-tragedy-survivor | 高俊明
💼 Technology & Business
Taiwan's miracle wasn't built on natural resources, but on a group of people finding irreplaceable positions in global division of labor.
tsmc-morris-chang invented the "dedicated foundry" model — not designing chips, only manufacturing — redefining global semiconductor division of labor. Today TSMC manufactures 90% of the world's advanced chips; Apple, NVIDIA, and AMD's cutting-edge products all depend on TSMC. terry-gou's Hon Hai Precision grew from a mold factory to the world's largest electronics manufacturing service provider, with annual revenue exceeding 6 trillion Taiwan dollars. 施振榮 proposed the "smiling curve" theory, influencing the transformation thinking of Taiwan's entire manufacturing industry.
yung-ching-wang-formosa-plastics-founder built a petrochemical empire from a rice shop, embodying Taiwan's economic miracle. jensen-huang, born in Tainan, immigrated to America and founded NVIDIA, now the core driver of the global AI computing revolution. He repeatedly emphasizes the strategic cooperation between TSMC and NVIDIA, securing Taiwan's irreplaceable position in the AI industry chain.
ethan-tu founded PTT, influencing Taiwan's internet culture, later working at Microsoft AI Research before returning to Taiwan to establish Taiwan AI Labs. These people prove that small islands can find key positions in the global innovation landscape.
tsmc-morris-chang | terry-gou | jensen-huang | 施振榮 | lin-bai-li | Barry Lam | steve-chang | mark-liu | cc-wei | yung-ching-wang-formosa-plastics-founder | Shi Wen-long | Ye Guo-yi | jamie-lin-ai-industry-pioneer | ethan-tu
🏃 Sports
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Taiwan's delegation achieved historic best results. kuo-hsing-chun-olympic-weightlifting-champion won weightlifting gold with three Olympic records, journeying from rural Taitung to the world's peak. lin-yang-duo-taiwan-badminton-champions (Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang) badminton men's doubles final shot's "holy grail" pose became a collective national memory. li-chih-kai won pommel horse silver with his signature Thomas flair — transforming from the little boy in documentary "Jump! Boys" to Olympic medalist over twenty years, this arc itself is a film.
tai-tzu-ying maintained badminton world ranking number one for 214 weeks. chien-ming-wang-mlb-sinker-ace's sinker left New York Yankees hitters helpless; the "Wang fever" had all Taiwan waking up at midnight to watch MLB broadcasts. su-wei-hsieh-wimbledon-champion won multiple Grand Slam titles in tennis doubles. C.K. Yang's 1960 Rome Olympics decathlon silver won early international sports visibility for Taiwan.
Behind every medal is the physical practice of "what a small island can achieve." These athletes used speed, strength, and skill to answer questions about limits.
kuo-hsing-chun-olympic-weightlifting-champion | tai-tzu-ying | chien-ming-wang-mlb-sinker-ace | lin-yang-duo-taiwan-badminton-champions | yang-yung-wei-judo-olympic-silver | li-chih-kai | su-wei-hsieh-wimbledon-champion | chen-wei-yin-mlb-pitcher | hong-chih-kuo-taiwanese-left-handed-pitcher | C.K. Yang | chi-cheng-flying-antelope | kevin-lin-ultramarathon-desert-pioneer | lu-yen-hsun-tennis-champion | chuang-chih-yuan-table-tennis-legend | hsu-shu-ching-olympic-weightlifting-champion | yang-dai-kang-taiwanese-baseball-star-in-japan | cheng-chao-tsun-javelin-asian-king | yani-tseng | jeremy-lin
🔬 Science & Academia
Yuan T. Lee won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the first Nobel laureate born in Taiwan. His crossed molecular beam technique in chemical reaction dynamics provided key tools for understanding reaction microscopic mechanisms. Wong Chi-huey invented "one-pot oligosaccharide synthesis" technology, considered the Taiwan scientist most likely to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Ta-You Wu is known as the "Father of Chinese Physics," training Nobel laureates Yang Chen-ning and Lee Tsung-dao, establishing Taiwan's physics research foundation. Paul C.W. Chu is a pioneer in high-temperature superconductor research. Tu Tsung-ming was Taiwan's first medical doctor, earning his doctorate from Kyoto Imperial University during Japanese rule, founding Kaohsiung Medical College. Xu Zhuo-yun writes about Chinese and world civilization from a historian's perspective, continuing to care about Taiwan and Chinese world destiny in his later years.
These scholars prove that investment in basic research will eventually bear fruit; academic reputation is a society's most precious soft power.
Yuan T. Lee | Wong Chi-huey | Ta-You Wu | Paul C.W. Chu | Tu Tsung-ming | Xu Zhuo-yun | Huang Guo-zhen
🎓 Education & Society
audrey-tang is the world's first transgender minister, symbolizing Taiwan's digital governance. Digital democracy platforms like vTaiwan and JOIN allow citizens to directly participate in policy discussions; pandemic tools like mask maps and contact registration demonstrated the possibilities of technology-governance integration.
Yen Chang-shou invests in remote area education, promoting educational experiments in Taitung, arguing that Taiwan education should cultivate complete personalities capable of thinking and creativity, not test-taking machines. Yeh Bing-cheng developed the PaGamO gamified learning platform, winning global teaching innovation awards. lu-guan-wei-junyiacademy-founder founded Junyi Academy, this "Taiwan Khan Academy" aims to give every child learning resources suited to their pace.
chen-shu-chu-vegetable-vendor-philanthropist donated over ten million Taiwan dollars from fifty years of vegetable selling income, selected by TIME magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2010. When reporters asked why she donated so much money, she simply said: "Money is useful only when given to those who need it."
audrey-tang | Yen Chang-shou | Yeh Bing-cheng | chen-shu-chu-vegetable-vendor-philanthropist | lu-guan-wei-junyiacademy-founder | Huang Guo-zhen
💻 Digital & Media
ethan-tu founded PTT — Taiwan's largest online forum, still an important venue for public opinion. He later worked at Microsoft AI Research, returning to Taiwan to establish Taiwan AI Labs, promoting open-source AI technology. PTT and g0v communities represent Taiwan's civic technology culture, unique digital democracy assets of this island.
Ray became a representative author of Taiwan workplace novels with "The Bright Times of Post-Rookie." Rex How leads Cite Media Group, an important force in Taiwan's publishing industry. These creators and media figures record society and influence the public through new media formats, creating new areas of Taiwan's digital culture.
ethan-tu | Ray | Rex How | yang-you-ren-shoes-for-hope-taiwan-youth-hero | Chu Ge-liang
🍳 Cuisine & Craftsmanship
andre-chiang-taiwanese-culinary-innovator trained in French Michelin three-star restaurants, then opened Restaurant André in Singapore, selected among Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. In 2018 he returned his Michelin stars and came back to Taiwan to open RAW restaurant, redefining "Taiwan flavors" with local ingredients. His choice — abandoning international prestige to return to Taiwan — is itself a cultural statement: the best ingredients and deepest inspiration are on this island.
Jimmy Wu won the 2010 World Bread Championship with lychee rose bread, amazing the international baking world. From rural Pingtung to world champion, his story is a typical case of Taiwan craftsmanship spirit. After returning to Taiwan, he opened bakeries while continuing to participate in baking education, advancing Taiwan's baking industry technical standards.
andre-chiang-taiwanese-culinary-innovator | Jimmy Wu
These stories of people are not a list of "Taiwan's pride."
Among them, some bled and were imprisoned, some lived in poverty, some chose to abandon everything at their peak, some never stopped writing even in their lowest valleys. Their commonality is not "bringing glory to Taiwan" — that phrase is too light — but that they each, in different ways, answered the same question: On this small island surrounded by great powers, what can one person achieve?
The answers are written in their works, in court judgments, on medals, in donation receipts, and in those studios where lights still burn deep into the night.
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Image source: Wikimedia Commons | CC BY 2.0 | Photographer: Gage Skidmore
