Chiang Wei-shiu: The Healer Who Diagnosed Colonial Pathologies Through "Clinical Lectures"

30 Second Overview:
Chiang Wei-shiu was the soul of the social movements in Taiwan during the 1920s. As a physician, he issued the famous "Clinical Lectures," diagnosing Taiwanese society with "intellectual malnutrition." He not only founded the Taiwan Cultural Association and the first legal political party, the Taiwan People's Party, but also turned Da'an Hospital into a clinic for revolution. His life was spent running between prisons, hospitals, and restaurants; he died young at age 40, leaving the testament: "Compatriots must unite; unity is truly powerful," remaining an important cornerstone of the democratic spirit of Taiwan to this day.

In July 1914, in a laboratory at the Taipei Municipal Government Medical School, several students were secretly cultivating virulent cholera bacteria. This was not for academic research but as part of an assassination plot across the sea. Tu Tsung-ming, a fourth-year student, was responsible for culturing the strains, while the mastermind and fundraiser behind him was Chiang Wei-shiu, who would later be hailed as "Sun Yat-sen of Taiwan." They planned to introduce the bacteria into Beijing's water source to poison Yuan Shikai, who was preparing to proclaim himself emperor. This ultimately unsuccessful "bacterial assassination" opened the prologue to this healer's two decades of "medical nationalism."¹²

The Rebellious Gene During Medical School Years

Chiang Wei-shiu was born in Yilan in 1891 and served as a medium (jītǒng) in his youth, an experience that gave him deep observations of local suffering and superstition. In 1910, he passed the entrance exam for the Municipal Government Medical School with excellent results. During his studies, he was both a high-achieving student and a leader in student movements. Although the school principal, Takagi Tomoe, was rigorous in her teaching, Chiang Wei-shiu repeatedly organized student strikes to protest the unfair treatment from the administration, even organizing resistance actions with national consciousness with the support of individuals like Shi Yan-han (later a professor at National Taiwan University College of Medicine).³⁴

After graduating in 1915, Chiang Wei-shiu interned for one year at Yilan Hospital before opening Da'an Hospital in Taodangcheng, Taipei. However, what he harbored was not just the patients in his clinic, but the entire island of Taiwan—a colony suffering from spiritual poverty.

Da'an Hospital: A Clinic for Social Movements

Da'an Hospital (the former site of Yimei Food on Yanping North Road, Taipei City) quickly transcended its function as a medical institution. The hospital building housed the preparatory office for the Taiwan Cultural Association and was the main distribution center for the Taiwan Minbao. Chiang Wei-shiu even ran the "Chunfeng Dehui Building" restaurant nearby, cultivating connections with various local gentry. He once lamented that he was busy with commerce and career, but the political concern latent in his blood made him realize that only by enlightening the masses could the current situation truly be changed; "who knows how many people one can know across the world?"⁵⁶

📝 Curator's Note: Chiang Wei-shiu's most captivating aspect was his "multi-faceted" identity. He socialized with gentry in restaurants, treated the poor in hospitals, and wrote critiques at newspapers. He knew that moving a movement could not rely solely on slogans; it required concrete bases and stable funding, and Da'an Hospital was the strongest "underground headquarters" of that era.

The "Clinical Lectures": A Final Diagnosis of Taiwan

On November 30, 1921, Chiang Wei-shiu published the shocking "Clinical Lectures" in the Taiwan Cultural Association Newsletter. He modeled it after a physician's diagnosis form, personifying Taiwan:

• Patient: The island of Taiwan
• Origin: Taiwan Province, Fujian, Republic of China
• Current Residence: Municipal Government of Japan, Taiwan
• Diagnosis: An intellectually malnourished child of world culture
• Cause: Intellectual malnutrition

In the diagnosis, he stated frankly that although Taiwan had an extraordinary appearance, its spiritual life was impoverished due to past abuses. The prescription he issued included: formal schooling (maximum amount), supplementary education (maximum amount), kindergartens, and reading clubs. This lecture was both a literary metaphor and the action blueprint of the Taiwan Cultural Association for the next decade.⁷⁸

From Cultural Enlightenment to Party Politics

On October 17, 1921, the Taiwan Cultural Association was established at the Jingxiu Women's School. Chiang Wei-shiu served as the Executive Director, promoting lectures across the island, summer schools, and aesthetic education activities. In 1923, he was imprisoned with Cai Pei-hwo and others due to his involvement in the "Petition Movement for Taiwan Legislature," which led to the "Police Control Incident." In prison, he wrote Memoirs from Prison, demonstrating an optimistic spirit that did not waver even while incarcerated.⁹

In 1927, the Cultural Association split over ideological differences. Chiang Wei-shiu subsequently promoted the establishment of the Taiwan People's Party—the first modern legal political party in Taiwanese history. He put forward three major principles: "establishing people-centered politics, constructing a rational economic organization, and abolishing unreasonable social systems." He was also actively involved in labor movements, founding the "Taiwan Labor Union," attempting to shift the focus of the movement from the gentry class to the grassroots populace.¹⁰¹¹

Legacy: Compatriots Must Unite; Unity is Truly Powerful

Chiang Wei-shiu was arrested and scrutinized over ten times throughout his life, spending a total of 144 days in prison. Years of travel and imprisonment exhausted his physical strength. On August 5, 1931, he died of dysentery at Taipei Hospital at the age of only 40. Before his death, he left the testament: "Compatriots must unite; unity is truly powerful." His funeral attracted over five thousand attendees and was hailed as a "mass burial," becoming the largest political gathering in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period.¹²¹³

📝 Curator's Note: Chiang Wei-shiu was called "Sun Yat-sen of Taiwan," but his greatest difference from Sun Yat-sen was that he always insisted on conducting "non-violent" resistance within the legal system. He diagnosed society with a physician's calmness and practiced ideals with a revolutionary's passion. In that dark colonial era, the "intellectual prescription" he issued has not yet expired.

After reading his story, we might ask ourselves: does Taiwan still suffer from some form of "intellectual malnutrition" in this age of information overload and fragmentation? Chiang Wei-shiu's Clinical Lectures are not just historical documents; they are a mirror reflecting the struggle and yearning of every generation of Taiwanese people to achieve self-awakening.

Further Reading

• Lai Hwa — Father of New Literature in Taiwan during the same period, also a cultural enlightenment pioneer alongside Chiang Wei-shiu
• Social Movements in Japanese Colonial Period Taiwan — The overall movement context in which Chiang Wei-shiu operated
• Taiwan People's Party — The first legal political party founded by Chiang Wei-shiu

References