Chen Cheng-po

Chen Cheng-po

Chen Cheng-po (Chinese: 陳澄波, February 2, 1895 – March 25, 1947), was a well known Taiwanese painter. In 1926, his oil painting Street of Chiayi was featured in the seventh Empire Art Exhibition in Japan, which was the first time a Taiwanese artist's work could be displayed at the exhibition. Chen devoted his life to education and creation, and was greatly concerned about the development of humanist culture in Taiwan. He was not only devoted to the improvement of his own painting, but also to the promotion of the aesthetic education of the Taiwanese people. He was murdered as a result of the 228 Incident, a 1947 popular uprising in Taiwan which was brutally repressed by the Kuomintang (KMT).

Death

In 1946, Chen was elected as a member of the city council in Chiayi, where he was born.[1] Due to the 228 Incident, severe conflict occurred in 1947 between the Chiayi citizens and the KMT, whose military was trapped inside the city's airport. The city produced a "228 Incident Committee", composed of Chen and five others who would approach the military as representatives of peace. The military, however, captured four of them, including Chen, and released the remaining two. On the morning of March 25, 1947, after being tied up with wires, the four were forced to march from the city's police station to the train station, where Chen and the other three were shot dead in public. Since the Kuomintang forbade the families from collecting the corpses immediately, Chen's remains were left to decompose on the street for several days.

Legacy

Chen's work Chiayi Park was sold for $5,794,100 HKD at a Hong Kong auction on April 28, 2002.[2]

See also

• 228 Incident

External links

• Chiayi as depicted in Chen's paintings, versus today
• Photograph of Chen's body after he was killed

Persondata
Name	Chen, Cheng-po
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 2, 1895
Place of birth
Date of death	March 25, 1947
Place of death