River of Darkness: Danshui Representations from Colonial to Post-colonial Taiwan

The Danshui river, together with its branched tributary system, constitutes the most important hydrographic network in the northern part of Taiwan, one of the main cradles of civilization on the island since ancient times. Its peculiar ecosystem has been an essential source of livelihood for the Aboriginal groups settled along its course, the main access route for the earliest Spanish and Dutch colonial powers since the seventeenth century, as well as commercial harbour for the mainland Chinese who began to exploit the resources of the territory, developing the first urban settlements in the area later known as the capital Taipei. This paper is focused on the literary representations of the Danshui river during a crucial historical period, the transition from the last years of the Japanese rule over the island to the first stage of the post-colonial epoch. The Danshui river area was formerly known as one of the busiest places of the island but after the arrival of the Japanese in 1895, and in a relatively short period of time, the Danshui river was almost abandoned. Then landscape around the river became the reflection of the feeling of the age, displaying the complex sensitivity of authors such as Lü Heruo and Tao Jingsun representing their disillusion and disenchant soon after the beginning of the post-colonial period, culminating in the tragic events of the 28 th February Incident.