臺中戲院與謝雪紅

●現代化娛樂設施的興起——臺中座
1900年2月，臺灣總督府發布臺中「市區改正」令，在現今臺中舊市區開始了現代化都市的建設，整治河川、敷設鐵道，劃設棋盤格式的街道和上下水道，乾淨、整齊、寬敞的現代街道在十年之內逐一改造了臺中人的生活空間。日治時代後有「四大戲院」並稱，臺中座、樂舞臺、娛樂館、天外天，其中最早者為臺中座。

1902年，臺中座（今所知「臺中戲院」前身）設立，是臺中市最早的戲院，設立於今日臺灣大道上，繼光街與自由路之間。設立之初，是一棟二層樓高的木造建築，為使用長久考量，1908年改建為可容納一千三百多人的大型戲院。初時的臺中座上演魔術與日本戲劇，但生意不佳，一度無戲可演、出租為倉庫。直到第一次世界大戰日本景氣恢復之故，逐上正軌，更在1913年併購鄰近的「高砂演藝館」（1925年休業，現址為中區成功路上的意文大飯店）作為「第二臺中座」。

臺中座於日治時代，大都以演出日本傳統的戲劇、相聲與魔術表演，偶爾放映電影。1941年，一位風靡東亞的知名演員和歌手李香蘭，抵達臺中座公演，據《臺中電影傳奇》所言，戲院爆滿。到了二次大戰期間，隨時勢改變與政治需要，還特以低價優惠放映軍事紀錄片，促進民眾前往觀賞、宣傳帝國戰爭思維。

至二戰後，被視為「日產」的臺中座受到國民黨黨營事業「臺灣電影事業公司」接收（後改組合併「為中央電影公司」，簡稱中影），改名為「臺中戲院」。1947年二二八事件後，市民團體曾於此召開市民大會，後組成「二七部隊」，接管政府機構，並與軍隊相抗。二戰後的臺中戲院，也得益於中影直營，直映中影拍攝之電影。在臺語電影風行的年代，臺中戲院則以日語電影、歐美電影為主，也曾首映1963年上映的黃梅調電影《梁山伯與祝英臺》，當時一票難求、蔚為盛況。

直至1970年代，電視普及後的電影業蕭條，1980年，中影公司將臺中戲院拆除，與附近的老牌百貨：吉本百貨一同拆建，興建「北屋百貨」，而後改名為「龍心百貨」。

●歷史場景——臺灣女革命家謝雪紅與臺中戲院演講
1947年2月27日，臺北大稻埕的查緝私菸衝突，引爆臺灣人對二戰後兩年來對於國民政府治臺的不滿，是為「二二八事件」。全臺各地城市，皆有民眾參與行動、接管政府單位。事件發生後，3月1日作家楊逵等人於中央書局樓上成立「輿論調查所」，發行輿論調查卡，希望能統整輿論後、對國民政府訴求改革。

3月2日在臺中戲院舉行「市民大會」，會中強烈抨擊國民黨暴政，民眾湧入臺中戲院，「人民協會」的人員控制了會場，謝雪紅（1901-1970）被推為主席，市民大會順利召開。會後，群眾湧入公家機關，接管了市政府、警察局、消防隊、飛機場等，並解除駐軍的武裝。

臺中戲院，則成為召開市民大會的重要歷史場景，謝雪紅與諸人於臺上演講，臺下集會市民萬頭攢動，成了臺中市民間武裝反抗的歷史轉折點。3月3日「教化會館之役」後令國民政府軍隊繳械。3月4日，以數百名青年、學生為主，成立了二七部隊（一說為3月6日），謝雪紅亦在其中。

●傳奇的女革命家

謝雪紅本名謝氏阿女，1901生於彰化，幼時過給臺中洪姓人家作童養媳，以籌葬母費及還債，飽受養母虐待，一度企圖臥軌自殺。這些貧苦艱困的生活經驗，深刻的影響了謝雪紅的左派意識。17歲的謝雪紅逃離洪家，回到故鄉彰化於糖廠工作、再輾轉成為張樹敏的妾，曾居於臺中水源地宅院「梅鏡堂」內。又因張樹敏之故，1919年得以離開臺灣，前往日本與中國，接觸「五四運動」。1925年，謝雪紅在上海受薦加入中國共產黨，遠赴莫斯科「東方大學」受訓兩年，充實她從未有過的國際視野和知識，可說是臺灣第一位女革命家。

1928年返臺的謝雪紅發展共產組織，加入臺灣文化協會和農民組合，在臺北大同區延平北路上開設「國際書局」，販售左派書籍，同時從事共產黨地下活動。謝雪紅與當時的臺共主張「臺灣自治」，希望以高度地方自治的方式，使臺灣能夠落實為民族自決的社會主義社會。然而謝雪紅欲與臺灣文化協會等組織的合作，卻被黨內同志批評為「機會主義」，1931年的謝雪紅遭開除黨籍且在臺北被捕，判刑13年，臺共也在當年前後幾波政府掃蕩中瓦解。1939年，謝雪紅因病保釋出獄。

●二二八後的謝雪紅

1947年二二八事件前夕的謝雪紅，活躍於臺中的歷史舞臺。1945年8月二戰結束後，她寄居其弟經營的大華酒家樓上（今公園路、自由路口），半年內陸續成立「臺灣人民協會」、「臺灣人民總工會籌備會」、「臺灣農民協會」、「臺灣學生聯合會」，並接辦「建國工藝學校」。3月2日臺中戲院的演說，3月3日的教化會館之役後，謝雪紅和學生自衛隊的吳振武等人負責與國民政府軍隊談判，最後和平移交軍武，使臺中成為臺灣於二二八事件中僅見的武裝行動、卻未有激烈死傷的城市。後與青年、學生成立「二七部隊」，其中著名的部隊長為鍾逸人先生、警備隊長為黃金島先生，而謝雪紅則被眾人稱為「歐巴桑」。

隨著國民政府廿一師正規軍的登陸臺灣，雖二七部隊接收干城軍營，支援中部各地戰鬥，卻為避免戰事波及臺中市內，毅然決定於3月12日下午三時起撤出臺中，而後謝雪紅接到中國共產黨密令「就地解散，保存實力」，黯然離開二七部隊，二七部隊則於3月16日「烏牛欄之役」後解散。同年5月，謝雪紅渡往廈門、前往中國。

前往中國的謝雪紅，作為臺灣代表，也始終敢言，言行卻不見於中國當局，至反右運動、文化大革命期間，她甚至被中共打為「右派」批鬥。她反對中共中央集權、希望臺灣實施自治的理念，從未改變，直至謝雪紅於1970年因病去世於北京，享年70歲。(2,000字完整版)


Taichung Theater & Hsieh Hsueh-Hung

The Rise of Modern Entertainment Facilities Taichung Kabuki Theater

In February 1900, the Taiwan Governor-General Office issued the Taichung “City Renovation” Order, starting the construction of a modern metropolis in the present-day downtown Taichung, controlling rivers, laying train tracks, designating a chessboard-type grid of intersecting streets, a water supply and sewerage systems thereby, the clean, tidy and spacious modern streets gradually transformed Taichung's living space within a decade. After the Japanese era, Taichung Kabuki Theater, Delightful Stage Theater, Entertainment Hall, and Tian Wai Tian Theater (Tengaiten Gekijyo) became known as the “Four Big Theaters”, of which the sole survivor is Tian Wai Tian Theater, and the earliest was the Taichung Kabuki Theater.

Founded in 1902, as the earliest theater in Taichung City, Taichung Kabuki Theater (known as the predecessor of today’s “Taichung Theater”) was situated at the intersection of Jiguang Street and Ziyou Road on today's Taiwan Boulevard. It was a two-story wooden building when it was first built. It was then converted into a large theater accommodating more than 1,300 people in 1908. The then Taichung Theater staged magic shows and Japanese drama however, poor business eventually led to no more dramas being staged, and so the theater was leased for warehouse use. It was not until World War I that Taichung Theater’s situation improved because of Japan's thriving economy. It then took a further step forward by merging with the neighboring “Takasago Variety House” (closed in 1925 the location is now where the E Moon Hotel is situated on Chengkung Road in Central District) to make a “Second Taichung Kabuki Theater.”


During the Japanese era, the Taichung Kabuki Theater mostly staged Japan's traditional drama, comic dialogue and magic shows, as well as occasionally playing films. In 1941, an actress and singer well-known in East Asia, Li Hsiang-lan, arrived at the Taichung Kabuki Theater for a performance, and the theater was filled beyond capacity, as described by “Taichung Films Legendaires”. During the Second World War, military documentaries were shown at a preferential price in response to the changing political situation, and to encourage the public to see what was happening in the war, as well as to promote their thinking about imperial wars.

After the war, the Taichung Kabuki Theater, which was regarded as the property of “Nissan”, was taken over by the KMT (Nationalist Party)-run business “Taiwan Film Company” (reorganized and merged into “Central Motion Picture Corporation” later on, so referred to as the “CMPC”) and renamed as “Taichung Theater”. After the “February 28 Incident” in 1947, the civil associations convened a citizens’ assembly there to form the “27th Corps” which took over the government agencies and confronted the army. Benefiting from the CMPC’s direct sales, the post-war Taichung Theater showed movies directly from the CMPC. In this period when Taiwanese films were popular, the Taichung Theater was dominated by Japanese, European and American films. The Huangmei Opera film “The Love Eterne” was premiered here in 1963 as well the tickets were like gold dust and it was deemed to be a tremendous spectacle.

In the 1970s, the movie industry was sluggish after the popularization of television. In 1980, the CMPC dismantled the Taichung Kabuki Theater and demolished the nearby well-established Jiben Department Store as well as constructing the “Bei Wu Department Store”, and reopened and renamed it as the Lung Shin Department Store after Bei Wu’s closure. The business has since been successful.

Historical Scene – Taiwan’s Female Revolutionary Hsieh Hsueh-Hung & Her Address at the Taichung Theater

On February 27, 1947, the clashes caused by the crackdown on smuggled cigarettes at Taipei's Dadaocheng triggered Taiwanese people's dissatisfaction with the administration of the KMT government for the two years after World War II. This was the well-known February 28 Incident. In cities in Taiwan, the people were involved in protest actions and took over government agencies. After the incident, the writer Yang Kui and others set up the “Public Opinion Investigation Institute” in the Central Bookstore upstairs, issuing a public opinion survey card, hoping to unify public opinion and appeal to the KMT government for reformation.

Mr. Chung Yi-jen (later Captain of 27th Corps) considered making the appeal to the government to be relatively slow. On March 1 of the same year, people in the Taichung area received leaflets on a wide range of initiatives sponsored by Yang Kui and Chung Yi-jen and held a “citizens’ assembly” at the Taichung Theater on March 3, during which they strongly attacked the Kuomintang's tyranny. An influx of the public entered Taichung Theater, which was controlled by the “Civil Association” personnel. Hsieh Hsueh-Hung was proposed as chairperson. The citizens’ assembly was thereby convened without a hitch. Later on, the Civil Association organized students to declare the establishment of a “people's government”, and the masses poured into the government entities and took over municipal governments, police stations, fire departments, airports, etc., and disarmed the stationed army. The people participating in the citizens’ assembly decided to hold demonstrations and use fire engine sirens to stir up a citizens’ uprising.

The Taichung Theater became an important historical scene for the convening of a citizens’ assembly. Hsieh Hsueh-Hung and several people made speeches, the audience forming a sea of heads. This became the historical turning point in the armed resistance in Taichung. On March 3, the government troops were disarmed after the “Battle of Enlightenment Hall”. The “27th Corps” was organized on March 6, mainly comprising hundreds of youths and students, including Hsieh Hsueh-Hung.
Legendary Female Revolutionary

Hsieh Hsueh-Hung, whose real name was Hsieh A-Nu, was born in Changhua in 1901, in the early years of Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan, and was given to the Hung family as a child bride in order to raise money for her mother's funeral and to pay off debts. As a result, she was abused by her adoptive mother and once attempted suicide by lying on the railway tracks. These difficult life experiences profoundly influenced Hsieh’s views on left-wing ideology. Hsieh fled from the Hung Family at the age of 17 and returned to her hometown, Changhua, where she worked in a sugar refinery, and then later became a concubine of the Wufeng Lin family’s relative Chang Shu-min, who once lived in the Taichung Water Resources House “Mei Jingtang”. Because of Chang Shu-min, Hsieh was able to leave Taiwan in 1919, and went to Japan and China to engage in the May Fourth Movement of 1919. In 1925, Hsieh was recommended to join the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai and went to Moscow to enrich her unprecedented international vision and knowledge at “the Communist University for Oriental Workers in Moscow” for two years. She is thus considered the first female revolutionary in Taiwan.
Hsieh, who returned to Taiwan in 1928, rebuilt the Taiwan Communist Party and joined the Taiwanese Cultural Association as well as the Farmers' Association. She founded the “International Book Store” on Yanping North Road in Datong District of Taipei, selling leftist books and engaging in communist underground activities. Hsieh and the then Taiwanese Communists advocated “Taiwan independence” and “autonomy” and hoped that Taiwan could become a socialist society with national self-determination in a highly autonomous manner. However, Hsieh wanted to cooperate with the Taiwan Cultural Association and other organizations but was criticized as “opportunistic” by her party comrades. Hsieh was expelled from the party and arrested in Taipei in 1931. The Taiwan Communist Party collapsed in the wake of government harassment around that year. In 1939, Hsieh was released from prison on sick bail.

●Hsieh Hsueh-Hung after the February 28 Incident

Hsieh Hsueh-Hung had been active in the historical arena of Taichung before the eve of February 28, 1947. After the end of World War II in August 1945, she resided above the Dahua Restaurant (at today’s intersection of Gongyuan Road and Ziyou Road), which was run by her younger brother, and set up the “Taiwan People's Association”, the “Taiwan People's General Labor Union Preparatory Committee”, the “Taiwan Farmers’ Association”, the “Taiwan Student Alliance” and took over the “Jianguo Polytechnic School”. After her speeches at the Taichung Theater on March 2 and the Battle of Enlightenment Hall on March 3, Hsieh and the Student Self-Defense Forces’ Wu Chen-wu and others took charge of the negotiation with the KMT army and finally peacefully handed over the armed forces, making Taichung a city that had armed actions without fierce casualties, something that was rarely seen in the Taiwan February 28 Incident. Later on, Hsieh, the youths and the students jointly established the “27th Corps”, of which the famous Captain was Mr. Chung Yi-jen and the Security Team Leader was Mr. Huang Chin-Tao, while Hsieh Hsueh-Hung was kindly and respectfully honored as an “Obasan” (a Japanese loanword, used as a sign of respect to address any middle-aged or older female) by all the people of Taiwan.

With the entry of the Nationalist 21st Division of the regular army to Taiwan, although the 27th Corps took over the Gancheng Military Camp and backed up the central area in the battle, it resolutely decided to withdraw from Taichung at 3:00 p.m. on March 12 to keep Taichung City out of the war. Hsieh left the 27th Corps under the Chinese Communist Party’s order to the underground party to preserve its strength. The 27th Corps was dissolved on the night of March 16 after the “Battle of Aboan Auran”. In May of the same year, Hsieh sailed for Hong Kong and then went to China.

Staying in China as a representative of Taiwan, Hsieh Hsueh-Hung always dared to speak out, even though her words and deeds were intolerable to the Chinese authorities. During the Anti-Rightist Movement and the Cultural Revolution, she was even criticized and denounced by the Chinese Communist Party as a “rightist”. Her opposition to the CCP’s highly centralized system and hope that Taiwan would implement national self-determination would never change. Hsieh Hsueh-Hung passed away in 1970. Despite the mixed feelings about her ideology and political views, the fact that she was a Taiwanese female revolutionary of humble origins can never be denied.