KMT Martial Memory

Abstract

The various war or war-related sites discussed in this chapter—the Zhongshan Hall (中山堂‎), the Armed Forces Museum (國軍歷史文物館‎), Chung-hsing New Village (中興新村‎), Military Dependents Villages (眷村‎), and Kinmen (金門‎)—suggest that blue camp historical memory is very much alive in Taiwan. The case of the Zhongshan Hall shows the difficulty faced by proponents to create a memorial space dedicated to the War of Resistance against Japan. The Armed Forces Museum exemplifies a static form of KMT historical memory that seems like a throwback to Cold War times, whereas the Military Dependents Villages and Kinmen attest to the plasticity of memorial sites and their capacity to take on new meanings in a changing world through state and nongovernmental interventions.