Diverging from the normal path: The life course of an elderly woman in Kinmen county

ABSTRACT Kinmen, also known as Quemoy, is a unique offshore island of the Republic of China (ROC) that had an unusual and strategic position during the Cold War from 1946 to 1992. After 1949, Kinmen was forced to become involved in the military standoff between Chiang Kai-shek’s Republic of China in Taiwan (ROC) and Mao Zedong’s People’s Republic of China (PRC) during the cold war. Kinmen was under martial law for nearly 50 years from 1946 to 1992. The martial law was lifted in 1992 and Kinmen has become the frontline for cross-strait exchanges between the ROC and mainland China. Men’s heroic stories during the war have been studied and published, while women’s voices are systematically ignored. In order to examine the roles and value of women in Kinmen’s history, a case study methodology was used here. Su was one such unique woman, whose life story is investigated here. My main findings were about how she, as an active agent, used opportunities in order to overcome the major structural pressures of her life, while Kinmen underwent some major transitions. This paper is based on an account of this woman’s extraordinary struggles in different periods of time.