In 1951, the Taiwan Provincial Library received a letter from the Presidential Office. The Information Group of the Confidential Office stated that they wanted to borrow banned books from the library for research needs. After checking the "List of Prohibited Books", the library found a total of 1,905 volumes. This batch of books and periodicals that are not allowed to be read by general readers has been moved to a remote library. After sorting and packaging, the librarian responded with a letter (Figure 1), asking the Presidential Palace to send someone to collect them. Looking carefully at the catalog, it includes not only books related to the Communist Party, but also literary masterpieces and scientific professional books from various countries (Figure 2). Even researchers from the presidential palace need to send a special letter to obtain it, which highlights how the book ban system cuts off the connection between ordinary people and knowledge.
During the long period of authoritarian rule, there was far more than one such "List of Forbidden Books". As the banning operation continues, the "Catalogue of Censored Books" compiled by the Taiwan Provincial Security Command is constantly being added, as if the writers' efforts and thoughts are imprisoned in the page-by-page list. There is also more than one kind of law used to control books and periodicals, and they often exist at the same time and overlap with each other. In 1949, the Taiwan Provincial Police Headquarters promulgated the "Measures for the Management of News, Magazines and Books in Taiwan Province during the Martial Law Period" in accordance with the "Martial Law Law"; in 1950, the Southeast Military and Political Chief's Office revised the "Measures for the Management of News, Magazines and Books in Taiwan Province during the Martial Law Period"; in 1951, the Taiwan Provincial Government and the Security Command promulgated the "Implementation Measures for Inspection and Banning of Prohibited Books, Newspapers, Magazines, Movies, TV Series and Songs". In addition, the Publishing Law and related regulations will continue to apply. In 1953, the Executive Yuan revised and promulgated the "Measures for the Control of Newsprint, Magazines and Books in Taiwan Province during the Martial Law Period" to make the control of publications more stringent.
These laws are not replaced one by one, but coexist simultaneously. In practice, the Taiwan Provincial Security Command and its restructured Garrison General Headquarters and other agencies will review and ban books based on different legal sources. The "Category of Banned Books" (Figure 3 and Figure 4) later compiled includes both books that "violate the Publication Law" and "violate the Martial Law Law." Relevant regulations often use highly general statements such as "slandering the government or the chief minister", "violating the Three People's Principles", "stirring the feelings of the government and the people", "spreading failed speculation" and "affecting the public order" as banning criteria. The competent authorities have a huge room for interpretation, which places extensive restrictions on the publication, circulation and reading of books and periodicals.
In addition to including banned books on the "blacklist", certain places such as military academies also have a stricter "whitelist" system, and only books and magazines on the list can be read. In 1952, Xu Huansheng, then director of the Political Department of the Air Force General Headquarters, sent a letter to the General Political Department of the Ministry of National Defense, requesting the purchase of 21 more magazines for the Air Force Academy (Figure 5). Xu Huansheng had led a team to fly to Japan to drop anti-war leaflets in 1938 and was well aware of the power of written propaganda. However, this time the proposal to expand reading resources in military schools was still blocked by Director of the General Political Department of the Ministry of National Defense Chiang Ching-kuo on the grounds that publications not on the white list might affect the morale of officers and soldiers (Figure 6).
After the defeat of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the civil war, the government of the Republic of China came to Taiwan and invested a lot of effort in propaganda. Beginning in 1951, the Chinese Kuomintang established the Fourth Group of the Central Committee to coordinate and lead propaganda work. The monthly "Propaganda Briefing" was even hosted by Chiang Kai-shek himself. Judging from the current records, the "Fourth Group" played a very important role in the decision-making process of banned books. They were like the brains of propaganda work. They were not only responsible for compiling the "List of Banned Books" but also setting various censorship standards. At the provincial level, there is a "Book and Periodical Joint Review Team" jointly formed by the Security Headquarters and the Provincial Department of Education, Information Office, Police Department and Security Department. It analyzes new books on the market to see if they violate the review standards. When necessary, it will also ask the guidance unit "Group 4" for opinions.
At the implementation level, the "Book and Periodical Inspection Team" is responsible for banning books. Under the unified planning of the Security Headquarters, book inspection teams have been set up at the county, city, and even township levels. The local police stations, education departments, and social science departments jointly send personnel to inspect books and newsstands in various places, forming an intensive search operation.
Under multiple laws and layers of scrutiny, the scope of the ban continues to expand. In addition to books and periodicals that promote communist ideology, literary works, emotional descriptions, and even technical books may also be included in the banned book list due to the identity of the author, content deemed "obscene" or other general reasons.
The most shocking thing is that even technical books such as "Ore Machinery Manufacturing Method" have been banned (Figure 7). The files show that the reasons discussed by the censors included whether the author was considered a "bandit" and factors that were not directly related to the content itself, such as the arrangement of the books horizontally from left to right. The public may be deprived of access to professional knowledge based solely on authorship and formal characteristics. In 1970, the "Measures for the Control of Publications during the Martial Law Period in Taiwan" clearly stipulated that "the works or translated works of bandit chiefs, bandits, and forged bandit publications" would be banned. However, before that, the works of "bandit" authors had been the target of bans for a long time, which showed the lack of transparency in censorship standards and the lack of clear protection of people's rights.
At the end of 1959, the General Security Headquarters planned another large-scale raid on martial arts novels, which could be called the "Martial Arts Extinction" in the martial arts novel world. The operation was codenamed "Project Heavy Rain" (Figure 8). On the one hand, the authorities believe that martial arts novels are overly popular and may affect social order; on the other hand, many of the works have been published in newspapers deemed to be "bandits" and are also regarded as tools for the cultural united war on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. From February 15 to 17, 1960, the Garrison General Headquarters and local police units simultaneously raided bookstores, newsstands and rental shops, banning 97 categories and more than 120,000 volumes of martial arts novels within three days.
In order to reduce the losses caused by censorship, publishers will reprint the book under a different title or author's name in an attempt to avoid government censorship. At that time, the goods of publishing houses, book stalls, and rental shops could all be suddenly confiscated, placing heavy economic pressure on the operators. Censorship standards are fluid and traceless, and it is even difficult for industry professionals to grasp the boundaries of self-censorship. Many books that have nothing to do with politics may also be confiscated without explanation. This kind of censorship without clear standards severely limits people’s access to information and entertainment. The book banning system during the martial law period was not just a censorship of publications. It was also a way for the state to deprive people of their basic rights to acquire knowledge and express opinions by suppressing freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and diversity of thought. Under the war mobilization system, book ban control policies restricted the spread of writing, making it difficult for culture and knowledge in Taiwanese society to circulate.
Texts, images and various publications are, on the one hand, objects of internal control of thoughts and public opinion, and on the other hand, they have also become tools for external propaganda. During the long-term confrontation, the governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait produced a large number of airborne leaflets and incorporated propaganda into psychological operations in an attempt to shake the morale of the other side and win the recognition of the people. Although this approach has a different historical context from what is called "cognitive warfare" today, it still regards information as a battlefield that affects the judgment and actions of the enemy and ourselves.
During the cross-strait confrontation, the content of airborne leaflets produced by the Communist Army was quite diverse. Some leaflets published photos of Taiwan compatriots living in China, claiming that the local society was prosperous and the economy was developing well, trying to create the impression that "returning to the motherland is happiness" (Pictures 9 and 10); others directly targeted the frontline military officers and soldiers, creating a war-weary atmosphere, persuading the soldiers to lay down their weapons, and even encouraging them to surrender by flying planes and boats (Pictures 11 and 12). These propaganda are intended to increase the psychological pressure on frontline officers and soldiers, but it is still difficult to judge their actual effect based on the content of the leaflets alone.
On the other side of the strait, Taiwan also produced a large number of airborne leaflets. Some contents emphasized the power of the national army's weapons and tried to make the Communist officers and soldiers surrender out of fear (Figure 13); others criticized the CCP's land policy and class struggle and promoted the Three People's Principles, democracy and freedom (Figures 14 and 15). During the cross-strait confrontation, Communist officers and soldiers did fly or sail to Taiwan, and the government also portrayed them as anti-communist martyrs who "dedicated themselves to freedom." However, the motives for individual actions cannot simply be attributed to the leaflets. What is even more worthy of consideration is that while the Taiwan government promotes democracy and freedom to the other side of the Taiwan Strait, it still implements book bans and speech control on the island, highlighting the contradiction between external propaganda and internal governance.
Flying leaflets externally and authoritarian control internally are two information operations under the same war mobilization system. When the text is printed on leaflets and floated to the other side, it becomes a psychological weapon to shake morale and win recognition; if the text remains in books and periodicals on the island, it may be censored and banned, restricting people's access to information and expression of ideas. Looking back at these files, we can see how the government pursued the security of rule by controlling information, and we can better understand that the deprived freedom of thought and speech are the core values that democratic politics should protect.
