228 Incident The 228 Massacre , 2 / 28 Massacre , also called 228 Incident by Kuomintang ( KMT ) , or 2 / 28 for short , was an anti - government uprising in Taiwan that began on February 27 , 1947 which was violently suppressed by the KMT - led Republic of China government and which resulted in the massacre of numerous civilians , beginning on February 28 , or 2 / 28 . Estimates of the number of deaths vary from 10 , 000 to 30 , 000 or more . The incident marked the beginning of the Kuomintang ' s White Terror period in Taiwan , in which thousands more inhabitants vanished , died , or were imprisoned . This incident is one of the most important events in Taiwan ' s modern history , and is a critical impetus for the Taiwan independence movement . In 1945 , 50 years of Japanese rule of Taiwan ended due to Japan ' s loss in World War II , and in October the United States on behalf of the Allied Forces handed temporary administrative control of Taiwan to the Kuomintang - administered Republic of China ( ROC ) under General Order No . 1 to handle the surrender of Japanese troops and ruling administration . Local inhabitants became resentful of what they perceived as a high handed and frequently corrupt KMT authorities inclined to the arbitrary seizure of private property and economic mismanagement . The flashpoint in tensions came on February 27 in Taipei , when a dispute between a cigarette vendor and an officer of the Office of Monopoly triggered civil disorder and an open rebellion that lasted for days . The uprising was violently put down by the military of the Republic of China and the island was placed under martial law . The subject was officially taboo for decades . On the anniversary of the event in 1995 , President Lee Teng - hui addressed the subject publicly , a first for a Taiwanese head of state . The event is now openly discussed and February 28 is commemorated as Peace Memorial Day ( ) , and details of the event have become the subject of government and historian investigation . Every February 28 , the president of the ROC gathers with other officials to ring a commemorative bell in memory of the victims . The president bows to family members of 2 / 28 victims and gives each one a certificate officially exonerating the victim of any crime , who were previously blacklist ed as enemies of the state . Monuments and memorial parks to the victims of 2 / 28 have been erected in a number of Taiwanese cities , including Kaohsiung and Taipei . Taipei ' s former " Taipei New Park " was rededicated as 228 Peace Memorial Park and houses the National 228 Memorial Museum to commemorate the tragic incident , which opened on February 28 , 2011 . Background . During the 50 years of Japanese rule in Taiwan ( 1895 – 1945 ) , Japan developed Taiwan ' s economy and raised the standard of living for most Taiwanese people , building up Taiwan as a supply base for the Japanese main islands . Consequently , Taiwanese perceptions of the Japanese rule were significantly more favorable than perceptions in other parts of East Asia . Taiwanese adopted Japanese names and practiced Shinto , while the schools instilled a sense of " Japanese spirit " in students . By the time World War II began , many Taiwanese were proficient in both the Taiwanese language , a derivative of the Hokkien language which originated in Fujian province in China , and Japanese language . Following the end of World War II , Taiwan was placed under the administrative control of the Republic of China to provide stability until a permanent arrangement could be made . Chen Yi , the Governor - General of Taiwan , arrived on October 24 , 1945 , and received the last Japanese governor , Ando Rikichi , who signed the document of surrender on the next day . Chen Yi then proclaimed the day as Retrocession Day to make Taiwan part of the Republic of China , although there were questions about the legality of doing so . The Kuomintang ( KMT ) troops were initially welcomed by local inhabitants , but their behavior and the KMT administration led to Taiwanese discontent during the immediate postwar period . As Governor - General , Chen Yi took over and sustained the Japanese system of state monopolies in tobacco , sugar , camphor , tea , paper , chemical s , petroleum refining , Mining , and cement . He confiscated some 500 Japanese - owned factories and mines , and homes of former Japanese residents . Economic mismanagement led to a large black market , runaway inflation and food shortages . Many commodities were sold cheaply and shipped to China for the Civil War shortage where they were sold for profit furthering the general shortage of goods in Taiwan . The price of rice rose to one hundred times its original value between the time the Chinese took over to the spring of 1946 . It inflated further to four hundred times the original price by January 1947 . Carpetbaggers from China dominated nearly all industry , political and judicial offices , displacing the Taiwanese who were formerly employed ; and many of the ROC garrison troops were highly undisciplined , looting , stealing , and contributing to the overall breakdown of infrastructure and public services . Many Taiwanese view the Japanese rule favorably , both then and now . Many Taiwanese had served in the colonial administration and Japanese armed forces system . Because the Taiwanese elite had met with some success with self - government under Japanese rule , they had expected the same system from the incoming ruling Chinese government . However , the Chinese Nationalists opted for a different route , aiming for the centralization of government powers and a reduction in local authority . The KMT ' s nation - building efforts went this way because of unpleasant experiences with the centrifugal forces during the Warlord Era that had torn the government in China . The different goals of the Chinese Nationalists and the Taiwanese , coupled with cultural and language misunderstandings served to further inflame tensions on both sides . Uprising and crackdown . On the evening of February 27 , 1947 , a Tobacco Monopoly Bureau enforcement team in Taipei went to the Taiheichō District ( 太平町 ) of Dadaocheng ( present - day Nanjing West Road ) , where they confiscated contraband cigarettes from a 40 year old widow named Lin Jiang - mai ( 林江邁 ) at the Tianma teahouse ( 天馬茶房 ) ( ) . They took her life savings of the non - taxed ( illegal ) cigarettes . She begged for their return , but one of the agents hit Lin ' s head with a pistol , prompting the surrounding Taiwanese crowd to challenge the Tobacco Monopoly agents . As they fled one agent fired his gun into the crowd , killing one bystander . The crowd , which had already been harboring many feelings of frustration from unemployment , inflation and corruption of the Nationalist Government , reached its breaking point . The crowd protested to both the police and the gendarmes , but was mostly ignored . Violence flared the following morning on February 28 . Security forces at the Governor - General ' s Office , armed with swords ( ? ) , tried to disperse the crowd . Some fired on the protesters who were calling for the arrest and trial of the agents involved in the previous day ' s shooting , resulting in several deaths . Formosans took over the administration of the town and military bases on March 4 and forced their way into local radio station to protest . By evening , martial law had been declared and curfews were enforced by the arrest or shooting of anyone who violated curfew . For several weeks after the February 28 Incident , the Taiwanese civilians controlled much of Taiwan . The initial riots were spontaneous and somewhat violent . Within a few days the Taiwanese were generally coordinated and organized , and public order in Taiwanese - held areas was upheld by volunteer civilians organized by students , and unemployed former Japanese army soldiers . Local leaders formed a Settlement Committee , which presented the government with a list of 32 Demands for reform of the provincial administration . They demanded , among other things , greater autonomy , free elections , surrender of the ROC Army to the Settlement Committee , and an end to governmental corruption . Motivations among the various Taiwanese groups varied ; some demanded greater autonomy within the ROC , while others wanted UN trusteeship or full independence . The Taiwanese also demanded representation in the forthcoming peace treaty negotiations with Japan , hoping to secure a plebiscite to determine the island ' s political future . Outside of Taipei , it was less peaceful . Mainland Chinese also experienced violence . Public places like banks and post offices were looted . Some had to flee for Military Police protection . A few smaller groups formed , including the Communist - inspired " 27 Brigade " ( ) . They looted 3 machine guns , 300 rifles , and hand grenades from military arsenals in Taichung and Pingtung . The armed Taiwanese shot or injured ~ 200 Nationalist Army soldiers which quickly precipitated the house arrest or execution of those who participated in the rebellion . The Nationalists authorities under Chen Yi stalled for time while assembling a large military force in China in Fujian province . Upon arrival on March 8 , the ROC troops launched a crackdown . According to the New York Times on March 29 , 1947 : " An American who had just arrived in China from Taihoku said that troops from China arrived there on March 7 and indulged in three days of killing . For a time anyone seen on the streets breaking the curfew could be shot at . Homes were broken into and occupants got arrested for questioning . In more isolated sections , such as the Racing Track or Botanical Garden , execution shots were heard . By the end of March , Chen Yi had ordered the imprisonment or execution of the leading Taiwanese organizers he could identify . His troops reportedly executed ( according to a Taiwanese delegation in Nanjing ) between 3 , 000 - 4 , 000 people throughout the island . The exact number is still undetermined as only 300 Taiwanese families applied for another compensation as recently as 1990 . Some of the killings were random , while others were systematic . Taiwanese elites were among those targeted , and many of the Taiwanese who had formed self - governing groups during the reign of the Japanese were also victims of the 228 Incident . A disproportionate number of the victims were Taiwanese high school students . Many had recently served in the Japanese Army , having volunteered to serve to maintain order . Mainland Chinese civilians who fled were often beaten if not killed by Taiwanese . The initial 228 purge was followed by repression of " communists " under one - party rule , in what was termed " White Terror " , which lasted until the end of 1987 . This time coincided with anti - communist fervor in the United States . Thousands of people , including both Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese , were imprisoned or executed for their real or perceived dissent , leaving the Taiwanese victims among them with a deep - seated bitterness towards what they term the Nationalist regime , and by extension , all Chinese not born in Taiwan or anyone supporting the KMT or CCP . Legacy . For several decades , it was taboo to openly criticize the 228 Massacre Incident . The government hoped that the execution of Governor Chen Yi and financial compensation for the victims had quelled resentment . In the 1970s the 228 Justice and Peace Movement was initiated by several citizens ' groups to ask for a reversal of this policy , and , in 1992 , the Executive Yuan promulgated the " February 28 Incident Research Report . " Then - President and KMT - chairman Lee Teng - hui , who had participated in the incident and was arrested as an instigator and a Communist sympathizer made a formal apology on behalf of the government in 1995 and declared February 28 a day to commemorate the victims . Among other memorials erected , Taipei New Park was renamed 228 Memorial Park . Since the lifting of martial law in 1987 , the government has set up the 228 Incident Memorial Foundation , a civilian reparations fund supported by public donations for the victims and their families . Many descendants of victims remain unaware that their family members were victims , while many of the families of victims from Mainland China did not know the details of their relatives mistreatment during the riot . Those who have received compensation more than two times are still demanding a trial of the names of the living soldiers who were responsible for death of their loved ones . Prior to the 228 massacre , many Taiwanese hoped for a greater autonomy from China . The failure of conclusive dialogue with the ROC administration in early March , combined with the feelings of betrayal felt towards the government and China in general are widely believed to have catalyzed today ' s Taiwan independence movement and subsequently Taiwan Name Rectification Campaign after democratization . Few today hope for the eventual unification of Taiwan to China . On February 28 , 2004 , thousands of Taiwanese participated in the 228 Hand - in - Hand Rally . They formed a long human chain , from Taiwan ' s northernmost city to its southern tip , to commemorate the 228 Incident , to call for peace , and to protest the People ' s Republic of China ' s deployment of missile s aimed at Taiwan along the coast of Taiwan Strait . 2 - 28 Incident in art . A number of artists in Taiwan have addressed the subject of the 2 - 28 Incident since the taboo was lifted on the subject in the early 1990s . The Incident has been the subject of music by Fan - Long Ko and Tyzen Hsiao and a number of literary works . Hou Hsiao - hsien ' s " A City of Sadness " , the first movie dealing with the events , won the Golden Lion at the 1989 Venice Film Festival . The 2009 thriller " Formosa Betrayed " also relates the incident as part of the motivation behind Taiwan independence activist characters . Taiwanese metal band Chthonic ' s album Mirror Of Retribution also makes several lyrical references to the 288 massacre . Taiwanese - American Julie Wu ' s novel , The Third Son , describes the event and its aftermath from the viewpoint of a Taiwanese boy .