Wang Baiyuan

Wang Baiyuan
Born	(1902-11-03)November 3, 1902 Huimin Village, Ershui Township, Changhua County, Taiwan
Died	October 3, 1965(1965-10-03) (aged 62)
Nationality	（1907－1945）  Republic of China（1945－1965）
Education	Taipei Normal School Tokyo School of Fine Arts
Occupation	poet

Wang Baiyuan (Taiwanese Hokkien: Ô ng Pe) ̍ K-ian (November 3, 1902 – October 3, 1965) was a Taiwanese modernist poet and a Japanese-language writer.

He was born in Huimin Village, Ershui Township, Changhua County, Taiwan. In 1918, Wang Baiyuan graduated from Ershui Public School and was admitted to the National Taipei University of Education. During his time at the National Taipei University of Education, he met Xie Chunm, with whom he later collaborated . After graduating from a regular school, he served as a teacher at Xihu Public School in Taichung Prefecture (now Xihu Elementary School in Changhua County) in 1921 and as a trainer (formerly known as a Japanese teacher position) at Ershui Public School in Taichung Prefecture (now Ershui Elementary School in Changhua County) in 1922. Wang Baiyuan went to Japan for further studies in 1923 and attended the Tokyo University of the Arts in Japan. After graduation, he taught at the Women's Normal School in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. During his stay in Japan, Wang Baiyuan married a Japanese woman and devoted himself to literary creation, actively engaging in scholarly activities. In 1931, Wang Baiyuan published his personal poetry collection "The Way of Thorns" (Ji Dao, 蕀 道);^[1] In 1932, Wang Baiyuan and a group of literary and artistic colleagues from Tokyo and Taiwan organized the "Taiwan Art Research Association" and founded "Formosa (magazine)." Due to individual members participating in anti-imperialist marches being arrested by the police, the whole group was implicated, and Wang Baiyuan suffered and lost his teaching position. In 1934, after Wang Baiyuan divorced his Japanese wife, Kubota Takashi, he left Japan and went to Shanghai to work at Hualian News Agency.^[1][2]

Wang Baiyuan, following his tenure as an educator within the Pattern Department at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, encountered tumultuous times as stability eluded him. With the eruption of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, his life took a harrowing turn. Following the Japanese army's occupation of the French Concession, Wang Baiyuan faced arrest and subsequent sentencing to eight years of imprisonment. He endured six years of confinement before being deported to Taipei to complete his term. Upon his release, he found a new professional path, joining the ranks of Taiwan Daily News.^[3][4][5]

After the war, Wang Baiyuan actively engaged in cultural endeavors. He co-founded the Taiwan Cultural Cooperation Association (established in 1946 at Zhongshan Hall in Taipei) alongside You Mijian, Yang Yunping, Chen Shaoxin, Shen Xiangcheng, Su Xin, and others and became a member of the association. He also served as the editor and primary contributor for the organization's magazine, Taiwan Culture. Subsequently, Wang Baiyuan held positions at institutions such as Li Chunqing's Taiwan Review, where he worked as the editorial director, Taiwan New Student Daily Taiwan New Life News [zh], and Cai Peihuo's Red Cross. By the end of 1947, Wang Baiyuan became entangled in the February 28 incident and was apprehended and incarcerated by the authorities. Fortunately, with the guarantee provided by You Mijian, he was eventually released from prison. However, after enduring a series of harsh setbacks and residing in a highly oppressive and politically charged atmosphere, Wang Baiyuan's youthful vigor gradually faded. In his later years, he began organizing literary materials and published an article titled "History of Taiwan Art Movement" in the 1954 Taipei Cultural Relics. Despite his efforts, he did not achieve significant progress after that. In 1965, Wang Baiyuan passed away at the age of 63 due to complications from uremia.^[3][4]