Taiwan Volunteer Corps Memorial Hall

Taiwan Volunteer Corps Memorial Hall

The Taiwan Volunteer Corps Memorial Hall is a Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a Patriotic Education Base.

The Taiwan Volunteer Corps Memorial Hall is located at No. 84 Jiufang Lane in downtown Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, the original site where the Taiwan Volunteer Corps was established.

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Li Youbang, a patriotic Taiwanese figure, with the approval of the Nationalist Government, organized and mobilized dozens of Taiwanese compatriots in Fujian to establish the Taiwan Volunteer Corps in February 1939 in Jinhua, Zhejiang. Guided by the purpose of “defending the motherland and reclaiming Taiwan,” they primarily operated in Zhejiang and carried out anti-Japanese activities across the southeastern provinces, growing to over 380 members at their peak. Before and after its establishment, the Taiwan Volunteer Corps received support and assistance from the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Leveraging the Japanese language skills of many of its members, the Corps contributed to wartime propaganda efforts and actively engaged in political struggles against the enemy. Utilizing the medical expertise of many members, they provided frontline medical care, establishing four “Taiwan Hospitals” in Jinhua, Lanxi, Quzhou, and Jianyang, Fujian. They also adapted to local conditions to manufacture military supplies, producing various equipment, raw materials for munitions, and urgently needed battlefield medications. In May 1942, during the outbreak of the Zhegan Campaign and on the eve of Jinhua’s fall, the Taiwan Volunteer Corps withdrew to Longyan, Fujian. After the victory of the war and the restoration of Taiwan, most members returned to Taiwan.

In April 2006, the Jinhua Municipal Government decided to establish the Taiwan Volunteer Corps Memorial Hall on the original site of its founding, adhering to the principle of preserving the historical structure. The opening ceremony was held in October. The memorial hall covers an area of 200 square meters, with a construction area of 145 square meters, consisting of a single-story brick-and-wood structure. The plaque at the entrance inscribed with “Taiwan Volunteer Corps Memorial Hall” was written by the Chairman of the Kuomintang. The memorial hall houses over 60 historical photographs and nearly 100 cultural relics, serving as the only historical remnant of organized Taiwanese participation in the mainland’s War of Resistance.

The Taiwan Volunteer Corps Memorial Hall is a Jinhua Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit and was designated as a Zhejiang Provincial Patriotic Education Base by the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Department in December 2007.

Source: Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee Party History Research and Documentation Office

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units