If Taiwanese wanted to break through the state terror of the regime, it was not enough to just write critiques or publish magazines. In 1986, Nylon began a campaign in protest of martial law. It was called the “519 Green Action” (The May 19 Green Action), also known as the May 19 Green Action. May 19th was chosen because that was the date on which martial law began in 1949.

Nylon Cheng organized a public demonstration of individual rights. Editors of other pro-democracy publications also joined. They distributed magazines, leaflets, stickers and organized information sessions to call for citizen participation. The initiative was simple:

On May 19th, find a green ribbon and tie it around something in public. Anything. As long as it was visible. A lampost, a streetlight, a tree. Or maybe even on your arms. And if you wish to join the demonstration, then join Nylon Cheng and his friends at Longshan Temple in Taipei. Together, you will march towards the Presidential Office.

Such a bold act undoubtedly irked the KMT regime.

The printed materials detailing the initiative were confisticated, And on May 19, demonstrators at Longshan Temple were met with more than 2,000 police, soldiers, and secret police. They surrounded the public square in front of the temple.This made it impossible for the activists to begin their march towards the Presidential Office. So instead, the crowd sat down on the ground, and this became a sit-in demonstration against martial law and the regime.

The next 12 hours was a tug of war.

Police, military police, and secret police surrounded the sit-in demonstration. Pro-democracy activists and curious bystanders also gathered round. Throughout the day, demonstrators trapped at Longshan Temple began to give speeches - one by one, expressing their views on the three decades of martial law, and their determination to fight for their rights. They even decided they would do this every year until the lifting of martial law. This was known as the 519 Green Action.

Although they didn’t get to march to the Presidential Office as planned, the 12-hour rally, coupled with the support of the masses that surrounded them, began to germinate the seeds of freedom.

--

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In 1984, Nylon Cheng founded the Freedom Era Weekly in order to break through news censorship. “For someone like me who is deeply trained in ideology,” he said. “running a magazine is the most appropriate way to practice my faith.”

The magazine lasted for more than five years, which was an incredible feat. At the time, pro-democracy publications like this were confiscated often and slapped with a one-year ban on printing. This made it difficult for any one publication to gain momentum and grow its influence.

Nylon had to get around this. He had to think ahead.

So when he applied for a publishing permit, instead of applying for one, he applied for 18 permits. This meant, as soon as one permit was banned, he would switch to a different permit to continue issuing the same magazine.

This cat-and-mouse chase meant that although the Freedom Era Weekly was banned often, in the 5 years and 8 months of publishing, a total of 302 issues were published without interruption.

The content magazine was as well-curated as Nylon’s crafty methods of evading censorship. Articles were often critical of KMT regime leaders - especially the Chiang family - the father-then-son pair who ruled Taiwan and their military. Writings calling for the release of political prisoners and the lifting of martial law were also frequent.

Readers relied on pro-democracy publications like the Freedom Era Weekly for stories that mainstream media dared not cover. For example, the mysterious murder of the writer Jiang Nan (also known as Henry Liu), and the health problems of KMT leader Chiang Ching-kuo.

At that time, these magazines were hard to come by. One had to find ways to get their hands on one. Or they discussed with friends in secret the articles in the latest issues. The need to learn the truth was growing stronger throughout the Taiwanese society. That was a big reason the Freedom Era Weekly was able to continue for so long. It reflected the social changes in Taiwan.

In the 1980s, it was common for journalists to be monitored and threatened. Writers at the Freedom Era Weekly were no exception, even if some were anonymous. This was why - if you look closely at the index pages of every issue, you’ll see these words: “Editor-in-chief Nylon Cheng is responsible for all articles in this publication. Names of authors are not specified.” To create a space where journalists and contributors could report the truth and investigate without fear, Nylon shouldered all responsibilities.

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Nylon Cheng described his life quite clearly in his self-introduction. His life was about realizing his ideas, and what he cared about was always the sufferings of the Taiwanese society.

Nylon Cheng was born in 1947, the year of the 228 Massacre, which began on February 28 and ultimately saw the deaths of tens of thousands in Taiwan.

After World War II, as Japan ended its 50-year colonization of Taiwan, the Chinese Nationalist Party, losing its civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communist party, retreated to Taiwan and set up its government here. The Nationalist Party, led by Chiang Kai-shek, is also known as the Kuomintang or the KMT. In 1948, the KMT instituted martial law, dictatorship, and a police state across Taiwan. Martial law would last for 38 years, the longest in modern world history at the time.

It was under this repressive regime that Nylon was brought up. But through reading and independent thinking, Nylon developed a set of beliefs that was vastly different from the regime. He attended the top university in Taiwan, National Taiwan University, but was ultimately denied a diploma because he refused to take the required class “The Philosophy of Sun Yat-sen”. Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese revolutionary who helped overthrow the imperial court of China’s Qing Dynasty in 1911, and is still celebrated by the KMT as the founding father of modern China.

After Nylon completed his military service, he worked in sales before becoming the democracy activist he's remembered as today. Nylon was inflamed by the Formosa Incident of 1979, when prominent dissidents and thought leaders were sentenced to 10 or more years in jail by the military court; and by the brutal triple-murder of 林義雄Lin Yi-hsiung’s family in 1980. Nylon began to write in pro-democracy magazines that loudly opposed the KMT’s one-party rule. Nylon later founded his own publication - the Freedom Era Weekly- a magazine aimed to exercise freedom of speech and the pursuit of truth.

During his time, he also organized multiple social movements.

In the 1980s, despite Taiwan’s booming economy, it still lacked democracy. Citizens were jailed, or sentenced to death, for saying the wrong things. Nylon was always challenging the red lines. He dared say things others dared not say, and do things others dared not do. He knew that the only way to make progress was to constantly push against the red lines.

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Throughout the 1980s, Nylon Cheng initiated a series of pro-democracy campaigns to protest the on-going martial law imposed by the KMT regime. In 1985, he was sentenced to eight months in jail for violating the Election and Recall Act. While in jail, he kept a journal every day. Of the many things he wrote, one was this: “The turning point to Taiwan becoming a free nation.”

Looking back, we see that Nylon had been creating multiple turning points for Taiwan to become a free place for everyone.

Owing to the efforts of many that came before us, Taiwan is now a part of the free world. But there’s still a long road ahead.

Facing pressure and threat by the People’s Republic of China across the Taiwan Strait, today we face a different challenge. Some Taiwanese self-censor at home, and others struggle to articulate who we are when abroad.

Even though we’re a democratic nation, our status as an independent country is recognized only by a handful of diplomatic allies. Nylon had advocated for Taiwan independence, and today we seek normalization.

--

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There is a lane in Taipei with a school on one side and a residential block on the other. This looks like any ordinary lane in Taiwan.

But what’s special here is that it’s also called the “Freedom / Liberty Lane”. On a third floor window hangs the sign “Nylon Cheng Memorial Museum”. Barbed wire surrounds the window. Its walls are blackened and charred.

This is the site of the Nylon Cheng Memorial Museum. A symbol and reminder of the sacrifices made, and our collective struggle for freedom during the democratization of Taiwan.

In December 1988, soon after the lifting of martial law, which lasted for 38 years, the longest in the world at the time, Cheng Nan-jung, known to his friends as Nylon, published a proposed constitution for Taiwan in the Freedom Era Weekly, a pro-democracy magazine he had founded. It was titled, “Draft of a New Constitution for the Republic of Taiwan.” The following month, he was charged with treason.

To Nylon, publishing this draft was an exercise of his fundamental rights. The charge of treason was groundless. It was a suppression of freedom of speech.

Nylon refused to appear in court. He wanted to defend the freedom of speech, including the right to advocate for “Taiwan Independence”. He, therefore, exercised his right of resistance and locked himself inside the office of the Freedom Era Weekly. There, he stayed for what became the last 71 days of his life.

On April 7, 1989, hundreds of police, soldiers, and secret police, arrived to arrest Nylon. Within two hours of a chaotic morning, Nylon Cheng, then 41 years old, committed suicide by self-immolation. He became a martyr under the oppressive regime of the Chinese Nationalist Party, commonly known as the KMT, or Kuomingtang. Nylon demonstrated that freedom comes with a heavy cost.

Thank you for visiting the Nylon Cheng Memorial Museum. This is where Nylon founded Freedom Era Weekly in 1984.

Next, we will hear about Nylon Cheng’s life. How he grew up, how he founded the pro-democracy magazine and mobilized social movements.

Through pictures, videos, manuscripts, and Nylon’s personal belongings we’re invited to step into his life, try to imagine his dilemma and understand his actions.

Let’s go back to the 1980s. Let’s witness the courage and determination of Nylon Cheng.

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——

旁白｜鄭竹梅

音樂｜編曲/創作/小提琴演奏 林暉鈞；音樂/聲音顧問 游源鏗；鋼琴演奏 顏琬蕙；錄音剪輯混音 許銘顯

導覽網站和短片音樂串接｜

《阿姆斯特丹》(Dans le port d´Amsterdam) 為主要樂曲

《我的祖國》(Z Dovoviny)

《白鳥之歌》（El cant dels ocells)

--

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鄭南榕曾說：「未來發展是難以逆料的，但我們始終堅信，唯有靠人民力量的全面覺醒，臺灣才會有公理正義降臨的一天。」

鄭南榕所說的這句話，在不同的時空背景下，依然值得我們深思。

他所做的犧牲，看起來既強烈又決斷，背後藏的是他對這塊土地很深厚的愛，他愛他的家人、朋友、同事，希望下一代活在更自由的環境。

於是當他面對了1980年代所存在的限制與壓迫，才選擇用生命去衝破。

現在，我們身處的社會跟以前不一樣，面對的挑戰和問題也不盡相同，自由的環境有其伴隨而來的問題，像是如何分辨資訊的真假與好壞，如何爭取更多元平等的價值，如何追求更公平正義的社會，繼續捍衛普世的人權。

但一樣的是，我們共同承擔了台灣的未來，在《自由時代》週刊最後一期的雜誌封面標題寫著：中國會武力犯台嗎？這個疑問，到了今天還是台灣人要面對的問題，你心中想要的未來是什麼樣子呢？你願意為了理想中的未來做什麼事情嗎？請你跟我們一起仔細的想一想，因為，剩下就是我們的事了。

———

感謝國家人權博物館的支持，由福倈鷹Flying團隊和鄭南榕基金會共同完成鄭南榕紀念館線上導覽網站( https://vr360.nhrm.gov.tw/NylonMemorialMuseum/ )。這項工作能順利完成，是集結眾人之力的成果，包含了不同階段、不同領域和不同世代的夥伴們一起努力完成。謹以致謝。

——

旁白｜鄭竹梅

音樂｜編曲/創作/小提琴演奏 林暉鈞；音樂/聲音顧問 游源鏗；鋼琴演奏 顏琬蕙；錄音剪輯混音 許銘顯

導覽網站和短片音樂串接｜

《阿姆斯特丹》(Dans le port d´Amsterdam) 為主要樂曲

《我的祖國》(Z Dovoviny)

《白鳥之歌》（El cant dels ocells)

--

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鄭南榕的死，毫無疑問震撼了全台灣。

國民黨政府試圖抹黑他的犧牲，但這無法撼動鄭南榕所帶來的影響。這一把自由之火，沒有在4月7號那一天熄滅，而是從那一棟小小的民宅裡蔓延到全台灣、甚至海外的台灣人心中。除了在士林廢河道搭建的靈堂，全台各地也陸陸續續有民眾自發性設置追悼鄭南榕的靈堂。

鄭南榕的告別式選在5月19號，呼應他所發起的第一個社會運動，519反戒嚴綠色行動。出殯時，天空下著雨，長長的送行隊伍幾乎看不到盡頭，瀰漫著悲傷又肅穆的氛圍。但就連這一天，當局依舊派出了大量的軍警，嚴密監控送行的一切過程。

在隊伍走到總統府前時，經常響應支援鄭南榕的社運夥伴：詹益樺，在此時突然點火自焚，他曾經說過：「鄭南榕是一顆偉大而美好的種子，我希望自己也成為一顆偉大而美好的種子。」詹益樺代表的，是無數追隨鄭南榕的夥伴，是基層紮根實作的力量，他沒有耀眼的經歷，卻有對台灣的一片真心。他點燃的那把火，同樣成為了台灣民主路上的重要養分。

不只詹益樺，還有很多台灣人也受到了鄭南榕的激勵。這把火，點燃了很多人克服困難的勇氣。在國內，開始有更多的人投入不同面向的改革運動，包括後來廢除懲治叛亂條例和刑法一百條的修正。在海外，許多被列為黑名單的台灣人嘗試突破國民黨政府的封鎖，決心回到台灣。大大小小的行動累積下來，都是在不斷推動台灣成為一個更加自由的國度。

———

感謝國家人權博物館的支持，由福倈鷹Flying團隊和鄭南榕基金會共同完成鄭南榕紀念館線上導覽網站( https://vr360.nhrm.gov.tw/NylonMemorialMuseum/ )。這項工作能順利完成，是集結眾人之力的成果，包含了不同階段、不同領域和不同世代的夥伴們一起努力完成。謹以致謝。

——

旁白｜鄭竹梅

音樂｜編曲/創作/小提琴演奏 林暉鈞；音樂/聲音顧問 游源鏗；鋼琴演奏 顏琬蕙；錄音剪輯混音 許銘顯

導覽網站和短片音樂串接｜

《阿姆斯特丹》(Dans le port d´Amsterdam) 為主要樂曲

《我的祖國》(Z Dovoviny)

《白鳥之歌》（El cant dels ocells)

--

Hosting provided by SoundOn

這裡是自由時代的總編輯室，也是鄭南榕自焚的所在。

從決定自囚開始，其實鄭南榕就做好了犧牲的準備，除了加裝鐵門、鐵窗和鐵絲網，以防止軍警強行攻堅，他還在桌子底下準備了汽油與打火機。自囚的每一天，他隨時都在面對死亡。他的親朋好友和太太葉菊蘭多次苦勸，但都無法改變他的決定。他說過：「我是一個很有耐心的人，下決心很慢，一旦下了決心，就很堅定，不會改變。」。面對勸阻他的人，他總是叫他們去看《韓國學生運動史》這本書，裡面寫著韓國學生用自焚表達信念，而鄭南榕正是想透過自焚喚起台灣人的覺醒。

經過漫長的71天自囚，當局在4月7號清晨，出動大批軍警前來雜誌社拘提，他們一早打電話假裝要訂雜誌干擾佔線，接著再切斷雜誌社的電力，讓雜誌社徹底對外失去聯繫。

在社內一片混亂的時候，大批軍警已經將雜誌社層層包圍，預計從一樓往上攻堅。

這時候，鄭南榕叫醒還在睡覺的女兒鄭竹梅，並將她托付給員工，催促大家離開。

在眾人忙亂之際，趁大家沒有注意的時候，鄭南榕將自己鎖在總編輯室，用打火機點燃他所準備的汽油，自焚身亡。他為了他所追求的理念，也是為了他所疼惜的台灣和之後的世代，犧牲自己的生命。

———

感謝國家人權博物館的支持，由福倈鷹Flying團隊和鄭南榕基金會共同完成鄭南榕紀念館線上導覽網站( https://vr360.nhrm.gov.tw/NylonMemorialMuseum/ )。這項工作能順利完成，是集結眾人之力的成果，包含了不同階段、不同領域和不同世代的夥伴們一起努力完成。謹以致謝。

——

旁白｜鄭竹梅

音樂｜編曲/創作/小提琴演奏 林暉鈞；音樂/聲音顧問 游源鏗；鋼琴演奏 顏琬蕙；錄音剪輯混音 許銘顯

導覽網站和短片音樂串接｜

《阿姆斯特丹》(Dans le port d´Amsterdam) 為主要樂曲

《我的祖國》(Z Dovoviny)

《白鳥之歌》（El cant dels ocells)

--

Hosting provided by SoundOn

1988年夏天，鄭南榕第一次出國，去了日本、美國，與許多海外台灣人見面，包括台獨聯盟的成員。回國後，他開始更積極推動建立新國家的行動，才有了「新國家運動」，但光是喊出台灣獨立的口號還不夠，還要有實際的作為，於是鄭南榕於12月10號，世界人權日當天所發行的《自由時代》週刊第254期，刊登許世楷所寫的《臺灣共和國憲法草案》，希望這篇文章能拋磚引玉，讓大家共同討論出一個適合台灣的新憲法。

因為這篇新憲法草案，震撼台灣社會，也引起國民黨的不安，雜誌再度遭到查禁，鄭南榕在隔年1月21號收到了「涉嫌叛亂」的傳票，他拒絕接受這個罪名，並指正說這明顯是國民黨對政治異議份子的迫害，人民應當有權抵抗。

於是，鄭南榕為了宣示決心，他說：「國民黨抓不到我的人，只能抓到我的屍體。」並從1月26號開始，將自己關在雜誌社，足不出戶。面對國民黨政府的暴政，鄭南榕的自囚，其實是最平和的非暴力抗爭。

自囚期間，國際組織的關切和台灣民間的聲援不斷，還有聲援者自發性地擔任志工，輪流前來雜誌社日夜駐守，就是為了防止軍警強行拘提鄭南榕。

———

感謝國家人權博物館的支持，由福倈鷹Flying團隊和鄭南榕基金會共同完成鄭南榕紀念館線上導覽網站( https://vr360.nhrm.gov.tw/NylonMemorialMuseum/ )。這項工作能順利完成，是集結眾人之力的成果，包含了不同階段、不同領域和不同世代的夥伴們一起努力完成。謹以致謝。

——

旁白｜鄭竹梅

音樂｜編曲/創作/小提琴演奏 林暉鈞；音樂/聲音顧問 游源鏗；鋼琴演奏 顏琬蕙；錄音剪輯混音 許銘顯

導覽網站和短片音樂串接｜

《阿姆斯特丹》(Dans le port d´Amsterdam) 為主要樂曲

《我的祖國》(Z Dovoviny)

《白鳥之歌》（El cant dels ocells)

--

Hosting provided by SoundOn