Wushe Incident Memorial Park

Wushe Incident began in 1930 and was the last major uprising against Japanese imperial control. After this indigenous insurrection, rebellions stopped using violence as a political means and instead turned to social movements.

The uprising took place in the Renai Township of Nantou. In response to long-term oppression by the colonial Japanese forces , the Seediq (賽德克) indigenous group attacked their village, killing over 130 Japanese people. The Japanese colonizers then led a relentless counter-attack, killing more than 1,000 Seediq aborigines with bombs, cannons and toxic gas. The leader of Seediq warriors, Mona Rudao (莫那魯道), ended up committing suicide by shooting himself with a pistol to keep the armed forces from capturing him alive. Hundreds of his people also hanged themselves to death. The colonial government was under fire after the Wushe Incident, and criticism was voiced both from within Japan and abroad for their inhumane way of suppressing the rebels, leading to many changes in aboriginal policy.

In memory of the braveness of Seediq aborigines and the contribution of their greatest leader, the government set up a monument within Wushe Incident Memorial Park. In 2011, the historical epic film “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (賽德克．巴萊)” – a panegyric to the Wushe Uprising – hit the theaters, paying tribute and bring attention to this vanishing piece of history.