r, Yu Qingfang, launched a revolution to establish a Taiwanese nation. The revolution spread across the island, of which both Chinese and indigenous Taiwanese participated. The Japanese sent heavily armed troops to repress the event. The repression soon became a large-scale massacre which eliminated many rural villages, and thousands of people were killed during the repression, most being innocent villagers. Yu Qingfang was caught on August 22, 1915; more than 800 people were sentenced to death in Tainan court. Over 100 of them were ended executed while the rest were given amnesty due to the enthrone of the TaishÅ Emperor. The birthplace of the rebellion, Xilai Temple in Tainan, was demolished. The Xilaian incident was the largest uprising in the history of Japanese rule in Taiwan. This event is also the turning point from forced pacification to integration of Taiwan into Japanese Empire.
Post War and Republic of China
The Republic of China (ROC) took over the island in 1945 after World War II. Tainan City and Tainan County became separate local entities under Taiwan Province in 1946. The 228 Incident broke out on February 28, 1947 in Taipei following widespread civil unrest. Thng Tek-chiong (pinyin: Tang Dezhang), a Taiwanese lawyer and a member of government which set up "The 228 Incident Commission", was arrested by the ROC army on March 11. Claiming him as a separatist and after being questioned and tortured overnight the Chinese executed him the next day in the park in front of Tainan City Hall (now named Tang Dezhang Memorial Park). Tang was pronounced not guilty by court later in March. Like other regions in Taiwan, many political activists in Tainan suffered from KMT repression during this autocratic era.
The city held its first councilor and mayoral election in 1950. On March 19, 2004, President Chen Shui-bian was shot in Tainan during his campaign for a new term in office. The city has been a major center for pro-independent movement
