Written by An-Ru Chu.
Image credit: 獅山砲陣地 by Wei-Te Wong. / Flickr, license: CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED.
In the opening ninety seconds of S. Leo Chiang’s documentary Island In Between, a roughly twenty-second sequence features a drill demonstration: soldiers dressed in dark green military attire loading shells into a launcher with precise and synchronised movements. Following a switch in camera angle, the audience and their recording devices come into view, serving as a reminder that this is a site-specific show tailored for tourists. This performance is the cannon drill demonstration at the Shishan (Mt. Lion) Howitzer Front, a renowned tourist attraction in Kinmen.
The Shishan Howitzer Front is famous for its fully tunnel-style cannon position, exemplified by the echoing effect inside the tunnels and the stark contrast of light and darkness at the exit, as depicted in Chiang’s documentary. Situated at the northeast end of Kinmen, the Shishan Howitzer Front began construction in the 1960s under military auspices. Named “Zhen Dong Tunnel 震東坑道,” this tunnel section includes four cannon emplacements and spans approximately 1650 feet after expansion. In Kinmen, underground rock tunnels are typically positioned with a consideration of granite’s capability of defence, serving as protective cover during shelling. This strategic approach is true for the Shishan Howitzer Front as well. After the 1992 lifting of military governance in Kinmen and the establishment of the Kinmen National Park in 1995, the Shishan Howitzer Front was transferred from the Kinmen Defence Command to the Kinmen County Government in 2009. Subsequently, the county government embarked on converting the space into a military tourism destination. The exposed granite formations inside the tunnels, as well as the white-painted rock walls used for enhancing illumination during wartime, are preserved remnants symbolising Kinmen’s wartime memories.
The 8-inch Howitzer remains the highlight of the Shishan Howitzer Front, from the late 1960s tunnel construction to the 2009-2010 renovation and exhibition design led by architect Bo-ren Wang. As emphasised in the documentary through the Howitzer drill demonstration, the introduction narrative of the cannon underlines its American origin and distinguished service during the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis. This cannon’s prominence in the tourism narrative stems from its representation of the unique role of the US during the Taiwan Strait Crises and Kinmen’s decades-long history as a war zone. Local elders and tour guides often recount legends showcasing the cannon’s power, even citing instances where it led the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) to mistake it for an atomic bomb attack when fired toward Xiamen. While comparing its capabilities to an atomic bomb exaggerates its power, this anecdote reflects the intertwining anxieties and interpretations of local residents and frontline soldiers at that time, especially considering US President Eisenhower’s statement that did not exclude the use of atomic weapons as an option to intervene in the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crises. In other words, the fantasised storytelling of the 8-inch Howitzer inherits Kinmen’s Cold War memories, mixed with wartime opacity, data exaggeration, and the residents’ interpretative strategies.
Training local youth to “inherit” the Shishan cannon drill was part of the Kinmen County Government’s plan in 2009. The cannon drill, commonly known as Paotsao 砲操 in the military, refers to a specific type of training involving the repetition of a series of standardised actions and loud responses practised by a cannon squad (around fourteen people). The training aims to enhance teamwork for swift shell launching in confined and echoing spaces during wartime. The seriousness and meticulousness persist when this training transforms into a sort of performance. The solemn image of the cannon drill demonstration as a performance can be partially attributed to its initial audience: the high-rank officers. Over time, the audience expanded from selected visitors with camp access to soldiers’ families who visit the military installations during major holidays. Hence, the appeal of watching the cannon drill demonstration is somewhat related to its past exclusivity, associated with confidentiality and privilege.
Moreover, the Kinmen County Government’s desire for inheritance suggests a dual purpose: first, the cannon’s activation—through not just a performance but by the youth—brings a hint of freshness and vigour; second, the seriousness and meticulousness demonstrated in the performance justify this “theatre” as a setting conducive to cultivating civic characters. In 2011, when the Shishan Howitzer Front opened its doors to tourists, 15 students successively from National Quemoy University were recruited, including two female students, to serve as performers for the Howitzer drill demonstration. The positive feedback from the audience prompted an expansion of the show schedule, from initially planned for three days a week with four shows each day to daily performances throughout the summer, with six shows per day, along with additional content featuring military songs. However, as university students began withdrawing from the performances, citing their academic focus, the Kinmen County Government commenced openly recruiting performers in 2012.
In July 2013, the Taiwan Apple Daily released an online news video titled “The Chinese Bride in Kinmen Performs Howitzer Drill Demonstration to Bombard Her Hometown.” The report describes the performers consisting of diverse backgrounds, including Kinmen locals, Taiwanese, Southeast Asian immigrant spouses, and female new immigrants from China. Other media outlets, such as CTS, SET, and TVBS, among others, published related online video reports in 2014, 2018, and 2023, respectively. These reports show variations in names and data in different periods, with the proportion of new immigrant spouses among the performers surpassing half of the ensemble. However, these reports share consistent themes: first, the female performers’ practices are not inferior to the male, and second, the seemingly contradictory positionalities between their identity as new immigrant women from China and the roles they play in the performance, which require them to become enemies with their place of origin.
In a Japanese article examining the Howitzer drill demonstration from the perspective of the authenticity of tourism, Tao Lin points out, “performances by women lacked the same intensity as those by men; as suggested by online reviews, this indicated a diminished portrayal of the tense wartime atmosphere.” (275) Regardless of interpretations about the presence of female bodies in these performances, these comments about their visibility underscore how gender is intrinsically intertwined with the portrayal of war and Cold War memories. In his book Cold War Island: Quemoy on the Front Line, Michael Szonyi argues that all the representations of women in Kinmen during the wartime period manifest the element of self-sacrifice, regardless of their categorised roles as prostitutes, military wives/mothers, or female soldiers.
The documentary Remember Me (2022), directed by Chun-hsiu Hung, focuses on the lives of three ordinary individuals in Kinmen. One of them is Chengmei Shi, who moved from Sichuan to Kinmen and is also a performer in the Howitzer drill demonstration. During a post-screening discussion, Hung recalled a poignant moment when Shi expressed her frustration: “After all these years here, after giving birth to three Taiwanese children, why do you still doubt me?” Shi’s statement underlines the challenges she has encountered as a female new immigrant from China and even reflects a hint of self-sacrifice in contemporary times. Meanwhile, these female new immigrants’ association with China complicates the interpretations of their performances in the Howitzer drill demonstration.
The Kinmen County Government views the drill demonstration as a dynamic way to reenact Kinmen’s Cold War memories, particularly the part of fighting against PLA attacks. However, the embodiment of these new female immigrants from China adds layers beyond their assigned functional roles. In this sense, their performances can be read as a displaced transmission, troubling the “theatre” of the Howitzer drill demonstration, which serves as both the product and the process of facilitating a collective fantasy.
An-Ru Chu is a doctoral student in Drama and Theatre at the University of California, Irvine. Her current research examines the intersection among East Asian modernity, Taiwanese folklore, and performance studies, emphasising theatrical representations of “ghosts” in Taiwan. You can reach her at anruc@uci.edu.
This article was published as part of a special issue on ‘Kinmen-An Island in Between‘.
Taiwan Insight 