Food as Hidden Resistance: Traumatic Memory and Food Criticism from a Revolutionary's Prison Diary in Colonial Taiwan

The aim of this study is to analyze the critical writings and traumatic memories recorded in a diary kept by Jian Ji (1903-1951) while in prison. As a first-generation leader of the peasant movement in colonial Taiwan in the 1920s, Jian Ji knew more about the types of grain and the fundamental interaction between food and the human body. However, he was imprisoned for his social activism and continued to write a journal, expressing his feelings and grievances. He showed his concern about the agricultural policy in Taiwan. Most notably, he commented on eating in prison. Through these food criticisms, Jian ji wrote his review or commentary on prison human rights, plus suggested cooking ways for a certain food or to reduce wastage. We can see the colonial administration of the prisons and how they fed the prisoners in 1930 of Taiwan.