In April of 1964, he invested all he had, as well as what he could get others to contribute, into establishing Taiwan Literature, which, by linking the past with the future, served to perpetuate the nativist spirit of Taiwanese literature since the time of the Japanese occupation, slowly fostering a new generation of Taiwanese writers. From its marginal position in the 1960s, when it was ignored by self-appointed "progressive" young writers, through the debate in the 1970s over hsiang-t'u (native/regional) literature, Taiwan Literature has played a pivotal role in Taiwanese literature, even more so during the 1990s, when it became an important arena for discourse on Taiwanese consciousness. Despite having undergone several reorganizations after Wu Cho-liu's passing, Taiwan Literature, along with the poetry journal Li (Bamboo Hat), have been recognized as the longest-lived literary journals on Taiwan. By and large Taiwan Literature reflects the changes in cultural identity among Taiwanese writers, and here the influence of Wu Cho-liu plays its greatest role. The post-war generation of writers like Chung Chao-cheng (currently President of the Taiwan Writers Association), Li Ch'iao, and Hung Hsing-fu, together with critics like Yeh Shih-t'ao, Chang Liang-tse, and Ch'en Fang-ming can all be counted among Wu Cho-liu's spiritual heirs, as they put forth all their efforts to make Taiwanese literature ever grander and stronger with pride.

2. Looking Back Over Research on Taiwanese Literature

     The New Literature of Taiwan was produced to serve as the initiator of the New Culture Movement of the 1920s under Japanese rule. From 1920 to 1923, such enlightened journals as Taiwan seinen (Taiwan Youth), Taiwan bunka kyôkai kaihô (The Proceedings of the Taiwan Culture Society), and Taiwan (Taiwan) set out the initial theory for the New Literature Movement of Taiwan. The sources of this theory were various; not just the influence of China's New Literature Movement of the May 4th period, but modern Western literature as mediated by Japanese literature also played a significant role. Summarizing an observation by the father of Taiwan's New Literature, Lai Ho, one can say that the movement possessed the expansiveness of "internationalism"; however, in actual practice, anti-colonialism and anti-feudalism always constituted its core spirit.

     From 1930 to 1932 occurred the debates over hsiang-t'u (native/regional) literature and literature in colloquial Taiwanese, with the result that a discourse on nativism in Taiwanese literature came into being.  In short, a comprehensive view of Taiwanese literature was first established during the early part of the 1930s, but under the rule of a foreign power and with the use of written Chinese banned in 1937, there was no chance of any further development.

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