hope violin

on a remote island,
There is a group of people who write stories with their lives,
They carved the stories on the Gossip Stone by the sea,
Let the salt water lap and erode day and night.
Whenever the boundless night is shrouded,
When the earth fell into silence,
The stars quietly collected the carvings on the stone.
The stars want to tell stories to others,
Twinkle twinkle spoke so hastily,
However, people did not hear or look up.
until one day,
There is a violin that reads the words of the stars...

This book "Violin of Hope" is the first collaboration between Golden Tripod Award-winning writer Xing Jiahui and illustrator Cai Dayuan, who has been twice selected for the Bologna International Children's Book Illustration Exhibition in Italy. The story is presented in the form of a picture book and talks about the history of Taiwan with middle and high school children. A story of oppression and courage, apology and forgiveness.

The origin of the story is the real incident of Mr. Chen Menghe during the February 28th Incident. In 1947, the February 28 Incident occurred in Taiwan, and it entered the white terror period during the martial law period. During this period, there were countless innocent victims and families. With the lifting of martial law, Taiwan has gradually entered democracy, but we must understand history. Learn from history.

From 1952 to 1967, Mr. Chen Menghe was imprisoned in Green Island for 15 years on trumped-up charges. In the past 15 years, his sister's letters gave him the motivation to live. On the island, these prisoners had to build their own houses, fences, pave roads, work as farmers to grow vegetables, and help the children on the island with tutoring. Later, the birth of his niece gave the protagonist hope for life again. He spent a whole year making a violin with his own hands and giving it to his niece.

As the story progresses, in addition to textual descriptions, the author deliberately intersperses wordless scenes and adds local people's perspectives to narrate the interaction between a local Green Island little girl and the protagonist, from long distance at the beginning to silent communication in the middle. Until the gift of piano and correspondence at the end, I hope to reflect the value of human nature through the friendship between them.