The Fourth Daughter

The Fourth Daughter is set during Taiwan’s martial law era (1949-1987), a period of authoritarian rule under the Kuomintang (KMT) that included the White Terror, a decades-long campaign of persecution against suspected communists and political dissidents. After losing the Chinese Civil War, the KMT retreated to Taiwan in 1949 and established a surveillance state that controlled speech, assembly, and the press. According to Taiwan's National Human Rights Museum, more than 140,000 people were imprisoned during this period, and an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 were executed for real or perceived opposition to the KMT (“Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial.” Human Rights Memoriam Cultural Park). Fear became the atmosphere in which ordinary life unfolded.

The novel’s Wang family embodies the power structure of the era. As waishengren, or mainlanders who arrived with the KMT, they hold a privileged status over the native benshengren population. Yi-ping’s father-in-law was a “high-level official of the KMT” with immense “clout” (13). This political power is wielded to enforce the Wang family's will and silence opposition. Po-wei, Yi-ping’s husband, uses his influence to have a local physician, Dr. Li, arrested as a “dissident, resisting KMT rule” (73), demonstrating how easily personal vendettas could be dressed in political accusations. This context of unchecked authority becomes crucial for understanding how Po-wei could give away his own daughter with impunity. Within the repressive climate of the White Terror, the family’s political connections place them above the law, leaving Yi-ping with no legal recourse or social support. Yi-ping’s powerlessness in the novel mirrors the condition of all Taiwanese citizens under KMT martial law.