{"product_id":"puppet-flower-a-novel-of-1867-formosa-9780231208512","title":"Puppet Flower: A Novel of 1867 Formosa","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1867, an American merchant ship, the \u003ci\u003eRover\u003c\/i\u003e, sank off the coast of southern Taiwan. Fourteen sailors reached the shore, where almost all were killed by indigenous people. In retaliation, the United States launched two disastrous military operations against local tribes. Eventually, the U.S. consul to Amoy, Charles Le Gendre, negotiated a treaty with Tauketok, the chief of the eighteen tribes of the area, that secured safe passage for shipwrecked sailors. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYao-Chang Chen's historical novel \u003ci\u003ePuppet Flower\u003c\/i\u003e retells the story of the \u003ci\u003eRover\u003c\/i\u003e incident, bringing to light its pivotal role in Taiwanese history. Merging documented events and literary imagination, the novel vividly depicts Tauketok, Le Gendre, and other historical figures alongside the story of Butterfly, a young woman of mixed ethnic heritage who serves as an interpreter and mediator during the crisis. Chen deftly reconstructs the multiethnic and multilingual society of southern Taiwan in the second half of the nineteenth century from multiple perspectives, portraying local people's daily struggles for survival and their interactions with Han Chinese settlers, Qing dynasty bureaucrats, and Western officials, tradesmen, and adventurers. The novel explores nineteenth-century Sino-American and Sino-indigenous relations and emphasizes the centrality of Taiwanese indigenous cultures to the island's history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA gripping work of historical fiction, \u003ci\u003ePuppet Flower\u003c\/i\u003e is a powerful revisionist narrative of a formative moment in Taiwan's past. It was recently adapted into a popular Taiwanese TV miniseries, \u003ci\u003eSeqalu: Formosa 1867\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eYao-Chang Chen is professor emeritus of medicine at National Taiwan University and is a leading specialist in blood cell diseases. He began writing novels in his sixties, becoming a prolific and acclaimed author of historical fiction. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePao-fang Hsu has translated works including Chung Wen-yin's \u003ci\u003eDecayed Land\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Anthology of Taiwan Indigenous Literature\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIan Maxwell graduated from Lancaster University; he lives and works in Taipei. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTung-jung Chen is a retired professor of English who taught American literature at Taiwanese universities.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50930144674066,"sku":"9780231208512","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_1f61d964-0f0e-4b6b-8430-9b1c2a893b7b.jpg?v=1739065025","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/puppet-flower-a-novel-of-1867-formosa-9780231208512","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}