Chinese Name: 鍾鐵民
Born: January 15, 1941
Died: August 22, 2011
Birthplace: Liaoning Province (Republic of China)

Chung Tie-min was a writer and activist who had dedicated his life to voicing his support for farmers through literature. He also played a leading role in the protest against the reservoir construction project in Meinong. His literary works, which had recorded the agricultural development in Taiwan, had earned him the Taiwan Literature Award, Hakka Contribution Award, and Wu Zhuo-liu Literary Prize (吳濁流文學獎).

Born in China and returned to Taiwan with his parents when he was five, Chung stayed a long time in bed during his childhood due to spinal tuberculosis. While resting, he often read books and manuscripts by his father Chung Li-he (鍾理和), and was inspired to become a writer.

After finishing university in Taipei, Chung returned to Kaohsiung to work as a teacher in high school. While working, Chung used the rest of time to write. His life experiences and observations on agricultural villages as well as farmers’ lives in Meinong all became his source materials.  

During the post-war era, Meinong experienced rural crisis following the economic development, urbanization, and globalization.  Witnessing the marginalization of agriculture and famers’ struggles in rural areas, Chung expressed his concerns over people and the land through using realism in his depiction of farmers, female figures, and intellects in agricultural society.

Chung was most productive during the 1960s to the 1980s. He had published more than 80 short stories such as “The Spring of Yu Zhong-xiong (余忠雄的春天),” “Sunset of American Yorkshire (約克夏的黃昏),” and “Legend of Uncle San (三伯公傳奇)” in that era. Without elaborate imagery, Chung’s stories offer insights into the Hakka villages and people from his perspective.

Notable Taiwanese novelist Cheng Ching-wen (鄭清文) once noted that the characteristic of Chung’s writing is faithful, describing him as a writer who writes from experiences rather than imagination. 

In addition to writing, Chung also established the Chung Li-he Museum in 1983 with other Taiwanese writers to promote nativist literature. Located in Meinong, the museum preserves literary works and manuscripts of Taiwanese writers and promotes nativist literature. The museum also embodies the features of Hakka culture and Hakka spirit.

In the 1990s, Chung started actively engaging in social movement and initiated the establishment of the Meinung People’s Association (美濃愛鄉協進會). Concerning the environment and safety issue, Chung and other residents in Meinong protested against the government’s project of Meinong Reservoir. Later he also participated in the protest against the development project of Kuokuang Petrochemical in the estuary of Zhoushui River.