ILLUSTRATED:

Inviting the Immortals - Culture, Intercourse, Tayouan History: Yang Mao-lin, Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei, 1999, color illustrated, p. 81

This painting is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei.

Following on from his "Graphic Heroes" series of 1986, Yang Mao-lin produced a number of works that addressed social and historical issues using his unique painting style. Major paintings and historical series of this type that Yang created during the 1990s included: "Yun Mountain Memorandum", "Lily Memorandum", "Zeelandia Memorandum", and "Tayouan Memorandum". Unlike the frank, direct criticism of his early works, these later pieces are more reflective; the way in which the works are presented gives the viewer a sense that they are reading a historical document.

"Zeelandia Memorandum" is related to Yang's earlier "Made in Taiwan" series, and can also be viewed as constituting an extension of his "Tayouan Memorandum" series from the early 1990s. Yang uses this work to encourage the viewer to reexamine the way in which Taiwan has grown and developed. The painting depicts the story of Fort Zeelandia (today's Tainan City), the first base that the Dutch built when they established themselves in Taiwan, and of two key figures who each played a major role in Taiwan's history in the age of exploration: the Dutch governor general of Taiwan, and Cheng Ch'eng-kung. Both are shown half-length, as a matched pair; they represent the trials and tribulations that Taiwan suffered during its colonization, and the island's misfortune in suffering repeated invasions over the centuries. The portraits, the background views and the accompanying text reflect Yang's choice of a "nostalgic" feel when deciding on the composition of this painting to present Taiwan's past. His aim in this work was to get people thinking about what Taiwan has possessed, and what it has lost, over the years.