Railway Poet Jin Lian Special Exhibition Debuts in Taipei: 1,377 Artifacts Decipher Poetic Works

The National Railway Museum (NRM) has officially launched a special exhibition titled 'Railway Poet Jin Lian: From the Night-Watching Gecko to the Stingy Spider.' Jin Lian (1928-2013), a lifelong Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) employee and poet, integrated technical elements such as Morse code and railway components into his literature. The exhibition features 1,377 artifacts donated by his family, including manuscripts and photographs.

Following his graduation from the Railway Training Institute in 1943, Jin Lian began his long career at the TRA. During his tenure, he mastered three distinct telegraphic encoding systems: the Japanese-era Katakana code, early post-war Chinese character codes, and the TRA-specific National Phonetic code. These systems appear frequently in his poetry, reflecting the transition of Taiwan's communication history.

The exhibition employs a chronological approach to document Jin’s life. Highlights include original manuscripts written on the back of official TRA telegram sheets. Interactive installations, such as a Morse key station, allow visitors to simulate the telegrapher’s experience. Curators have paired specific poetic imagery with physical artifacts, such as spikes, to provide context to his verses.

NRM Director Cheng Ming-chang stated that the exhibition, organized in collaboration with the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, aims to showcase the intersection of railway technology and Taiwanese literature. The exhibition will be on display at the Material Testing Room of the National Railway Museum through December 13.