Tsuan-Ti Chen was born in a small town in central Taiwan during Japanese rule (1895 – 1945). He studied in Japan to become a doctor and was drafted to fight in South-East Asia for Japan in World War II. When his ship was sunk by enemy fire, he was sent to Saigon where he experienced personal pain and the fragility of life in the brutal realities of war. Miraculously, he survived and made his way back home but things were far from peaceful.    Two years after the war, he was selected as one of the leaders to defend his town against the nationalist government’s violent suppression of 228 Incident. Between his personal calling and his family and friends, which should he choose to sacrifice? The Man Returning from Afar portrays how a generation of Taiwanese choose their path of life in a time of turmoil.