Lin Ch'ih-hsien (style name of Lin Ch'ao-sung, 1875-1915), a native of Wu-feng, Taichung, was one of the most important poets in Taiwan during the first two decades of Japanese rule. Lin was already a promising young poet when Taiwan fell into Japanese hands after the Sino-Japanese war in 1895. He remained loyal to the Chinese and left for the mainland when the Japanese arrived. However, after several years of self-exile he returned to his home town to live a reclusive life. In 1902, he founded a poetry club called Li-she (the Oak Society). The li is a chestnut-leaved oak which is useless as timber for construction, and thus it connotes the uselessness of its members to the Japanese. Lin purposely used this symbol to call for men of letters who had chosen not to serve the alien ruler. Therefore, the establishment of the Oak Society could be considered as a form of passive resistance to the colonial rule. He soon attracted many poets and intellectuals to join the society. They gathered regularly and wrote poems in the classical Chinese style for entertainment. Among them are such prominent figures as Lien ya-t'ang and Lin Hsien-t'ang. Lien was known for his monumental work, the History of Taiwan, and Lin for his leading role in the Taiwanese culture movement in the thirties. They kept close ties with liberal intellectuals in mainland. When Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, the late Ch'ing reformer, visited Taiwan in 1911, he was well received by the Oak Society members, Inspired by Liang's activism, Lin Ch'ih-hsien joined a movement in 1914 to promote civil rights for Taiwanese on the island. However, the movement was quickly suppressed by the colonial governor. In the summer of 1915, an uprising of Taiwanese aborigines in Hsi-lai-an resulted in several hundreds of deaths and two thousand arrests. Lin was in great despair and died a few months after the incident. He was considered the best poet in decades by his contemporaries. This article is intended to portray a poet in a trying time in Taiwanese history.