戰後世代的國人對連橫的記憶是「臺灣通史」作者與愛國史家等類正面印象。日 治時代的臺灣人觀感迥然不同，「臺灣通史」作者而外，御用文人乃其定評。 連橫詩文西傳者，常露宗邦種姓之思與英雄懷抱。祖國人士只讀其文，未驗其行，評價都高 。國府遷臺後，局勢危疑，須全島一心，更不遺餘力表彰連橫，並重用其子息，蓋以為他是 日治時代臺人民族氣節之所寄。 表彰過程或隱諱揚善，或溢美附麗，或背悖史實，致連橫形象不斷膨脹，造神痕跡明顯。 如此過程也見證了「庇蔭」與「貤封」兩現象，可見於連氏父子之間、連氏祖孫之間、掖助 的權要與連氏父子之間、執政的黨國機器與連橫之間，以及任何役用連橫者與連橫之間。

　　　　　Lien Heng (1878-1936), author of The General History of Taiwan, is remembered by the post World War Ⅱ generations in this island as a patriotic historian. But the prewar generations had a different memory. He was rebuked as a hack for the colonial government. However, people in China appreciated him after reading his works. They, of course, had little chance to check his dealing in his homeland with Japanese colonizers and Taiwanese collaborators. After the Nationalist government withdrew to Taiwan in 1949, the unsettled government needed the islanders' support. One of its expedients to ensure local support was to publicly praise Lien Heng, a dead hero of native origin and, most important, an ethnic loyal to the Chinese. By doing so, the Nationalist authorities expected they could appeal to the so-called "Taiwan spirit" and gain backing for recovering the lost mainland. Lien Heng was acclaimed by all means. Through the process, all pernicious records of Lien Heng were eliminated, diluted or sanitized, while many of his praiseworthy credits were exaggerated, to the extant that historical facts were audaciously twisted. In the long run, a sacrosanct Lien Heng was forged. In this process, both the "protection effect" and "patent-transferring effect" were witnessed between Lien Heng and his son Lien Chen-tung, Lien Heng and his grandson Lien Chan, the Lien family and Chang Ch'i-yun, the most important promoter of the stature of Lien Heng, Lien Heng and the Nationalist government, or even Lien Heng and whoever used Lien's icon.