Editing Chen Shui-bian (section)

==Early life and education==
Chen was born to an impoverished [[tenant farmer|tenant farming]] family of [[Hoklo Taiwanese|Hoklo]] ethnicity in [[Guantian District|Kuantien Township]] of [[Tainan County]] (now part of Tainan City) on the second day of the ninth lunar month in 1950 but was not formally issued a birth certificate until 18 February 1951, because of doubts that he would survive.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McCarthy|first1=Terry|title=Profile of a President|url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053775,00.html|access-date=14 April 2016|work=[[Time Asia]]|date=27 March 2000|archive-date=14 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414114247/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053775,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Magnier|first1=Mark|last2=Tsai|first2=Ting-I|title=Taiwan's Chief Under a Cloud|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2006/jun/23/world/fg-scandal23/2|access-date=14 April 2016|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=23 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427142353/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jun/23/world/fg-scandal23/2|archive-date=27 April 2016}}</ref>

Chen was educated in Mandarin Chinese, which had replaced Japanese as the national language following the end of the Japanese administration of Taiwan.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lam Peng-Er|date=1 January 2004|title=Japan-Taiwan Relations: Between Affinity and Reality|journal=Asian Affairs|volume=30|issue=4|page=251|jstor=30172589|quote="However, Chen Shui-bian, like most Taiwanese of his generation, does not speak Japanese. Chen's generation was educated in Chinese, a policy spearheaded by the [[Kuomintang]] to resynthesize Taiwan after more than half a century of Nipponization."}}<!--This is important - Taiwanese historically had received education in Japanese, before the KMT took over Taiwan.--></ref> Academically bright from a young age, he graduated from the prestigious [[National Tainan First Senior High School]] with honors. In June 1969, he was admitted to [[National Taiwan University]]. Initially a business administration major, he switched to law in his first year and became editor of the school's law review. He passed the [[bar exam]]s before the completion of his junior year with the highest score, becoming Taiwan's youngest lawyer. He graduated in 1974 with an [[LL.B.]] in commercial law.

In 1975, he married [[Wu Shu-chen]], the daughter of a physician.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Eyton |first1=Laurence |title=Made in Taiwan |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/insight/archives/2000/03/16/0000028044 |newspaper=Taipei Times |page=9 |date=16 March 2000 |access-date=14 April 2016 |archive-date=21 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421200014/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/insight/archives/2000/03/16/0000028044 |url-status=live }}</ref> The couple have a daughter, Chen Hsing-yu, who is a dentist; and a son, Chen Chih-chung, who, having received a law degree in Taiwan, gained a [[Master of Laws]] from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |title=Taiwan Quick Take: Chen's son graduates, again |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2006/05/15/2003308273 |work=Taipei Times |page=3 |date=15 May 2006 |access-date=22 October 2006 |archive-date=22 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822185100/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2006/05/15/2003308273 |url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1976 to 1989, Chen was a partner in Formosa International Marine and Commercial Law, specializing in maritime insurance. He held the firm's portfolio for [[Evergreen Marine Corporation]].