Nationalism in Taiwan

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Nationalism in Taiwan

• Kellin McKinney
• Stephanie Wallace
• Carolyn Yang

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(No Transcript)
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The Ilhe Formosa

• Ancient history largely unknown
• Island inhabited by migrants from Malay
  archipelago and Polynesia (today
  indigenous/aboriginal population)
• arrived to island no later than 1000 AD
• spoke languages of the Malayo-Polynesian family
• ever in decline (in number, status)

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The Arrival of Han Chinese Immigrants

• Netherlands (1624), Spain, Ming Dynasty
  loyalists, Qing Dynasty, France, Japan (1895),
  Peoples Republic of China (1945-present)
• Large-Scale Han Chinese Immigration
• late 16th, early 17th centuries
• many male often married indigenous Taiwanese
  females
• 80 Hoklo, from Fujian province
• spoke the Hoklo language
• Other Southeastern Provinces
• 15 Hakka, from Guangdong province
• Han immigrant population increasing ever since

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Japanese Colonialism1895-1945

• Sino-Japanese War
• victor Japan ? Treaty of Shimonoseki, April 17,
  1895 ? got Taiwan
• Policy of Complete Assimilation
• Education a central role Japanizing the
  colonized
• Japanese is the National Language!
• By 1898
• 16 Japanese language institutes 36 branch
  institutes
• for Taiwanese children the Common School
  (Kogakko)
• Aims 1) give good command of the national
  language
• 2) cultivate qualities of Japanese
  citizenship
• 70 of total weekly teaching hours in Japanese
  language

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• By end of 1920s, the use of Taiwanese language
  banned in public places many public
  institutions required to employ only those who
  had acquired Japanese language
• By 1937, of Taiwanese who could comprehend
  Japanese 37.9 of the population
• By 1941, 71.3 Taiwanese school-aged children
  enrolled in the compulsory Japanese-language
  elementary schools
• By 1942, 25 of all Taiwanese had received at
  least an elementary school education that had
  trained them to be functionally literate in
  Japanese

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Meanwhile

• Kuomintang (KMT) Chinese Nationalist Party
• founded in China in 1919 by the Han successors of
  Sun Yat-sen (founder of the ROC, 1911)
• became the ruling party of China

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A Change of Hands Chinese Colonialism,
1945-present

• Japan defeated in WWII, 1945 ? Taiwan made a
  province of the ROC
• Taiwan now governed by the KMT of China

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From One National Language to Another

• KMT immediately imposed strict monolingual policy
  on Taiwan
• Outline of the Plan for the Takeover of Taiwan
• National Language Mandarin
• Required course in elementary and middle schools
  turn Japanese language institutes into schools
  where only Mandarin is taught
• Teach Chinese history
• Eradicate influence of Japanese as reflected in
  the daily speech of the people
• Taiwanese language dialect

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• Chen I (governor-general of Taiwan Province)
  No flexibility
• 1946 Japanese pages in newspapers magazines
  banned
• The generations that had received education in
  Japanese suddenly became illiterate in a sense!
• Fluency in Mandarin required for governmental
  positions?Mainlanders got the top-level
  positions Taiwanese fewer and fewer official
  positions

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• To build up Chinas Taiwan, first of all
  pen-sheng-jen native Taiwanesemostly Hoklo
  must learn the national language. It is very
  dangerous to conduct direct elections for the
  posts of district chiefs and city mayors right
  now because the island would thus become
  Taiwanese Taiwan.
• Governor-General Chen I
• January 1946

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The 2-28 Incident

• Feb. 28, 1947 Height of Taiwanese backlash
  against KMT policies
• What caused the Incident is the poisonous
  propaganda ideas produced by 51 years of
  Japanese rule.Those who opposed us were young
  people under thirty-five years of age, most of
  whom did not know anything about Chinaand
  considered that nothing was as good as the
  Japanese. Such people have forgotten that their
  ancestors were Chinese.
• Chen I

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Taiwan ROC

• 1949 KMT-controlled ROC government lost 22-year
  civil war to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ?
  KMT-ROC retreated to Taiwan (Republic Of China
  now official governing body of Taiwan only)

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What About Taiwanese?

• So, weve got Japanese, weve got
  Mandarinabsolutely no recognition of the
  existence of the Taiwanese language as a spoken
  language of Taiwan
• Nationalist movements expressed by all nations
  involved except Taiwan! (yet)
• Passed around like somebodys pet
• Strict consecutive monolingual policies
  imposed by two separate nations.

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1950-90s Taiwanese Revival Nationalism
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1970s Diplomatic rejection

• 1971 United Nations admits PRC and expels
  Taiwan
• Political opposition develops
• 1979 United States severs diplomatic relations
  with Taiwan, only recognizes PRC
• Political turmoil
• Kaohsiung Incident Human Rights Day
  demonstration many opposition leaders and
  activists arrested
• Provokes radicalization of opposition movement

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1980s Chinese Provocation

• Sinocizing the Taiwanese claim them as
  integral part of China
• Promotion of Mandarin as Natl Lanugage was
  pivotal for this idea
• Language Law (1983 1985) stated in part, that
  only the national language (Mandarin) could be
  used in
• Conversation in public domains, public meetings
  and official business
• Drafted, not passed
• Invoked Opposition to organize in a party

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1980s Taiwanese Consciousness -gt Nationalism

• Hoklos Local Dialects
• Domestic Progressive Party (DPP)
• Freer Political Climate Develops

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1980sHoklo ethnic language invokes the
Nationalist Movement

• Hoklo Taiwanese
• For the college educated, young generation
  Mandarin used more often, and they associated
  more with China
• Early 1980s
• Tang-wai oppositionists who used the language
  as rallying support, especially in elections
• Began promoting Taiwanese Consciousness and
  nationalist sentiments

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1980sDomestic Progressive Party, DPP (1986-87)

• Post- Chinese Civil War political party, opposed
  KMT government WHY?
• Domination of Taiwan
• Suppression of civil and political rights
• Consists of mostly Taiwanese

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1980sDomestic Progressive Party (DPP)

• Advocates
• Taiwans reentrance into UN
• Independence
• Political self-determination of Taiwans citizens
• Encouraged the KMT to allow reforms like those
  invoked by..

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1980sHoklo and DPP

• 1987 Linguistic issue arouses Public Concern!
• Chu Kao-chen, prominent DPP member of Legislative
  Yuan, when addressing the session, used Hoklo
  instead of Mandarin.
• Deliberate - to embarrass KMT Mainlander and old
  officials

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1980s A Freer Taiwan

• Official Language Policy Reform (1987 - 1990)
• No punishment for elementary and high school
  students who spoke Taiwanese
• Daily, 20 min. Hoklo news segment, 3 national
  stations
• Several local and county officials are elected on
  and intiate bilingual education programs
  however, KMT cut budgets, and other difficulties
• 1st Hoklo language course in state education
  system (in a university)
• No more censoring local languages on TV

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1990s Revival of local languages

• Nationalist sentiments developed
• Taiwanese writers, linguists, historians focus
  on creating vernacular writing systems
• Theater, pop songs
• College and linguistic associations organized
• Dictionaries, magazines

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1990sRevival

• 1996 Taiwan Independence Party
• 2000 DPP beats KMT in elections

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But still No Independence

• PRC still has a policy that Taiwans National
  Government does not exist!
• Taiwan is only a province of China.
• Threaten to invade Taiwan if they declare
  independence.

• Only 28 countries recognize Taiwan, largest being
  Honduras.
• Taiwan was not allowed to participate under their
  flag in the 2006 Olympics.

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Taiwan United STATE of America?!

• Cuba loves China and Taiwan LOVES America. So
  why dont we switch islands?!
• The 51st Club (1999 present) joke, but, I
  mean.
• US provides education, trade and most importantly
  security might be nice!
• Announcement Taiwan is a separate state from
  China! PRC doesnt get it!

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Four Distinct Ethnic Groups

• Southern Min (Hoklo) immigrants from southern
  Fujian, speak Southern Min dialect (?) of
  Chinese 72 total pop.
• Mainland China (Mainlanders) immigrants from
  various Chinese provinces who fled from Communist
  China (1949), speak Mandarin 14 total pop.
• Hakka immigrants from Guangdong province, speak
  Hakka 12 total pop.
• Aborigines have been in Taiwan for thousands of
  years, speak a variety of Malayo-Polynesian
  language 2 total pop.

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Background Information

• Taiwanese is a variant of Min-nan
• Spoken by 70 of the Taiwanese population
• It is mutually intelligible with Hokkien, Fujian,
  and other dialects of Min-nan. However, it is
  NOT mutually intelligible with Mandarin.

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Orthography

• Taiwanese has never had a strong written
  tradition.
• Up until the 19th Century, everything was only
  written in literary Chinese.
• During the 19th Century, a Latin system was
  developed for Taiwanese.
• Today, Taiwanese speakers write in the same
  vernacular Chinese as Mandarin speakers.
• Nowadays, spoken Taiwanese is also represented by
  Chinese (traditional) characters.

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Literary Tradition

• There are colloquial and literary versions of
  Taiwanese
• The literary version was imported to Taiwan. It
  was based on Middle Chinese and developed in
  Fujian during the 10th Century.
• Literary Taiwanese was formerly used for formal
  scripts, but it is now extinct.

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Vocabulary

• Nearly 75 to 90 of Taiwanese words have
  cognates in other Chinese languages
• Small percentage of Japanese loanwords
• Older Taiwanese speakers still use borrowings
  from Japanese grammar.

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Language or Dialect Debate

• Some people think that Taiwanese is one of the
  dialects of Chinese
• Others believe that it is a language within the
  Sino-Tibetan family
• Review How can you tell if something is a
  language or dialect?

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Language or Dialect Debate

• Ask the speaker!!!
• In the case of Taiwanese, it mostly depends on
  the speakers political views.
• The Hierarchical Classification
• Sino-Tibetan ? Chinese ? Min ? Min-nan ?
  Taiwanese

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Taiwanese vs. Mandarin

• Mandarin is used as a formal language and is used
  mainly in urban areas, especially Taipei.
• Taiwanese is used as an informal language is
  commonly spoken in rural areas.
• Younger people tend to speak Mandarin.
• Older people tend to speak Taiwanese.

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Other Language Uses

• Broadcast Media
• Use Taiwanese in soap operas/dramas and variety
  shows
• Use Mandarin in game shows and documentaries
• Use Mandarin in radio and childrens TV programs
• Political news is broadcasted in both.

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More Language Uses

• Taiwanese is used as the language of worship.
  Mandarin has had little influence in the
  religious realm.
• Mandarin is used in education, though elective
  courses are beginning to be taught in the local
  languages in elementary and junior high schools.
• Both are used in business. It often depends on
  the ages of the speakers to determine which one
  is more appropriate to use.

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CONCLUSIONS

• Taiwan has a long history of foreign invasion,
  which resulted in the repression of its languages
  and nationalism.
• However, the country has been able to preserve
  its rich cultural ties.
• Today, nationalist sentiments are strong and
  still increasing. The government has sanctioned
  measures to protect many ethnic groups.

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REFERENCES

• A Brief Introduction to Taiwan People and
  Language. 2004. Government Information Office,
  ROC. http//www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/br
  ief/info04_2.html
• Chiung-fang, Chang. Formosa Hakka Radio
  Taiwans Hakka Find their Voice.
  http//www.sinorama.com.tw/en/1998/199812/712094e2
  .html 14 Apr. 2006.
• Hsiau, A-chin. Contemporary Taiwanese Cultural
  Nationalism. Routledge London, 2000.
• Kubler, Cornelius. The Development of Mandarin
  in Taiwan A Case Study of Language Contact.
  University Microfilms International Ann Arbor,
  1981.

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REFERENCES

• Taiwan Political History. Asia-Pacific Digital
  Library of the Kapiolani Community College. Apr.
  5, 2006. http//apdl.kcc.hawaii.edu/taiwan/histor
  y.htm
• Taiwan. The World Factbook. 29 Mar. 2006.
  http//www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/
  tw.html. 14 Apr. 2006.
• Taiwanese (Linguistics). Wikipedia.com. Apr.
  11, 2006. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_l
  anguage

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REFERENCES

• Faison, Seth. Taiwan the 51st State? New York
  Times. www.freerepublic.com/focum/a37af354d5081.h
  tm. August 9, 1999.
• Pomfret, John. Taiwan Locked In Chinas Erratic
  Orbit. Washington Post. http//taiwansecurity.org
  /Wp/WP-TaiwanLockedInChinasErraticOrbt.htm.
  August 1, 1999.

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