Literature Review

1.5.1. Contemporary scholarship on Taiwanese National Identity

I start my literature review by clarifying the notion of Taiwanese. Xiaukun Song gives an excellent breakdown of the different understandings of the term Taiwanese. First, the people of Hoklo origin are often referred to as Taiwanese. The Hoklo are descendants of settlers from Fujian and speak the language known as Taiwanese (Taiyu). Taiwanese can therefore be understood both as a language and the people. Second some scholars argue that Taiwanese refers to the population known as Benshengren, Hoklo, Hakka and Aborigines, the population on Taiwan excluding the mainlanders arriving after 1945.

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Another understands Taiwanese by a territorial definition. Anyone regardless of ethnic origin that settles down on the territory of Taiwan and regards themselves as Taiwanese is Taiwanese.Fourth the understanding of Taiwanese is that of people living on the Chinese region of Taiwan. The understanding means Taiwanese not as a national identity but as a local identity for Chinese people living in the region Taiwan. (Song, 2004: 61)

Given the different approaches to nationalism there are different views and characterizations between the Taiwanese nationalism ranging from the ethnic primordial views to the principles of civic nationalism. One side is the governmental position during the time of the martial law as well as by supporters of reunification. The position states that the people on Taiwan are Chinese. The position is based on the ethnic and primordial nationalism emphasizing ethnicity and culture. The view was that the Taiwan is and has always been Chinese. The position holds that settlers arrived from Chinese provinces such as Fujian and Guangdong were ethnically Han Chinese with Chinese culture and language. The population was still Chinese during the years of Japanese rule and restored to China after the Second World War. (Chu and Lin, 2001)

Similarly Melissa Brown argues that the Taiwanese national identity is ethnic in nature. However Brown's view differ drastically from that of the martial law era.

According to Brown the Taiwanese identity has developed separately from the Chinese for centuries. Migrations, marriage and political reforms are key factors in changing the identity of a people. Brown argues that in the case of Taiwan, the majority of the farmers migrating to Taiwan were single males. After moving to Taiwan they later married local women and adopted elements of aboriginal customs. Because of paternal ancestry the children would claim Han identity, however they would still continue to practice

aboriginal cultures and customs. Thus, the Chinese Han identity on Taiwan would in fact be a mix between Chinese and Aboriginal cultures. Another argument of Brown is that the importance of regime changes. The combination of influences from the years of Japanese colonial rule made an impact on the cultures and identity on Taiwan. Further Brown argues that at the Chinese arrival in 1945 the people of Chinese Han descent did not have the same Chinese culture as the Mainland, but one distinct Taiwanese identity of Chinese mixed with aboriginal and Japanese influence. (Brown, 2004)

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Shelley Rigger moves away from the concept of ethnic nationalisms arguing that the national identity on Taiwan has a post-nationalist form. She argues that the identity avoids identification with a nation, but emphasizes instead political virtues such as institution and citizenship. Rigger argues that the identity on Taiwan is civic in nature, and that the nationalist intellectuals “has come a very far way from original belief that Taiwan is a distinct nation in the ethno-cultural case (…) These authors look for a new, non-ethnic basis of nation.” (Rigger 1999:19) She concludes that identity on Taiwan is indeed civic.

Carl Shaw argues that the democratization process in Taiwan has changed the national identity. Shaw notes that the Taiwanese identity has changed from one of an ethnic and argues that Taiwanese nationality is an effect of the democratization process and that it therefore is civic in nature. Similarly a number of scholars argue that Taiwan has undergone a shift in national identity formation from an ethnic to one of the civic ideologies. Since the democratization Shaw argues that the national identity is tied together with the consolidation of democracy. (Shaw, 2002)

Chiang Yi-huah gives an understanding of Taiwanese identity politics. He argues that the people on Taiwan are divided between different types of nationalisms ranging from the Chinese nationalism seeking reunification to the mainland to Taiwanese Nationalism seeking to separate Taiwan from the mainland and create an independent cause. Yet Chiang argues that nationalism is not important in the Taiwanese identity.

Hsiau A-Chin recognizes culture as a key concept in understanding Taiwanese national identity. Hsiau argues that the uniqueness in Taiwanese culture in fields such as history, language and history. He sets Taiwanese culture against Chinese culture in the concept of cultural uniqueness, arguing that the unique Taiwanese culture makes Taiwan different. Hsiao argues that the concept of civic nationalism can explain nation building, but he argues that cultural uniqueness also contribute to the understanding of national identity. (Hsiau, 2001)

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1.5.2. Scholarship on Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan

In the postcolonial era the topic of colonial Taiwan did not see much attention. In the political landscape of martial law focusing on Chinese culture, scholarship on identity in colonial Taiwan was considered unwanted. It was not until the democratization process of Taiwan started in the late 1980s that topic research of the origins of Taiwanese identity became more common. As a result the majority of scholarship from postwar era on colonial Japan were conducted by Japanese academics. Even as the topic gained

importance in the late 1980s, there is still limited scholarship on the topic in the English Language.

One of my key sources in analyzing the impact of colonial Influence on Taiwan is Leo Ching. Ching analyses the impact of the Japanese assimilation policies and their effects on the Taiwanese population. According to Ching the Taiwanese started the formation of a Taiwanese identity during the Colonial era. During the colonial era the Japanese educated the Taiwanese elites, through this education a number of Taiwanese elites started identifying themselves as Japanese. Ching puts emphasis on the Kominka literature discussing the identity crisis happening among the Taiwanese elites and youths combining Japanese and Chinese identities. (Ching, 2000; Ching, 2001)

Patricia Tsurumi covers the history, development and influence of colonial education in Taiwan. During the 50 years of colonial rule Taiwan went from having illiteracy to almost achieving public education. The education was initially meant for the Japanese living in the colony and the Taiwanese. However over time the education became the main instrument in spreading the Japanese language and policies of

assimilation. The education of the Taiwanese people was closely connected to the overall goals of the Japanese colonial government. Tsurumi considers the education as key in understanding identity change during the Japanese colonial era. (Tsurumi, 1977)

Masahiro Wakabayashi analyses the anticolonial struggles as well as the Japanese state in Taiwan. Wakabayashi stresses the importance of the role of the Taiwanese elites as mediators between the Japanese colonizers and the Taiwanese masses. The relationship

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between the Taiwanese elites and intellectuals led to the establishment of a Taiwanese anticolonial movement. (Wakabaysahi, 2005)

Edward I-te Chen analyses the goals, leadership and political influences on the Taiwanese anticolonial movements. According to Chen the movements arrived as a result of cooperation between the Taiwanese elites and intellectuals. The movements resorted to peaceful means of anti colonial struggles. (Chen, 1972)

For the Japanese colonial institutions I rely on the scholarship conducted by Caroline Hui-Yu Tsai. Tsai analyses the key institutions for Japanese colonial rule. I rely on her dissertation covering the Japanese adoption of the Hoko system. Tsai gives an excellent breakdown of the policies implemented by the institutions as well as how the developments affected the daily lives of the Taiwanese people. (Tsai, 1990; Tsai 2006) In her articles and dissertation Chou Wan Yao describes colonial Taiwan during Second World War. Through the intensified assimilation processes of Kominka, the Japanese sought to mobilize and make the Taiwanese people imperial subjects. Chou recognizes the Language campaigns, the religious campaigns, the name changing campaign and the volunteer campaigns as the main areas of the Japanese mobilization.

(Chou, 1991; Chou, 1996)

I also recommend the edited volume Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule, 1895-1945, edited by Liao Ping-Hui and David Der-Wei Wang. The volume offers a

comprehensive collection of chapters discovering the history, culture and memory of the Japanese colonial rule. (Liao and Wang, 2006)

Compared to the other aspects of colonial rule the health implementations in Taiwan are severely studied. The studies include articles in the fields of medical science as well as public policy and governance. There is a consensus in the academic community that the Japanese did a tremendous job in implementing sanitation and eradicating

diseases in Taiwan.

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