4. Analysis of On the Happiness Road
4.3 Education under White Terror
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4.3 Education under White Terror
On the Happiness Road is with a strong political analogy starting from the birth of Chi.
Chi was born at the same day as the death of former president Chiang Kai-shek which seemed to refer that the vanish of an autocratic political leader is the new birth of Taiwan. The director used lighting and composition to make the contrast. In the last shot at the scene of Chi’s birth, Chi’s father lifted the newborn baby in the bright window and people were lining up in the dark rain and mourning for the death of Chiang Kai-shek outside at the same time. It created the contrast of bright and dark as well as the gap of high and low image. The scene of Chi’s father celebrated for Ch’s birth was just like hailing for the death of the dictator (Figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1. The scene of Chi’s birth (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
It showed how Chiang Kai-shek build his powerful image in front of people in Chi’s elementary stage. The government took education as a tool to give people indoctrination. There is the statue of Chiang Kai-shek in the gate of elementary school (Figure 4.2) and the portrait of Chiang Kai-shek inside the classroom (Figure 4.3).
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There were also lots of political slogan such as ‘Loyalty to leaders, defend for the country’(效忠領袖，保衛國家) (Figure 4.4) or ‘Being a good Chinese’(當個堂堂正 正的中國人) (Figure 4.5).
Figure 4.2 The statue of Chiang Kai-shek in the gate of elementary school
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.3 The portrait of Chiang Kai-shek behind the classroom with the slogan ‘Loyalty
to leaders, defend for country’
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.4 The slogan ‘defend for home’ on the notice board in the school
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.5 The slogan ‘being a good Chinese’
behind the door in the classroom (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Further, every student learned the story of Chiang Kai-shek watching fish swimming upstream in the textbook and was taught to learn his courageous spirit (Figure 4.6). Chi wanted to follow him as an example after learning this story. Chiang Kai-shek was portraited as a great man and heroic image and made people admire him (Figure 4.7).
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Chi’s mother also kept the photo with former president Ma Ying-jeou and said he was her role model. Even this kind of idolization of politicians still exists nowadays (Figure 4.8).
Figure 4.6 Story of Chiang Kai-shek in the textbook (Screenshot from On the
Happiness Road)
Figure 4.7 Great man image of Chiang Kai-shek (Screenshot from On the
Happiness Road)
Figure 4.8 Photo of Chi’s mother with former president Ma (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.9 Chi’s teacher with rattan whip (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
In the White Terror Era, students in the school had a penalty for speaking in Taiwanese (also known as Hoklo) and only can speak in Mandarin. The teacher stopped Chi and Chi’s classmate Hsu Sheng-en speaking Taiwanese and considered it as dialects when teaching the word ‘sofa’. The teacher was the representation of authority who holding rattan whip and students could only listen to what she said (Figure 4.9). It created an ironic contrast between the smiley face of Chiang Kai-shek and the teacher’s angry face
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in the campus (Figure 4.10). She also warned Chi not to tell anyone about her cousin’s story and not allow her to ask for a reason. It was just like the relationship between the government and the people. People can only do what is told and say the right statement.
Figure 4.10 Teacher became monster and told students not to speak in Taiwanese (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.11 Chi’s classmate Hsu Wen-yueh wearing with a black watch (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
At that time, most of the government officials were mainlanders. They controlled more political power and had a higher economic status. Chi’s classmate Hsu Wen-yueh who was the child of mayor spoke in standard Mandarin was an example of this background.
He wore a black watch which most of the working-class family wouldn’t buy at that time (Figure 4.11).
Under the policy of speaking in Mandarin, Chi was proud of learning how to speak in Mandarin but looked down on her father who couldn’t speak in Mandarin. This policy resulted in that people were only able to learn what the governors’ languages and forced to abandon their language. Some parents whose native language was Taiwanese, but they used Mandarin to communicate with their children, just like Chi’s mother. The
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television mostly broadcasted in Mandarin. Chi’s grandfather couldn’t understand Mandarin and asked Chi what was saying on TV. It further influenced that Chi nearly forgot how to speak in Taiwanese when she grew up and only used Mandarin. There was a strange phenomenon that the next generation speaks different native languages with their parents.
The education under the White Terror also implemented spoon-feeding education (Figure 4.12). It means that the teachers taught massive knowledge and demanded the students to memorize the contents in a short time. Students wrote answers in the test without thinking but only blindly reciting. The teacher even opened the cram school and the students who didn’t join the cram school stand outside of the classroom (Figure 4.13). It hugely affected students’ ability of critical thinking. However, the government utilizes this measure to achieve the goal of the educational assimilation so that people wouldn’t pop out the thoughts to fight against the authority.
Figure 4.12 Spoon-feeding education.
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.13 Chi, Betty and Sheng-en stood outside the classroom
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
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On the other hand, education became the direct way for the working-class to create class mobility (Figure 4.14). The parents expected the children to enter higher-ranking and renowned schools such as Taipei First Girls High School (臺北市立第一女子高 級中學), Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School (台北市立建國高級中學) or National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學) which are considered as the top-ranking in high school and university in Taiwan respectively. There are many cram schools near Taipei Main Station to raise student’s scores for entering these famous schools (Figure 4.15).
Figure 4.14 The teacher said “if he doesn’t study now, how can he become successful in the future?”
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.15 Cram schools near Taipei Main Station (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
In the film, Chi’s parents celebrated for Chi entering into Taipei First Girls High School and even Chi’s neighbors congratulated her (Figure 4.16). With the chance to receive higher education, people could have the ability to raise the social status by becoming a doctor, lawyer, and teacher. These jobs gradually turned into priority with a high and stable income. It gave great pressure for students to reach good scores and forced them to give up the opportunity of choosing what they interested in. For instance, Chi’s parents hoped Chi to be a doctor in order to make more money (Figure 4.17) and
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considered that literature and philosophy are useless. The condition of underestimated on humanities still exists in Taiwan after so many years. Education became the tool to make money. It constructed a competitive society that people care more about whose children score higher, who is more successful or who earns more money.
Figure 4.16 Chi entered in Taipei First Girls High School (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.17 Chi’s parents expected Chi to be doctor (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
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4.4 Democratization after Martial Law Lifted
When Chi entered high school, it was also the time of Martial Law lifted in Taiwan on 1987 and former president Chiang Ching-kuo passed away (Figure 4.18). The whole society finally liberated from past oppression. Even though the Taiwanese were tamed to admire the great man in the past, with the breakdown of an authoritarian regime, more and more Taiwanese people stood out to fight for their rights. The democratization of Taiwan finally took its first step.
Figure 4.18 President Chiang Ching-kuo’s funeral (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.19 People protested at Presidential Palace (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
In the film, Chi saw protesters in front of the Presidential Palace (Figure 4.19). Crowds shouted for the slogan ‘Fight political persecution’(反對政治迫害)(Figure 4.20) and the arrested students demanded the government to abolish the Betrayer Punishment Act (Figure 4.21). By their protesting statement on flags and slogan, the director indicated the Taiwan Independence Association Movement in 1991.46 Chi found out that the protested students were arrested by reading the book Taiwan’s 400-Year History. It reminded the story that her cousin Wen told her as a child.
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Figure 4.20 Crowds shouted ‘Fight political persecution’ (Screenshot from On the Happiness
Road)
Figure 4.21 Students demanded to abolish Betrayer Punishment Act (Screenshot from On the
Happiness Road)
Luckily, Chi’s cousin Wen gave her enlightenment to look at things in her own eyes.
When Chi was little, Wen told Chi about his experience of being ‘invited to Garrison Command to drink tea’ by reading forbidden books. The director utilized the child’s imagination and depicted this story as a prince who lived in the no-book-reading kingdom. There were lots of roses on the way for the prince to reach the books. It seems to indicate that the roses are beautiful but thorny and dangerous, just like the analogy of roses as knowledge and truth.
The book which the prince read was Taiwan’s 400-Year History (Figure 4.22). Due to the White Terror, people didn’t really understand their past and most of the historical facts were concealed by the government. The book was an important reading about Taiwanese history which was written by independence activist Su Beng (史明). This book kept appearing in Chi’s life and influenced her profoundly. Chi used to be an innocent girl who was full of daydreams in her childhood. It was the first time she felt confused and wondered about the reason why people accusing the government and
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demanding justice. It was a turning point for Chi as well to propose questions. She decided to read this book and figured out the truth. (Figure 4.23).
Figure 4.22 Taiwan’s 400-Year History by Su Beng (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.23 Chi started to read Taiwan’s 400-Year History (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Instead of being a great man, she decided to become a person who fights for a better society. It influenced her to participate in the social movement such as demanding labor rights in her college (Figure 4.24). Also, it was the time that Chen Shui-bian was elected as Mayor of Taipei City in 1994 (Figure 4.25). Chen Shui-bian is a vivid representation of an ordinary citizen who grew up in the working-class family in Tainan and became a lawyer by studying hard.
Figure 4.24 Chi joined the labor rights movement in her college (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.25 Chen Shui-bian was elected as Taipei Mayor (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
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People enable to express different opinions in society after Martial Law lifted. From Chi’s first job as a reporter in Daily Times (每日時報) (Figure 4.26), it showed that the ban of newspapers no longer existed. The chief editor asked her whether she agreed with downsizing Taiwan province to ensure her political opinion. Although the director uses the Daily Times in the film, it referred to the Liberty Times (自由時報) with the Union Business Building (Figure 4.27). Due to the reason that the Liberty Times is the newspaper founded in 1980 at the Union Business Building and stayed the position of supporting the independence of Taiwan.
Figure 4.26 Chi’s supervisor in Daily Times (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.27 The Union Business Building behind Chi (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
The entire story seamlessly incorporated the social and political changes in Taiwan as Chi’s life progresses into the present day. From each term of the president such as Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo, Chen Shui-bian elected as President in 2000 (Figure 4.28), Ma Ying-jeou after Chen in 2008 (Figure 4.29). Some are presented obviously, some are revealed from the radio’s broadcast and television’s news report or the flags on the street. For instance, Chi’s father was listening to the radio about the DPP’s primary election (Figure 4.30). Also, there were the voices of news report
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speaking of the students occupying the Legislative Yuan indicated to the Sunflower Movement in 2014 when Chi lay on the bed in the end (Figure 4.31).
Figure 4.28 Chen Shui-bian won the president election in 2000
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.29 Ma Ying-jeou won the president election in 2008 (Screenshot
from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.30 Chi’s father listen to broadcast of DPP’s primary election
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.31 TV’s Voices of students occupied the Legislative Yuan (Screenshot from On the Happiness
Road)
Some of the indications were direct, but some only in the background voices with short screen time. The director didn’t point out the time one by one directly, but the audience can understand the time by particular social events or political elections in Chi’s life.
As she becomes an adult, the Taiwanese society gradually grew up to be a mature democratic society. The director put the international incidents in the story too. Even the opportunity for her to go to the US coincided with major events such as the 9/11
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attacks (Figure 4.32), which can make the plot a bit systematic or formulaic, but it works for the most part as the audience knows what to expect, creating a sense of order of all the underlying elements between each sequence. These important historical moments recalled the past memories of the audience.
Figure 4.32 The news report of 911 attack in U.S. (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
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4.5 Global Post-Cold War World Situation on Taiwan
In addition to 911 attack, incidents triggered the chance for Chi to go to the U.S, there has been the admiration of American culture since Chi was little. Chi was fascinated by the appearance of Betty for the first time they met in elementary school (Figure 4.33).
The director Sung stated that ‘Betty was like a beautiful doll. She symbolized the American culture that I long for.’ (Huang, 2018).47
Figure 4.33 Chi saw Betty in the first time (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.34 Betty gave Chi chocolate as gift (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
In the film, Betty gave the chocolate to Chi as her birthday present (Figure 4.34). Chi took a bit with chocolate, imagining the fancy life in the U.S. The colorful Christmas lights, the statue of liberty and the magnificent skyscrapers came to her mind (Figure 4.35). She envied the experience of her classmate Hsu for going to Disney land in the U.S. (Figure 4.36) With these beautiful imaginations, she was attracted to the sweet parts of American culture and considered that America is awesome.
47 黃衍方（2018.01.06）。＜專訪《幸福路上》導演宋欣穎（下）：我們應該共同記得一些事情＞。取自「上報」網頁
https://www.upmedia.mg/news_info.php?SerialNo=32864
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Figure 4.35 Chi imagined about the U.S.
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.36 Hsu went to the Disney land in U.S. (Screenshot from On the
Happiness Road)
The HISSHEY’s chocolate in the film was referred to as the HERSHEY’s chocolate. It was the biggest military chocolate supplier during WWII. At that time, chocolate was the solders’ supply for intaking high calories to save energy in wartime. Some of the American soldiers gave the chocolate to female as a gift. There was the advertisement for chocolate stated that ‘a woman who never forgets the man who remembers.’ (Figure 4.37) (Jacobson, 2016).
Figure 4.37 Poster of chocolate in WWII (Jacobson, 2016)
Figure 4.38 Betty’s father who was an American soldier
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
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WWII made an impact on the development of the global situation with the political and military confrontation that lasted for decades. The Cold War gradually extended into the Asian region after the 1950s, first the Korean War in 1950, followed by the Vietnam War, and the Afghanistan War. No matter in the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Okinawa, Thailand or even Taiwan, wherever the US military went through, it resulted in many American-Asian mixed-race children being born by American fathers and Asian mothers. The U.S. military proposed the Rest and Recuperation Program (R&R 休息復原計畫) in 1965 at Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila, and Taiwan to be their resting place during the war. The tourism industry became prosperous due to the reason.
Some of young female worked in the bars to earn the higher payment and better livings, whereas they had a relationship with the American soldiers (Figure. 4.39) (Smith, 2006).
Taiwan accepted the consequences after the Cold War. In the 1970s, Taiwan was not only the diplomatic orphan in the world, but also gave birth to many Asian mixed-blood orphans. Chi’s classmate Betty Chuang whose father was an American Air Force soldier is the typical figure under the background of the post-Cold War (Figure 4.38).
There is the bitterness of war behind the sweet taste of chocolate. Betty’s American father never came back to her and her mother.
Figure 4.39 Betty’s mother came back home after work
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
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However, there were a group of Taiwanese intellectuals saw the terrible situation in Taiwan and faced with isolation in the world. They decided to escape from Taiwan.
Taiwan was a drifting island. For instance, Chi’s cousin Wen originally was an intellectual youth, but he decided to go to the U.S. afterward. As for Chi, she was trapped between the expectation of her parents and her personal will. At the time, parents hoped to cultivate children to study in a good school and some of them further offered their children to study aboard in the U.S (Figure 4.40). There was a prevalent saying of ‘come, come to NTU, go go to USA’(來來來，來台大。去去去，去美國).
It reflected the situation of the whole Taiwanese society’s longing for higher education and the admiration toward western culture. Education practically assisted the children from working-class with upward social mobility. But Chi found out that the U.S. wasn’t really as wonderful as she believed after she studied and worked there (Figure 4.41).
She fell from her ideal dream after she was a grown-up.
Figure 4.40 Chi said that all her classmates went study abroad her graduation in NTU (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.41 Chi studied abroad in the U.S. (Screenshot from On the Happiness
Road)
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The second generation such as Chi who was influenced by the education policy in the White Terror Era and almost forgot how to speak in Taiwanese after grown-up. Some people just like Wen who settled in the U.S. and didn’t come back to Taiwan. He had a job and got married there (Figure 4.42). The third generation their offspring took English as their native language and couldn’t speak in either Mandarin or Taiwanese.
Wen’s mother complained that she couldn’t communicate with her grandchildren by the different languages (Figure 4.43). In the long term, they considered themselves American and not identifying themselves toward the Taiwanese culture. At the beginning of the film, Wen’s child Julia refused to eat dumplings and couldn’t distinguish it with buns (Figure 4.44).
Figure 4.42 Wen reported news on TV in the U.S.
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.43 Wen’s mother said she couldn’t communicate with grandkids (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.44 Wen’s child didn’t want to eat dumplings
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
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4.6 Ethnicity, Gender & Class
Besides the mix-raced child Betty, most of the population in Taiwan consisted of mainlanders, Taiwanese and indigenous people. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Interior, Taiwan currently has sixteen tribes. Amis is the largest tribe which
Besides the mix-raced child Betty, most of the population in Taiwan consisted of mainlanders, Taiwanese and indigenous people. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Interior, Taiwan currently has sixteen tribes. Amis is the largest tribe which