6. Content Analysis of Chinese Civics Textbooks 1 Presentation
6.2.2 Moral Knowledge
6.2.2.2 Health/Hygiene
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lesson features a teacher correcting his students’ diaries. In the first diary, the student goes home after school and helps mom and dad with housework. In the words of the student: “I think sweeping the yard and doing other tasks is so much fun.”42 In the second diary another student laments that he cannot help his parents with heavy work, but even so he can still do tasks like help his parents watch over his little sister. The third diary ends with the question “As sons and daughters, how can we fulfill our filial duties to our parents?”43 The teacher comments on this last diary, saying that being filial involves going to school and studying, and helping one’s parents at home and obeying their wishes.
As for other Confucian virtues, they are typically presented in clusters. The lesson entitled ‘Professional Morals’ is a good example. It simply features a numbered list of ten virtues that one should have when engaging in a profession. These virtues include loyalty, responsibility, frugality, obedience, trust, etc. Other lessons such as the one entitled ‘The Meaning and Purpose of the New Life’ are concerned with propriety, justice, integrity, and honor (lǐyìliánchǐ 禮義廉恥) These virtues, also known as the Four Social Bonds, are described in the texts as innate characteristics of the Chinese people. The lesson in question uses Chiang Kai-Shek’s New Life Movement ideology to explain how to incorporate these virtues into everyday life. For instance, being filial and disciplined are examples of propriety, and protecting the country is an example of honorable behavior.
All in all though, these virtues are flexible enough that they can be employed by the KMT state to promote certain patterns of behavior. As the supposed custodian of Chinese culture, the KMT government was in a good position to use Confucian morality to support state goals. In this case, filial piety and family relations are used to show children that being a good citizen starts with obedience in the home.
6.2.2.2 Health/Hygiene
Unlike lessons on health and hygiene in the Japanese texts, which focus on public health
42 Civics, Vol. 1 (1948), 6-7.
43 Civics, Vol. 1 (1948), 7.
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issues, their counterparts in the civics texts focus more on individual health and healthy habits. Lessons in this category either stress the importance of physical health in general or reflect the influence of Chiang Kai-Shek’s New Life Movement. With regard to physical health, a key idea that is often repeated in the texts is that a strong body is necessary to be a good citizen. Without a strong body, one cannot attend school, engage in an occupation, and ultimately cannot help serve the country. So, in a sort of roundabout way, maintaining a strong body is one way to be a patriotic citizen. The lessons classified under ‘Self-Cultivation’ also echo this theme. While it goes unsaid in the texts, physical fitness was also an aspect of the KMT’s efforts to introduce more martial training into schools.
The lessons about New Life Movement ideas are focused on the cultivation of specific healthy habits and stamping out certain undesirable habits. Strict regulation of individual behavior was one of the hallmarks of the New Life Movement, and likely one of the reasons why it failed so spectacularly. Despite having failed only a few years after its introduction in China though, Chiang Kai-Shek’s personal ideologies still manage to find their way into textbooks published even as late as 1957. The lesson entitled ‘Putting the New Life Into Practice’ from Civics Textbook, Vol. 1 (1957) provides a list of dos and don’ts for students. An excerpt from the lesson is as follows:
「一，食–我們吃飯，要有一定的時間，和一定的分量，食物、食具和餐廳要 保持清潔；吃的時候，不說話，要安靜，要坐端正，不亂拋飯屑和肉骨、魚刺。
二，衣–我們的衣服，要簡單樸素，整齊清潔，材料要用國貨，不必過於華麗。
三，住–我們的宿舍，要陽光充足，空氣流通；用具要簡單；廚房廁所要打掃 清潔；注意公共衛生，與鄰居相處要和好，遇有疾病，要互相扶助。四，行–
我們走路，態度要穩重，腳步要輕快，胸部要挺起，兩眼平視，要靠右邊走；
不隨處便溺不任意吐痰，遇見老師尊長要行禮；進出禮堂和教室要遵守秩序，
不爭先恐後。」
“1, Eating: When we eat, we must have set mealtimes and set amounts of food. We
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must keep food, utensils, and the cafeteria clean. When we eat, we must not talk and must eat quietly, sit upright in our seats, and not randomly toss scraps of food or bones. 2, Clothing: Our clothing must be simple and plain, neat and clean. The material must be of Chinese manufacture, and must not be overly luxurious. 3, Living: Our dormitories must be well-lit and well-ventilated. Utensils must be simple, and we must sweep and clean the kitchen and bathroom. We must pay attention to public hygiene and get along with our neighbors. If someone is sick we must cooperate and help each other. 4, Conduct: When we walk our attitude must be modest, our pace must be brisk, our chest must be out, and our eyes should be facing straight ahead. We must keep to the right when walking, and must not urinate or spit whenever and wherever we feel like it. When we see teachers or elders we must bow, and when entering the auditorium or classroom we must be orderly and not rush to get ahead of others.”44
Interestingly, the healthy and hygienic habits that appear in the passage are never really explained. Why must things be kept clean? Why must rooms be ventilated? As they are presented, it seems like such habits are simply just good manners. Rather than any reference to public health concerns, these habits are equated with other habits such as keeping to the right when walking. Other lessons mention bad habits such as gambling, smoking, superstition, spending money on lavish weddings and funerals (which in the past had driven many poor families into debt), etc. However, all in all there seems to be more focus on controlling and regulating behavior than really making an effort to promote public health concepts and otherwise improve society.
6.2.2.3 Other Virtues
The other virtues listed in Table Q and the remaining lessons classified under the ‘Other’
category will only be briefly covered here. This is because they either appear too infrequently to warrant much discussion and/or they exhibit the same characteristics as other lessons which have already been described above.
44 Civics Textbook, Vol. 1 (1957), 8.
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The virtue of cooperation is typically presented within lessons about the family, neighbors, or group activities. The formation of groups, such as societies or governments, naturally calls for cooperation among members. The texts note that in early human history this was for survival, but now cooperation is deemed necessary in order to make the nation wealthy and strong. Considering the other themes presented in the texts, it is not too difficult to imagine how cooperation might be presented. Perhaps the most important takeaway though is that the group (be it family, society, or nation) is more important than the individual, and individuals must make sacrifices for the group.
Other lessons in the ‘Other’ category also sporadically feature moral values such as diligence, frugality, and obedience. There is really not a terrible amount of variety though. Somewhat surprisingly, there are also a few lessons that don’t seem to contain either moral or political values. For instance, there are a few lessons on the development of society which discuss mankind’s transition from hunting and gathering societies to industrialized ones. This sort of lesson may provide tacit support for the KMT’s industrialization policy, but considering the heavy-handed way in which most other political ideas are presented, this is unlikely. All in all, moral values, where they are presented in the civics texts, are tied to specific political ideologies. Aside from a few traditional Confucian values such as filial piety, most moral values are intertwined with KMT ideologies, such as promotion of a Chinese identity, the Three Principles of the People, and anti-communist sentiment.
6.3 Portrayal of Groups
As mentioned previously, the way groups are portrayed in the textbooks is an important part of the hidden curriculum, and in a way it is a reflection of society. More accurately, it is a reflection of the government’s vision of society, and the inclusion or omission of various groups does send subtle cues about how schoolchildren should think. For instance, for many decades after WWII Taiwanese textbooks only featured ethnic Chinese characters. This particular example is part of the deliberate attempt by the government to
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strengthen Taiwan’s connection to China and cultivate a Sino-centric national identity.
While this is one of the more obvious examples, portrayal of different genders, professions, and other groups in society are all part of a carefully designed national curriculum. Thus, analysis of the portrayal of these groups can help to identify the more subtle messages being transmitted through the civics texts. As with the Japanese texts, the following section will analyze the depictions of ethnicity, gender, the family, occupations, and other groups.
6.3.1 Ethnic Groups
Since large numbers of Chinese settlers first began immigrating to Taiwan several hundred years ago, ethnic Chinese have made up the majority of the Taiwanese population. Even today, aboriginals and other groups account for only a small percentage of the population. That being said, as an ethnically homogenous nation, the portrayal of ethnic groups is not nearly as sensitive as it is in other nations like the United States. Yet, at the same time the topic of Taiwanese identity has received much scholarly attention, which is largely due to Taiwan’s unique political situation and history of being ruled by foreign regimes. In the civics texts the Chinese are the only ethnic group featured, and this is just one facet of the KMT’s efforts to stamp out Japanese influence and promote an ethnic Chinese national identity in Taiwan.
For the most part, the texts assume that everyone is Chinese. Lessons use wording that reinforces this, such as, “We Chinese...” (wǒmen zhōngguórén 我們中國人…) or “Our China…” (wǒmen zhōngguó 我們中國). No other ethnic groups are ever even mentioned in the texts. Foreign countries such as England and the United States are mentioned, but only with regard to their science and technology, which should be adopted by China.
Taiwan is only mentioned once or twice throughout all of the texts and even then it is only referred to in passing as Taiwan Province (táiwānshěng 台灣省). For the most part, portrayal of the Chinese people is done in a passive way. All of the characters and historical and political figures, as well as the various settings and place names in the text are all Chinese. Several of the characters in the Civics series from 1948 have a Chinese
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character in their name (huá 華) which is typically used as an abbreviation for China and Chinese culture. There are also a few lessons which openly promote the greatness of the Chinese people. These lessons typically discuss how the Chinese people possess innate morality, have a strong sense of national identity, and have contributed much to the rest of the world in terms of culture and various inventions. One would think that if the Chinese people really possessed such a strong sense of national identity, there wouldn’t be much of a need for the constant reinforcement of said identity.
Interestingly, for all the emphasis on Chinese national identity and references to China’s glorious history, there are no illustrations of anyone wearing Chinese garb. While there are few illustrations in general, all of them without exception feature individuals dressed in Western clothing. The adoption of Western dress in the early republican period not only became a symbol of the new nationalism, but was also associated with modernity.
All in all, the omission of all other ethnic groups and positive portrayal of the Chinese people demonstrate the KMT’s single-minded focus on the promotion of the Chinese national identity.
6.3.2 Gender
China and Taiwan both underwent massive social, political, and economic changes over the course of the 20th century. For women, life improved in a number of ways.
Eradication of practices such as foot binding, trends of urbanization and industrialization, and compulsory schooling for all children allowed girls more opportunities to develop and participate in society. That being said, China’s deeply patriarchal culture did not change overnight. The following sentence from the text exemplifies this:
「我們中國對於家庭道德，一向是很重視的，認為應當做到：父(母)慈善、子 (女)孝、兄(姊)友第(妹)恭。」
“Our China has always placed importance on the virtues of the family, and it is believed that one should be a benevolent father (mother) and filial son (daughter),
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and to show love and respect as good brothers (sisters) should.”45
The Chinese text in this passage contains idioms pulled from the Confucian classics, and the original idioms do not mention female relationships. The characters for mother, daughter, and sister have been added in parentheses almost as an afterthought. Ultimately though, the almost total absence of female characters in the textbooks to some extent reflects society and the KMT’s views of women’s participation in political life.
The Civics series of texts from 1948 presents lessons from the perspective of students, several of which are given names and appear many times throughout the texts. The only female character in these texts, named Zhou Ai-Juan (周愛娟), is simply described as being the youngest in the class. There is little else in the way of character development, and she does not appear in the lessons or contribute to the class as often as the other characters. Besides students, most of the other characters that appear in the lessons are male authority figures, such as the teacher, school principal, and various government officials. Where there are illustrations that feature female students or citizens, they are usually in the minority and in the background.
Civics texts are intended to teach students about government and political life, among other things. That girls are largely absent from the texts provides some idea as to the minimal role they were expected to play in political affairs. Like the Japanese texts, the only real female authority figure in the textbooks is that of the mother. However, the mother’s authority is essentially limited to taking care of the home and raising children.
The lesson entitled ‘Work Within the Family’ is just one example of the promotion of traditional gender roles. The lesson describes types of work found within a family. An excerpt from the lesson is as follows:
「一，主要的職業–每一個家庭都要有一種主要的職業，使經濟收入，課以維 持生活費用。職業種有的是農，有的是工，有的是商，也有的是軍公教育和其
45 Civics Textbook, Vol. 1 (1958), 11.
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他自由職業人員。這些工作，多半是由父親去擔任。二，日常的家務–家庭的 日常家務是很多的，一般說來，可分為飲食、衣服、居住、保育兒女和家庭副 業等項。這些工作多半是由母親來料理。」
“1, Main Occupation: Every family must have a main occupation, which can earn income and cover living costs. Some occupations are agricultural, some are industrial, and some are commercial. Some are in the military, education, and public service sectors, or are freelance. It is mostly fathers who will take charge of these jobs. 2, Everyday Household Duties: There are many everyday household tasks. In general, they can be divided into food and drink, clothing, housing, childcare, and side businesses, etc. It is mostly mothers who handle these tasks.”46
While not outright discouraging women from working outside the home, the textbooks present a model family in which women do not do so. Also, the mother’s role within the family is really the only important female role featured in the lessons. This aspect of gender will be discussed further in the following section.
6.3.3 Family
The family is one of the social units in the texts which receive a great deal of attention, and the household is one of the most common social settings that appear throughout the texts. Confucian ideas regarding family relationships have strongly influenced how the family unit is portrayed in the texts. More specifically, many of the lessons pertaining to family relationships emphasize the importance of everyone knowing their role. For schoolchildren then, their roles are largely dictated by the virtue of filial piety. Lessons which feature students as main characters typically show them either at home or at school, and all social life seems to revolve around one or the other. The children in the lessons all exhibit ideal behavior. They are diligent at school, and are often shown studying on the weekends or going to the library to read up on some political documents.
46 Civics Textbook, Vol. 1 (1958), 9-10.
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At home they play the roles of filial children, helping out with housework or watching their younger siblings. Parents (mostly fathers) are also portrayed as role models by providing advice, caring for their children, and in general constantly making sacrifices for them. This portrayal of the family further reinforces the theme of filial piety.
The roles of family members are also divided up according to gender. Fathers work
The roles of family members are also divided up according to gender. Fathers work