1.4 Literature Review
1.4.1 Japanese Colonial-Era Research
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barriers. Languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Minnan (閩南語) are also necessary for consulting primary sources or conducting interviews. As such, most existing historical studies on Taiwanese education tend to focus on one specific period, such as the postwar KMT period, the colonial period, etc. The third characteristic is that most studies of Taiwanese moral education focus on language readers. This is true for research on colonial-era textbooks as well as postwar textbooks. The focus on language readers is not surprising, considering that the lion’s share of school hours were spent on language lessons. In addition, unlike subjects such as arithmetic or the natural sciences, language lessons contained a significant amount of moral content and imparted values as well as knowledge and skills. Significantly less attention is given to ethics texts themselves. While this may be due to the fact that less class time was devoted to ethics, the content of ethics texts supported and reinforced what was learned in language lessons.
Thus, close analysis of ethics texts can highlight the values and morals that were being stressed the most by the educational authorities.
Ultimately, in the years after Taiwan’s democratization and decentralization of political control, more and more historical research has been conducted on Taiwan. Taiwanese education and moral education has also attracted more interest. Taiwanese history is still a small discipline, but it is growing. The following is a brief overview of some of the relevant literature on Taiwanese moral education and textbook analysis. The literature review will be divided into two sections. The first section will deal with textbook research on the Japanese colonial period, and the second section will address textbook research on Taiwan’s post-war years under KMT rule.
1.4.1 Japanese Colonial-Era Research
Far and away the most exhaustive study on education in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period is E. Patricia Tsurumi’s book, Japanese Colonial Education in Taiwan, 1895-1945. The book covers a wide variety of topics, including: establishment and development of the school system, curriculum design, segregation of schools, Japanization programs, Taiwanese intellectuals and political activism, etc. In addition,
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there is a wealth of quantitative data, such as financial statistics, teacher-student ratios, and enrollment rates. Most relevant to this research project though, are the chapters dealing with Taiwanese textbook content. These chapters actually contain two textbook studies. The first is a critical review of an analysis by Karasawa Tomitaro (唐沢富太郎), a renowned scholar of the history of Japanese education. He analyzes 5 sets of Japanese language and ethics textbooks used in elementary schools. The texts were published in 1904, with revised editions published in 1910, 1918, 1933, and 1941. This is followed by Tsurumi’s own analysis of Japanese language and ethics texts.
Karasawa’s study is organized chronologically, and through comparative analysis of the 5 sets of textbooks he explains the changes that occurred over the course of the colonial period. He describes the first set of textbooks from 1904 as being characterized by nascent Japanese nationalism. Children are taught that individual success and hard work can make one’s nation great. In the ethics texts there is particular emphasis on self-cultivation as the road to national greatness, and foreign figures such as Benjamin Franklin and Isaac Newton are used as examples of good conduct. In the 1910 set of texts more attention is given to topics such as loyalty, patriotism, military power, as well as the family system and the state. Humble individuals (such as dutiful servants who faithfully serve their masters) are held in higher esteem, and a link is drawn between this type of individual and national progress. The 1918 set reflects an increased international awareness, characteristic of Taisho democracy, and almost as twice as many Western personalities appear in the language readers than had previously. Yet, Karasawa notes that nationalism continues to be a very important theme, especially in the ethics texts. The 1933 set of texts marks the beginning of fascism in Japan. The Japanese language is described as the property of the Japanese race, and through stories of gods and warriors from Japanese mythology racial consciousness is further emphasized. Depictions of contemporary military life are also included. Ethics texts focus on the ideal Japanese subject who is defined by obedience and loyalty to the emperor and the state. The final set from 1941 is characterized by ultra-nationalistic and militaristic content. Japan is portrayed as the sacred country of the gods, and the ethics texts also reinforce this with lessons stressing how the Japanese people and nation are unique (Tsurumi 1977,
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137).
Tsurumi’s textbook analysis focuses on Japanese language and ethics textbooks used in Taiwanese common schools (the segregated elementary schools designated for Taiwanese children) and also draws comparisons between these texts and their elementary school counterparts. Like Karasawa’s, her analysis is chronological, and it is organized around three time periods. The first time period covers textbooks before 1922, and most attention is given to the first complete set of common school textbooks published in 1913. She notes that common school and elementary school readers during this period are very similar, and some of the content (such as folk tales, poems, etc.) was even identical. Yet, common school texts had many more Taiwanese settings, characters, clothing, etc. and dealt with topics closer to Taiwanese children. The ethics texts also show Taiwanese behaving as the Japanese intended them to. For instance, there are several illustrations showing children listening attentively to the teacher or playing in the schoolyard (Tsurumi 1977, 137-139).
The second time period in Tsurumi’s analysis covers common school textbooks from 1922 to 1941. Again, Tsurumi finds that the content of language readers for both common schools and elementary schools are very similar. The difficulty level was also comparable, with a similar number of Chinese characters introduced, words per page, etc.
In terms of the language used though, common school texts contained more colloquial Japanese. The morals and themes are also quite alike, and in the 1930s ethics texts more and more Japanese historical figures and lessons of good conduct from Japanese history are introduced. Despite the similarities, there are several characteristics which distinguish common school texts from their elementary school counterparts. The most important of which is the presence of strong moral overtones in common school texts. One might quip that this is to be expected in an ethics textbook. In Taiwanese texts, though, the moralizing aspects are omnipresent. To put it in perspective, Tsurumi notes: “The Japanese text imparted information; the Taiwanese text had strong overtones of good conduct” (Tsurumi 1977, 141). Taiwanese children in the stories are always shown going straight home from school and doing their homework, being honest, helping others,
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obeying their parents and teachers, etc. The children in the stories of common school texts also tended to be the same age as the children studying them. The fact that these children in the stories were often engaged in some kind of virtuous or civic-minded activity also served to further emphasize public-spirited conduct. On top of pervasive moral overtones, common school texts also emphasized the power and prestige of Japan on the international stage. For instance, while both elementary school and common school readers contained a lesson on the Russo-Japanese war (in which the Japanese won a victory against the odds), common school textbooks did not contain the lesson on the Meiji emperor’s call for Japan to seek knowledge from other countries. Instead, that lesson was replaced by another, which discussed the Meiji emperor’s almost fatherly concern for Taiwan (Tsurumi 1977, 139-142).
The last time period in Tsurumi’s analysis is the period from 1941 to 1945. As noted previously, in 1941 new textbooks were published for all elementary and common schools in Taiwan. The content reflects a nation at war, and Japanization is much more pronounced. For instance, Taiwanese settings, characters, and names are replaced with Japanese ones, and more lessons deal with the military or other nationalistic topics. But all in all, Tsurumi feels that while there is a definite trend towards ultranationalism and militarism in the common school texts, she notes that even in the editions published in the 1940s there are still significant portions of the text that do not deal with these topic.
Moreover, in the elementary school texts for Japanese children, there seems to be even slightly more ultranationalistic content than in the common school texts. This finding is somewhat in opposition to Karasawa’s, yet by and large both textbook analyses identify similar overall trends (Tsurumi 1977, 142-144).
Hsu Pei-Hsien’s book on the modern school system in colonial-era Taiwan also contains a brief analysis of ethics texts used in common schools. The analysis covers ethics texts used after the outbreak of war, especially the 1941 editions, and it is presented within the context of broader Japanization and wartime mobilization policies enacted by the colonial government. The ‘advance to the south’ (nanshin 南進) policy of the colonial government in the late 1930s called for development of personnel resources. In a report by the
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Resource Bureau in 1937, physical fitness, morals, as well as knowledge and skills were the three key elements of a citizen’s quality, and this line of thinking affected education reform. There was also a major shift in curriculum towards ultra-nationalism, emperor worship, and patriotism after the promulgation of the Taiwan Education Directive (taiwan kyōikurei 台湾教育令) in 1937 (Hsu 2005, 113-115). With regard to the texts themselves, Hsu notes that the Imperial Rescript on Education is included in the preface of almost every text, whereas in previous editions it only appeared in the intermediate-level texts.
Ideals of sacrifice, public service, and patriotism are mentioned frequently, and characters in the stories exhibit behavior which is to be modeled by Taiwanese children. According to Hsu, the two most prominent characteristics of the 1941 texts are the overarching theme of war and the continued legacy of Japanese educational reforms, which focused on child psychology. Fictional characters were used less sparingly, and morals were not directly taught and memorized but studied through stories and dialogue. While the texts increasingly featured war-related topics and even outright promotion of the war, more attention was given to textbook design so as to arouse children’s interest and to make the texts more immersive (Hsu 2005, 126-130).
Tsai Chin-Tang’s more recent research seeks to evaluate the influence of colonial-era ethics education. He does this by way of a critical review of past textbook analyses combined with an in-depth questionnaire survey and interviews of Taiwanese who had received Japanese education at common schools. Tsai notes that almost all prior analyses of colonial-era textbooks, including oft-cited studies by Tsurumi, make use of only partial or incomplete sets of texts. He highlights the fact that some texts are difficult or impossible to obtain, particularly those published near the end of WWII. Despite missing texts, Tsai highlights four guiding principles of ethics education which remained more or less constant from 1913 through the end of the colonial period: cultivation of the national (Japanese) spirit, obedience, honesty, and diligence (Tsai 2009, 4-7). The analysis of survey and interview data also reveals some interesting findings. Out of the 200 odd survey participants, over 65% viewed ethics classes as having the largest impact on their lives, and over 85% had positive views of the class (the highest positive response for any subject). Additionally, while the majority of respondents did not remember many specific
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morals or historical figures from the ethics texts, nearly 70% clearly recalled the Imperial Rescript on Education and over 90% remembered Kimigayo (君が代), the national anthem on Japan (Tsai 2009, 16-18). Rather than militarism or emperor worship though, many respondents identified most strongly with the traditional Chinese (i.e. Confucian) virtues contained in the rescript. Respondents also had very favorable views of Japanese common school teachers, whose ethical behavior was said to also serve as a model for students. In contrast, in the interviews postwar ethics education was criticized and viewed poorly. Tsai concedes that memories can change over time and that the sharp contrast between prewar and postwar ethics education may have caused respondents to view Japanese education in a more favorable light. Despite the shortcomings of the study, the findings are significant and the topic merits further investigation (Tsai 2009, 27-29).
In addition to research on textbooks used in colonial-era Taiwan, there is also a wealth of literature on textbooks used in Meiji-era Japan. The Meiji period marked the birth of modern and universal education in Japan, which would serve as a model for colonial administrators in Taiwan. Educational trends and curriculum content developed during the Meiji period also strongly influenced education development in the colonies. For these reasons two Meiji-era textbook studies are also included in the literature review.
The first is an analysis of elementary school language and ethics texts used in Japan throughout the Meiji period. The second is a comprehensive study of Meiji-era primary school history textbooks by James C. Baxter.
In her study of Meiji-era texts, Tsurumi primarily seeks to identify the values presented, and whether over time there was a shift towards traditional and Confucian values. She notes that in the early years of the Meiji period, many texts approved by the Ministry of Education were simply direct translations of Western works. Values such as individual achievement, respect for rule of law, are present. However, it is important to take into account that during the 1870s most schools were not under the direct control of the central government, and local governments still had a great deal of educational authority.
The textbooks being used varied widely, and some of the most popular texts contained an eclectic mix of Western science, Japanese history, and Confucianism. Western learning
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and Confucian morality both had places in the classroom (Tsurumi 1974, 249-252). In the 1880s, the political elite became more and more concerned that the people develop loyalty to the new state and the emperor, and the individualism and skepticism of Western scientific learning was viewed as dangerous. There was more government focus on ethics, and primary school ethics texts during the 1880s drew heavily from the Confucian classics. Despite this, Tsurumi highlights the fact that Japanese language classes took up most of schoolchildren’s time, but few lessons in these language readers were devoted to topics such as loyalty and filial piety (Tsurumi 1974, 254-256). After the promulgation of the Imperial Rescript on Education in 1890 though, there was increased emphasis on traditional values in both language readers and ethics texts. Loyalty and filial piety were featured heavily, as were values that reinforced these two core values, such as frugality, honesty, public-spiritedness, courage, endurance, etc. From the 1900s onwards, ethics texts often used famous historical figures as examples of good conduct. Nevertheless, Tsurumi points out that some Western influence still remained, such as lessons dealing with individuals who rose from humble beginnings and achieved great things. She concludes that while there was a trend towards increased emphasis on traditional values, it was far more pronounced in the ethics texts than in language readers. In addition, even at the turn of the century, Western influences had not disappeared entirely (Tsurumi 1974, 259-260).
James Baxter’s analysis focuses on history textbooks used in Meiji-era primary school and identifies them as a chief agent in defining and shaping Japanese national consciousness. He looks at not only content change over time, but also investigates changes in diction, grammar, and narrative structure. He states that in the 1870s, the widely used textbooks contained no storyline, no character development, and no causal relations between things. The grammar was simple and repetitive, as it was meant for recitation and memorization by students. Even though he describes the content as little more than a list of successive emperors, Baxter makes the important point that, “…the children who used this text must have understood despite the tedium that national history meant, before all else, the record of the imperial line” (Baxter and Fogel 2007, 319-320).
From the 1880s onward, more attention was given to the Japanese nation’s mythical
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foundation. As stated in the Ministry of Education guidelines, one of the main purposes of history classes was to cultivate respect for the emperor and love of country (son’nō aikoku 尊皇愛国). Narrative structure also improves, and there is more use of honorific language and possessive pronouns such as ‘we’ and ‘our’ (waga 我が). Yet, he notes that there is no discussion of anything other than political and military events (Baxter and Fogel 2007, 322-323). From 1903 onwards, the Primary School Ordinance dictated that only state-compiled textbooks be used for core subjects. This, combined with the influence of the Imperial Rescript on Education, ensured that textbooks continued to promote reverence for the imperial institution. In conclusion, Baxter states that three main themes tended to dominate the texts. Sensitivity about personal and national honor, acceptance of the goal of projecting the glory of Japan and the emperor, and emphasis on the virtues of loyalty and obedience all served the state’s goal of forming a Japanese historical consciousness (Baxter and Fogel 2007, 334).