Research on Taiwan merits local recognition

April 21, 2019
kap 朋友分享

Research on Taiwan merits local recognition

By Tiunn Hok Chu 張復聚

The Taiwanese are an outstanding people, they just do not know it. Centuries of colonial education have kept Taiwanese from forming and recognizing their own identity and establishing a Taiwanese subjectivity.

It was not until 1997 that the class “Understanding Taiwan” (認識臺灣) was added to the junior high school curriculum, introducing students to the study of Taiwanese society, history and geography. Previously, most Taiwanese had very limited knowledge about Taiwan’s history, culture and core values.

The Cairo Declaration — an unsigned press communique expressing the intent of the US, the UK and China that has falsely been regarded as legally binding — has been consistently taught in school. By contrast, the Treaty of Peace with Japan was never mentioned in textbooks.

When we strove for the establishment of Taiwanese literature departments in universities, we were often mocked by people saying that while there might be a few Taiwanese works, the quality was insufficient to justify a proper university department. Today, departments and graduate institutes of Taiwanese literature are highly renowned.

Taiwanese language, culture and arts also enjoy world renown. Tungfangpai’s (東方白) epic novel A Cinematic Journey (浪淘沙) is comparable to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind; Hsiao Tyzen’s (蕭泰然) works are no less romantically captivating than Sergei Rachmaninoff’s; Then Yi-hien (鄧雨賢) is a composer of classical nationalism just like Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky.

Taiwanese Nobel laureate in chemistry Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) stands on an equal footing with Chinese Nobel laureate in physics Yang Chen-Ning (楊振寧); Tan Ting-pho’s (陳澄波) paintings shine along with Huang Tu-shui’s (黃土水) down-to-earth sculptures.

In March last year, Taiwanese-American professor of surgery W.P. Andrew Lee (李為平) led the world’s first total penis and scrotum transplant on a US veteran wounded in Afghanistan. The operation was so successful that the veteran is expected to regain “near-normal urinary and sexual functions.”

Taiwanese technological talent is equally amazing: As many as one-quarter of top-class luxury sports cars, like Lamborghinis and Ferraris, use air suspension systems made by Changhua County-based AirREX Global. An award for the world’s best single malt whiskey in 2015 went to Yilan-based Kavalan Distillery’s Solist Vinho Barrique.

More than a decade ago, Chen Rui-wen (陳瑞文), who holds only a junior-high school diploma, invented a technology that helps roads breathe and obtained patents in more than 30 countries. Many countries are eager to acquire the product; the invention is not widely known in Taiwan.

Inventor Huang Chien-chung (黃千鐘) and his team last year won praise for a technology to produce biodegradable straws using sugarcane fiber. It drew attention from almost 20 Chinese firms offering high prices for exclusive patent rights, but Huang turned them down.

Although Taiwan lacks petroleum and other natural resources, its great biodiversity can be used to develop biotechnology, including cosmetics, medicine — cancer-fighting drugs in particular — and health foods.

Formosa lambsquarters and Antrodia cinnamomea, better known locally as “bovine tree fungus” (牛樟芝), have been largely neglected, but they are yielding brilliant research results. Uses for many other unknown species are awaiting discovery.

Many other topics deserve closer study, such as local politics, culture, religion, folk tradition, economy, military and even the climate, geology, philosophy and life-and-death studies. Together, these subjects make up Taiwan Studies. It is time to more firmly establish Taiwanology.

Tiunn Hok Chu is a former president of the Southern Taiwan Society.

Translated by Chang Ho-ming

Note:

This article was published on the editorials of 『Taipei Times』,《Editorials》on Feb 12, 2019

kap 朋友分享

No Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Translate »
Web Design MymensinghPremium WordPress ThemesWeb Development

懷念秀蘭姊 (New York 衛鄉教會敬告)

April 19, 2016April 19, 2016

各位鄉親朋友:

我們所愛戴,思念的秀蘭姊,已於 Las Vegas 時間八點零五分,在她深愛的丈夫,子女及教會牧長會友,聖歌隊的歡送中離開,蒙天父恩召回天家。 耀勳兄說,那一刻,秀蘭恢復了她美麗的面孔,安然地睡了。

我們慶幸曾經分享過她燦爛的一生,她的熱情,幽默的談笑,愛故鄉台灣,堅強的信仰,令人感動的禱告詞,還有一手好菜滷肉,,,,這些都會留在我們的記憶中,永遠地懷念她。

讓我們繼續為耀勳兄及全家禱告,求主安慰保守,勇敢地面對再來的明天。

衛鄉教會敬告

公募聰美姐記念基金會「印信」、「表徽」(logo)啟事

March 11, 2016March 11, 2016

列位讀者:

二十幾年來咱遵守聰美姐遺留的精神,繼續進行台灣語言文字化以及啟蒙振興台灣精神的工作。現在咱著創造一個代表咱基金會精神的表徽:代表默默做工、恬恬獻身的聰美精神。

希望有心的兄姊大家向這方向做伙來思考,創造一個適當咱的內涵,做咱對外的印信或表徽。有結果的時,咱基金會會準備好的感謝。請提供恁的尊貴的意見用e-mail或批信,寄互任何一位基金會負責人。感謝。

聰美姐記念基金會 敬致