Knowing Taiwan
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(January 2021) |
Knowing Taiwan,[1]also translatedGetting to Know Taiwan,[2]Know Taiwan[3]orUnderstanding Taiwan[4](Chinese:Nhận thức Đài Loan;pinyin:Rènshì Táiwān), is atextbookfor junior high-school aged children that has been in widespread use inTaiwansince 1997. The book is divided into sections that cover social studies, history and geography (Chinese:Xã hội thiên, lịch sử thiên, địa lý thiên).
Background
[edit]TheKuomintang(KMT), or Chinese Nationalist Party underChiang Kai-shek,took control of Taiwan fromImperial Japanafter the end ofWorld War IIin 1945; two years later in 1947, popular uprisings against KMT rule in Taiwan emerged which were put down violently in what came to be known as the228 Incident,after which the KMT instituted a period of martial law known asWhite Terror.When theKuomintang(KMT)retreated from China to Taiwanin 1949, it imposed a China-centric ideology on the local inhabitants to justify its one-party rule on Taiwan as the sole legitimate government of China. Under the KMT, students in Taiwan were instilled with a sense of Chinese nationalism through the education system, and were required to learn thehistory of Chinain the postwar period. From the 1960s to the 80s, the state held a tight monopoly on the entire textbook production process. Though students then did learnhistory of Taiwanas well, it was included in history of China textbooks, rather than independent history of Taiwan textbooks.[2]
In the 1970s, theRepublic of China(ROC) was dealt a series of diplomatic setbacks, including the when the United Statesswitched recognition from the ROC to the People's Republic of China,leading to a surge in opposition and nativisation movements in Taiwan. As a response to this crisis of legitimacy, the KMT underChiang Ching-kuobegan to liberalize the political system, culminating in the lifting ofmartial lawin 1987. In that year, an unofficial grassroots organization met in the 1988 National Non-Official Education Conference and called for the abolition of the national textbooks, while Chiang Ching-kuo died in office and was succeeded byLee Teng-hui,the first native Taiwanese president. Continuing the liberalizing trend, between 1988 and 1991 theMinistry of Educationimplemented a deregulation policy for school textbooks, where the state was responsible for producing textbooks for subjects which were tested on national examinations (Mandarin, math, social studies, science) and private publishes could write textbooks for other subjects with approval.[2]
Lee Teng-huicontinued the liberalizing trend, arguing that Taiwanese students should learn more about geography and history of Taiwan.[citation needed]In 1992, the newly-formedDemocratic Progressive Party(DPP) won a third of seats in theLegislative Yuan.Though short of a majority, this result empowered moderate members of the KMT over hard-liners, as well as galvanized the DPP to push for the abolition of state-sponsored textbooks and for a more Taiwan-centric education.[2]In 1993, theMinistry of Educationinstituted a textbook reform committee in response to pressure from pro-independence members of theLegislative Yuan.It was expanded in 1994 to a Commission on Deliberation for Education Reform, overseen by the President ofAcademia SinicaLee Yuan-tseh,and granted additional funding by PremierLien Chan.The textbook was written between June 1995 and February 1997, and by contrast to the martial law period, scholars were allowed to devise curricula free of political interference. Following its announcement in June 1997, pro-unification hardliners and conservatives within the KMT and theNew Partyheld protests for three weeks to little avail.[1]
Content
[edit]Knowing Taiwanwas released in 1996 and adopted as the junior high school textbook in 1997. This textbook aroused much interest in East Asia. The history section is presented as "history of Taiwan",and the era ofTaiwan under Japanese rulewas introduced more positively than previous junior high school textbooks, with objective facts and surveys.[citation needed]In contrast to earlier textbooks, the authors ofKnowing Taiwanhoped to eliminate Chinese nationalist ideology from the curriculum, re-evaluate the Japanese colonial period (which was previously portrayed entirely negatively), and emphasizing the historical experience of indigenous peoples on Taiwan (previously looked down upon). Furthermore, theSocietysection of the textbook explicitly embraced the concepts of Taiwanese identity and nationality.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcCorcuff, Stephane (28 February 2002).Memories of the Future: National Identity Issues and the Search for a New Taiwan(1 ed.). Routledge. p. 86.ISBN978-0765607911.Retrieved5 March2021.
- ^abcdChen, Jyh-Jia (2002)."Reforming textbooks, reshaping school knowledge: Taiwan's textbook deregulation in the 1990s".Pedagogy, Culture & Society.10(1): 39–72.doi:10.1080/14681360200200129.S2CID145216109.
- ^Hughes, Christopher; Stone, Robert (12 February 2009)."Nation-Building and Curriculum Reform in Hong Kong and Taiwan".The China Quarterly.160:977–991.doi:10.1017/S0305741000001405.S2CID155033800.
- ^Liou, Wei-chih (2019). Cajani, Luigi; Lässig, Simone; Repoussi, Maria (eds.).The Palgrave Handbook of Conflict and History Education in the Post-Cold War Era.Springer. pp. 651–660.doi:10.1007/978-3-030-05722-0.ISBN978-3-030-05721-3.S2CID225055026.Retrieved15 November2021.