Fulbright Taiwan mid-year Conference

The conference took place in Xitou, Nantou 南投溪頭, from January 16 to 18. Not including myself, 8 senior researchers (professors or lecturers), 11 junior researchers (post-college and master's, or current doctoral researchers), and 28 English teaching assistants ETA (16 in Yilan, and 12 in Kaohsiung) were present to present their current teaching or research in Taiwan. The ETAs were inspirational- their creativity and passion for teaching English was phenomenal. The senior and junior researchers had interesting topics from different disciplines, including film, art, history, religious studies, medicine, and river science.

We visited the Sun Moon Lake 日月潭 on January 16, before heading to Xitou. The mornings on January 17 and January 18 were free time for us to explore the beautiful trails in Xitou. On January 17, I hiked up to the highest point in the area, the Observatory in Mt. Pheonix, at 1800 meters latitude. It was where I could see the main part of Yu-shan, the highest mountain in Taiwan, the Sun Moon Lake, and two other mountain ranges, Hsue-shan and Hohuan-shan. I hiked up approximately 700-800 meters in altitude in two hours. My calves are still too sore for moving two-three days after the hike. On January 18, I hiked to see the Giant Tree and Sky Walk in the morning. We got back to Taipei after 6pm.

Taiwan's 2012 Presidential Election

The election ended a week ago with the re-election of the incumbent president, Ma Ying-jeou. It was an emotional and enthusiastic campaign for the opposition party because the Taiwanese people were and still are unhappy with the administration. The final vote count was larger than expected (797,561 votes; 51.6% vs. 45.6%). The media and all parties had expected the result to be much closer in this tightly contested election. Nevertheless, the incumbent had lost over half of the popular vote that elected him to his first term. He received 58.45% of votes, and the other candidate received 41.55% of votes, Ma won by over 2 million votes four years ago. The economy slowed during his term, as global recession affected Taiwanese economy. Below are the issues that became central to the election:

- China-Taiwan relations (cross-strait relations)
- Growing income gap between the rich and the poor (although some economic statics showed Taiwan's economy growing)
- Low employment rates of (college-graduate) young people
- Rising cost of living
- Monthly stipend for (old) retired farmers

Most television talk show speakers (reporters) and non-Taiwanese media agree that the China-Taiwan relations determined the outcome of the election. My observations and conversation with relatives and friends in Taiwan reveal a more complex picture. I do not think most of the people who voted for Ma Ying-jeou favored a closer China-Taiwan relations. I think most of them either 1) still associate the opposing party, Democratic Progressive Party, as a party of corruption with the influence of the previous president Chen Shui-bian (there are many problematic points with this association and assumption), or 2) have an almost-perfect view of President Ma because the media, of which over 80% supported his party, packaged him as a nice, thrifty, handsome man with a thrifty and strict wife.

Factors that affected the outcome of the election:
- Massive negative campaigns attacking the character of the other candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, and the character of her party, Democratic Progressive Party, by the incumbent office and the ruling party

- Massive advertisements of "good policies" from various departments (such as agriculture, fishery, health, and retirement) from the Executive Yuan office 行政院

- The Chinese government used economic (political) means to influence Taiwan's presidential election this time, more strongly and visible than before. It reduced airfare for Taiwanese businesspeople and their Taiwanese employees to fly back to Taiwan for the election. The Chinese government also pressured many major Taiwanese businesspeople with investments and factories in China to publicly support President Ma's close economic (and political?) ties with China, the so-called "1992 Consensus." This "consensus" was supposed formed in 1992, which China stated that both sides agree that there is one China 各表一中, but Taiwan suggested that there are different China's 一中各表. Many Taiwanese businesspeople publicly supported the "1992 consensus" in the week leading up to the election.

- Douglas H. Paal, former director (2002-2006) of American Institute of Taiwan (AIT, the de-factor American embassy in Taiwan), publicly said that Ma Ying-jeou the incumbent president is the preferred candidate of the American government. His statement was inappropriate because his statement became the unofficial official stance of the U.S. government. No one, including the U.S. government (and the Chinese government), should interfere in the democratic election of another state.

These factors resulted in the re-election of the incumbent president, even though more than half of the population were and still are unsatisfied with his first term.

This election served as a lesson for the incumbent administration and the ruling party to get their acts together to begin working on policies that would benefit the majority of the people, middle and lower class people, college graduates, the old and the poor, and those living outside of Taipei the capital city. President Ma's party controlled over 75% of the Legislative Yuan branch in the last four years. This election reduced its seats to 61%. The opposing party, although in defeat, had gained the momentum during this election through its presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, in gaining the support of youth people and some support her party lost in 2008. Even though ideology still influenced this election, I saw a trend of more people began to pay attention to "real life" issues.

"Hand in Hand": A documentary film 牽阮的手

Institute of Taiwan History at Academia Sinica showed the documentary, "Hand in Hand", from 2pm to 4:30pm yesterday, January 9, 2012. The documentary began with the love story of the Tien couple, Tien Meng-shu 田孟淑 the wife and Tien Chao-ming 田朝明 the husband, and moved onto key moments in Taiwan's democratic movement from the 1950s to the 1990s. Even though their age difference was more than 16 years, they love each other deeply and supported each other throughout the decades. Their age difference did not receive the blessing of the wife's family, and resulted in elopement. The wife has an easy-going personality with a great sense of humor. Through her eyes and her narration, we learn about their love story and their experiences of struggling against the authoritarian Chinese Nationalist (KMT) government. This film has English subtitles. I highly recommend this movie if you are interested in understanding Taiwan's post-World War II history and its democratization process, as well as the multiculturalism of Taiwan, as seen through the multiple languages that the wife speaks (Taiwanese hoklo, Chinese Mandarin, Japanese, and English).

My tears ran almost non-stopped, from the beginning to the end of the film. Their love story and their fight for a free and independent Taiwan touched my heart.

Official blog of the film: http://hands2011.pixnet.net/blog/post/8080241
Review:

The Joy of Life: Alcohol and Fat

This past Sunday, January 8, was December 15 on the lunar calendar. My yoga teacher in Taiwan invited both of her two classes to visit her house in the mountains/wilderness. A classmate, the de-facto class president, organized the event and bought necessary ingredients for our feast.

The yoga teacher's husband cooked a big pot of (two) chicken with ginger, sesame oil, and strong rice wine 麻油雞 (rice wine at 40-50% alcohol), without diluting the pot with any water. Thin noodles were eaten in this soup. We also enjoyed hot pot 火鍋, with 4 to 5 different home-grown vegetables from the yoga teacher's land, and some store-bought fish-paste 魚漿 goods 火鍋料.

The yoga teacher made each person koah-pau 刈包 (some call this "Taiwanese hamburger") after the yoga class yesterday, Jan. 9. It was so good to have it after an intense yoga session. Koah-pau is a traditional snack in Taiwan. Koah-pau is eaten by (apparently) Taipei residents on 尾牙, December 16 on the lunar calendar, while Southern Taiwanese eat lun-pia^N 潤餅 on this day. Ingredients for both snacks have commonality: flavored pork, cilantro, peanut powder. Koah-pau is consisted of a semi-circular shape white bun split in the middle. Soy sauce-boiled pork, cilantro, preserved green mustard, cilantro, and peanut powder are stuffed inside.

KFC Chicken on (Gregorian calendar) New Year's Eve in Taiwan

Almost every major city in Taiwan had a New Year's eve celebration last night, including Taipei, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taichung, Chiayi, and Taoyuan. Each celebration involved a list of celebrities performing songs and/or dances on stage.

While this is not as widespread as it might be, some Taiwanese people have the "tradition" of having KFC chicken on New Year's Eve. The lines at the KFC we went to were long, and many people got buckets of chicken to go. I was told that Taiwanese people like eating chicken. Since KFC chicken taste good, and some Taiwanese people feel like having chicken on New Year's Eve, KFC becomes their top choice.

This taste for KFC reminds me of KFC for Christmas in Japan. As a widespread cultural practice, Japanese people love having KFC for Christmas. Starting one month before Christmas, KFC begins take orders for Christmas. I heard that late orders will result in no KFC chicken on Christmas eve/day. Was this the result of KFC marketing, or something that started from the Japanese people themselves?

Christmas in Taiwan

Christmas trees were visible everywhere, and Christmas lights also appeared in many places in Taipei. Christmas has become a "bigger event" in Taiwan than when I was a little girl in Taiwan. Still, I am not sure what Taiwanese people make of Christmas, what does it mean to them?

The most interesting tree was in National Taiwan Normal University 國立師範大學 (see the picture above, on the left, took in December 2011, Taipei). It looked like a Christmas tree, but with a touch of Japanese culture. What decorated the tree was papers with people's w ishes for the New Year. The hanging of wishes is what Japanese people do on Tanabata Festival 七夕祭り. Tanabata celebrates the annual meeting on July 7 of two lovers who are separated in the rest of the year, according to the Chinese legend (For more, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata). The Japanese people used to celebrate it on July 7 on the lunar calendar before the Meiji period (1868-1912), but they now celebrate it on July 7 on the Gregorian calendar. They would write their wishes for the year, and hang them on bamboo or other trees (see the picture above, on the right, took in July 2009, Osaka). Looking at how the Christmas tree was full of wishes hanging on it, I think it shows how Taiwanese people combine different elements from various cultures and traditions to make something new in Taiwan. This Christmas tree, a (European) Christian practice, with Japanese Tanabata practice of hanging wishes on the tree, in a major university in Taiwan to celebrate Christmas a Christian holiday gives Christmas a different meaning.

Research presentations in Taiwan

I finished one presentation, and have two more presentations to do in Taiwan before my big presentation at the annual conference for Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in Toronto, Canada, in mid-March 2012.

This past Tuesday, I gave a presentation (in Chinese for the first time in my life) at the seminar on "Modern Education in Taiwan (Japanese colonial period, 1895-1945)" that I am auditing in National Taiwan Normal University 師範大學. I read a memoir in Japanese by a Taiwanese woman, Wu Yue-e 吳月娥 born in 1921. The presentation topic was to discuss the educational experience of a Taiwanese person who received education during the Japanese colonial period. It was not easy to locate a woman's memoir, as more men received education than women. Because highly educated people are more likely to write memoirs or have their stories written down in the form of oral history or biography, it was even harder to find women's memoirs and oral histories because more men are highly educated than women. I chose to present on a woman's memoir because it is relevant to my research topic. Also, I saw how a woman's memoir addresses different issues from that of men's. For example, Wu Yue-e discussed her limited relationship with men, and criticized love suicide and premarital sex in contemporary society. She also had a lengthy discussion of the prominent problem of child-brides (童養媳, 養女) in "traditional" Taiwan by narrating the case of her younger sister and her future sister-in-law.

I have a do a research-in-progress report for the seminar I am auditing on January 3. The professor notified the whole class (including me) on Tuesday that she has allocated two hours of class time for me- I am assuming one hour of talk, and one hour of Q&A. I am getting nervous... I also have to do a presentation for the Fulbright office in Taiwan: 10-minute talk, and 5-minute Q&A. It will take place during a three-day conference at Xitou 溪頭 in Nantou county 南投 right after the presidential election in Taiwan (January 14) from January 16 to 18. I am getting excited to meet other Fulbrighters because I haven't met any! I know most of them are Fulbright IIE fellows (including student researchers and English teachers), and I am the only one of my kind in Taiwan this year.

I need to work on a draft of my AAS conference paper after these presentations. The AAS conference attendees do not expect a progress report, but a paper with clear argument and structure of my research for an academic audience.

Taiwan's Colorful Media

Media in Taiwan are color-coded. The so-called pro-China faction led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is blue, and the pro-Taiwan faction led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is green. Most television companies in Taiwan are blue, two are green; one out of the five major newspapers is green, the rest are blue. Various surveys conducted by various television companies and newspapers have tried to provide a sense of the level of support of each presidential candidate. The problem remains that all of them are too biased. Blue-leaning companies show the KMT candidate leading, although the margins are smaller the green-leaning companies tend to show the DPP candidate leading the race. It is hard to find colorless media in Taiwan. It is no exaggeration to say it is impossible to find any trustworthy political survey.

Surveys of similar kinds conducted in the U.S. do not have big biases like the ones in Taiwan because survey results don't usually have opposite results, big gaps like the ones in Taiwan.

The only news media that is close to being fair is Taiwan's version of PBS, Taiwan Public Television Service (TPTS) 公視. The best program it has is at 7pm, "Let's Talk" (有話好說), a roundtable discussing various social, economic, and cultural problems in contemporary Taiwan. The program invites government officials, scholars, business leaders, and activists depending on the topic of the day. It seeks to discuss existing problems and asks experts to provide solution for a better Taiwan.

Almost everyone in Taiwan is color-coded also. There are independent voters, or people who lean slightly to one side, but most people hold onto their political parties fairly strongly in Taiwan. You can always guess which side they are on by how they evaluate government officials and politicians.

Dogs on Motorcycle

The most interesting thing I have seen so far is dogs riding on motorcycles. Both cases involved dogs sitting on the footstep area of the motorcycle. The first case was a big dog riding on a moving motorcycle. His legs were dangling down, almost touching the ground as the motorcycle moved. It is difficult to hold a camera all the time to capture candid shots as I see them. His cute puppy eyes looked forward... The second case was a smaller dog who just got onto its sitting area, ready for take-off. With a smaller body, it was trying to stand steadily on the footstep area. I wonder if it learned how to stand without holding onto any bar like bus and train riders in Taipei. Too bad I can't be holding my camera all the time to capture these dog motocycle riders.

Perhaps there were just as many dogs as pets when I was a little child in Taiwan, but the types of dogs have changed. I see more small dogs than big ones around Taipei. People walk their dogs. Some dogs are dressed up in T-shirts. I see many dog poops on the street. It makes me wonder if the city government should put up a sign telling everyone to pick up after themselves.

On days that don't rain, I see many bigger dogs in the mountains where my bus to Academia Sinica passes by. Black, white, and light brown. I saw one small dog once. Hung Li-rung, a doctoral student at the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica, conducts her research on zoo in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period. She told me that we see more bigger dogs in the mountains because smaller ones cannot compete with bigger ones. She claimed that many people abandon their dogs on the mountains once they decide not to have the pets anymore, because of the Buddhist idea of "fangsheng" 放生 (release to its own livelihood). She advocated pet adoption to avoid problems like this.

First Presidential Debate, Taiwan Election 2012

The debate took place yesterday, December 3, from 2pm to 4:30pm. Candidates were positioned by their numbers: Ma Ying-jeou from Chinese Nationalist Party KMT (coded: blue) and the incumbent, Tsai Ing-wen from Democratic Progressive Party DPP (green), and James Soong from People First Party PFP (orange, but considers to be in the Blue Camp)). Each candidate gave an introduction. They then answered two rounds of questions from five major newspapers: Central News Agency 中央社, Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (Hong Kong-based company that is anti-communist and pro-liberalism), United Daily 聯合報 (leans toward the Blue Camp), Liberty Times 自由時報 (leans toward the Green Camp), and China Times 中國時報 (leans toward the Blue Camp). Each candidate then has the opportunity to pose two rounds of questions for their opponents. The debate ended with an eight-minute conclusion from each candidate.

All candidates avoided answering directly some questions that would hurt their candidacy. E.g., to pardon or not Chen Shui-bian (see more below) (explicitly directed at Tsai), to state "no independence" (explicitly directed at Tsai), or to explain his relationship with a major gangster boss (implicitly directed at Ma). Ma was mainly attacking Tsai, Tsai was defending herself while outlining her broad vision, and Soong praised Ma's China-Taiwan economic relations agreement, Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) but agreed with many of Tsai's criticisms of Ma's presidency. Both Ma and Tsai agreed with many things that Soong said. Soong has the least baggage out of the three candidates: Ma has the baggage of the incumbent, Tsai has the baggage of Chen Shui-bian, but Soong has the excellent reputation as the last governor of Taiwan. I have these ratings for these candidates' performance: Soong #1, Tsai #2, and Ma #3. Everyone knows my political stance, thus read my explanation below.

My analysis of each candidate:
Ma Ying-jeou (KMT) had the weakest performance.
- Body language--- His body was not positioned well. He constantly leaned toward one side, instead of toward the center to face the audience/television. His pace was fast, and gave off a rushed feel, as if he was panicking. His tone toward Tsai Ing-wen often lacked respect and courtesy, as he used a light, almost joking-tone with her.
- Strategy--- 1) Ma's introduction began by viciously attacking Tsai Ing-wen, his biggest opponent. He tried to equate Tsai Ing-wen with Chen Shui-bian (two-term president from DPP, 2000-2008), who has been in imprison and has been consistently indicted of corruption charges since his term ended in 2008. He also equated DPP with Chen Shui-bian. As a whole, Taiwanese people had become sour with Chen Shui-bian and people associated with him because of these indictments. (Note: These indictments are politically-motivated, if we put aside the fact that some are true. The judicial procedures surrounding his imprisonment and indictment have received international attention because of unfair and unjust practices). 2) Ma cited numbers to support his claim that Taiwan had become richer (average income) and more internationally known (Taipei just won the bid to host the 2017 Summer World University Game) under his presidency.
- Content--- 1) Ma apologized for failing to fulfill the 633 plan 「633政策」 from the 2008 presidential run. He said that the plan was an idea and framework, and promised to continue to work hard. 2) Ma, using a weaker than James Soong's explanation, explained his cross-strait (China-Taiwan relation) policy: "Three No's: No unification, No independence, No Military Force" 「三不：不統不獨不武」, and the "One China Policy"「一中各表」 in "1992 Consensus" 「九二共識」. 3) Even though he apologized for falling short on his promises, he did not explain practical approaches he would take to implement them if he wins a second term. He relied on "Taiwan has gotten better under my presidency, and I will work harder to make it even better." He failed to address all criticisms that other candidates have pointed out as areas that Ma failed to do in the last three years. The reality is there is a growing discontent in Taiwan toward Ma because he has not done much at all, except for pushing for a closer China-Taiwan relations in the last three years. Ma did not address the increased gap between the rich and the poor (instead he focused on the rising average income in Taiwan), increasing marginalization of farmers and other disadvantaged groups, employees' decreased salary and unpaid vacation 無薪假期, and college graduates' low salary and unemployment problem, just to name a few.

Tsai Ing-wen (DPP) had the second-best performance.
- Body language--- Tsai looked comfortable up there, with a just-right facial expression. Her tone and pace were also appropriate- calm even when facing attacks, and respectful even when she criticized Ma.
- Strategy--- Tsai distanced herself from Chen Shui-bian right away, by telling Ma that Ma is running against Tsai, and not Chen, in this election.
- Content--- Tsai's focus on policy framework was good. She has plans for each area of presidency. Her economic policy was sound- a focus on keeping industries in Taiwan itself to increase employment rates, but at the same time to make Taiwan an active participant in the global market by helping companies do business in many countries (implying not just China). Tsai's attention to the middle-lower class people, and social benefits was good. But she did not defend well against two of Ma's attacks: 1) Although her approach to China-Taiwan relations is good because she wants a democratic process to decide how to approach China, called the "Taiwan Consensus" 「台灣共識」, her failure to explain what the democratic process entails has weakened her performance. Ma kept on attacked this Taiwanese Consensus as an "empty box" because "no one knows what it contains." 2) Tsai did not use the opportunity of Ma's attack on DPP's incorrect advertisement of the image of a specific type of persimmon and its price 「二元柿子」 to further explain the problem of decreasing agricultural production (because of industrialization) and farmers' plight in Taiwan.

James Soong (PFP) had the best performance.
- Body language--- Soong looked comfortable up there, with a just-right facial expression. His tone and pace were also appropriate, never raising his voice when stating his criticisms. Combined with his presentation of concrete examples of his policy, Soong came off as the "most competent" candidate.
- Strategy--- He agreed with Tsai's critique of Ma's failed domestic policy, while praising Ma's policy dealing with China. He criticized KMT and DPP's negative attacks against each other. He claimed that voters wanted to hear more policy, and no more "saliva war" 口水戰爭. Obviously, Soong has the advantage of not having any baggage. He would often say, "In the last 12 years, X has gotten worse." "12 years" refers to 2000 to 2012 (Chen Shui-bian a DPP president and Ma Ying-jeou a KMT president). He champions the idea of democracy in Taiwan, which he uses interchangeably with Republic of China. His mention of Chiang Ching-kuo 蔣經國, son of Chiang Kai-shek, seems to appeal to those old guards of KMT who lingered on the Chiang rule.
- Content--- I rated Soong the highest because he mentioned the most concrete examples of policies that he would implement if elected. Often, politicians are too busy outlining their talking points, which are always vague, that I do not know how they would actually do it. For example, "I would strengthen Taiwan's economy." This is a line that everyone would say. But Soong (although still not concrete enough) stated the focus of his economic policy 三中: middle class, small to mid-size business, and middle and lower income (中產階級、中小企業、中低收入戶). He also talked about a faster and a better internet system in Taiwan.

In conclusion, Soong came off the debate as the most candidate because he not only provided broad framework, he also provided some concrete policies. He does not have the political baggage of the other two candidates. Tsai came in close second because she performed and defended well, but could have clarified in two issues. Ma was a distant third because not only did he appeared panicked and aggressive, he also had no practical plan to revert his failed first-term- he thinks he is perfect.

News channels had late-night analysis of the debate. Pro-KMT channel bashed Tsai's performance and made corruption charges (TVBS), pro-DPP channel (三立) praised Tsai performance and condemned Ma's attack, and pro-Soong channel (年代) rated Soong's performance as the best, although some invited guests praised Ma's performance as well.

Attitudes toward men and women in Taiwan

Even though Taiwanese people talk about the rise of women's status and power, certain attitudes remain the same. I will not be able to articulate well, but I hope that the following two examples from two talk shows are good starting points for us to think about attitudes about men and women in Taiwan.

Talk Show A (showed in November 2011): While on the topic of "Things that Women should absolutely not do when preparing for or when having sex," two male celebrities expressed their anger toward and disappointment of women's breast size. They were angry that many women in Taiwan wear push-up bras that create the illusion of their breasts as one to two sizes larger. When the opportunity of getting into the bed with women they met/were dating, they became extremely disappointed that what they thought was C cup was actually A cup. Men (at least these two guests) also became angry at what they perceived to be "false advertisement."

Talk Show B: The topic was "What do pretty/cute girls on the internet look like without make-up?" (showed on Nov. 30, 2011) The hosts showed these girls' pictures from the internet- all cute and/or pretty. These girls had big followings on the internet. The hosts then asked invited male celebrity guests to bring in these girls, one-by-one, while wearing pajamas and without any make-up. Perhaps somewhat exaggerated, these guests all complained the plainness, or even ugliness of these girls (without make-up). They made nasty comments about these girls' looks (such as: "I have no more appetite." "I cannot eat for three days"). They highly doubted if these were the same persons. These girls brought their make-up tools with them, and put on make-up in the duration of the show. At the end of the show, each girl reappeared with fashionable clothing with high heels, and most importantly, (heavy) make-up. The concluding remarks of one of the hosts was: "Very soon, there would be no ugly girls. Men need to watch out."

Questions: How has the sense of beauty that globalization (global media) brings influenced expectations of women? What is the relationship between consumerism and the growing gap between rich and poor? Have women been "liberated" by global consumerism in having the freedom to consume? Or have women used global capitalism and consumerism to express their liberation? Have women become less "liberated" as they conform to some sense of beauty that emphasizes big eyes, lighter skin, big breasts, small waist, and thin and long legs that can be created by cosmetics and fashion? While we focus on women's liberation, what about men's attitude? Have their attitudes toward women changed over time? Can we continue to "excuse" some of men's attitudes simply by saying "."

Taipei vs. non-Taipei

Residents of Taipei have a sense of superiority over the rest of Taiwan. Those "native" residents of Taipei who recognized it are critical of this attitude. Those "new" residents of Taipei whose hometowns are elsewhere have also criticized this attitude because they have heard degrading comments regarding non-Taipei places and people.

Many questions arise from people's perception of this attitude. What constitutes "Taipei"? Does it refer to Taipei city? Or formerly Taipei County 台北縣, but now New Taipei City 新北市? A colleague from Chang-hua 彰化 explains that everyone north of Miao-li 苗栗 feels that they are "Taipei resident" 台北人. This would include Taipei City, New Taipei City, Tao-yuan 桃園, Hsin-chu 新竹, and Keelung 基隆. What constitutes "Taipei resident" 台北人? Is it lifestyle? Can one become one, or does she/he need to be born in the area? Taipei residents often complain that non-Taipei places are less developed, thus hinted at a sense of uncivilized place and people. But non-Taipei residents sometimes fight against this "Taipei residents' sense of superiority" by claiming to have cheaper and better foods.

What sparked this identity probably has to do with Taiwan's politics and economy. The "North" is more urbanized, with great public transportation system concentrated in the capital. The "North" is also more politically "blue" (see my post on "Election in Taiwan" to get a brief intro to "blue" vs. "green" in Taiwan), as in pro-KMT (Chinese Nationalist Party). People in the "North" also speak more Chinese Mandarin. In contrast, the "South" is less urbanized and less-developed public transportation system, and more politically "green." Residents of the "South" speak more Taiwanese hoklo, the native language of over 85% of population in Taiwan.

Researcher's block

I am currently experiencing "researcher's block." I see more variations than patterns in sources I have collected. I am not sure how to break out of it and find "value" in my work. Although I attend lectures and conferences, audit a class on Taiwan's education during the Japanese period 近代教育史, and participate in a reading group of an intellectual's diary from the Japanese period, I do not have regular opportunities to flush out my data and thoughts. I need to take some steps to change this situation before I feel I can talk to my advisers and professors in Taiwan.

Election Year in Taiwan

Note: Romanization of Chinese characters are given in how they are spelled in Taiwan, which is close to the Wade-Giles system, unless there is already a common spelling.

Taiwan's next presidential election is on January 14, 2012. This date differs from the usual end-of-March presidential election because Ma Ying-jeou, the current president, changed it in hope that many Taiwanese businessmen in China who return to Taiwan for Lunar New Year's celebration (January , 2012) would also vote. This group of people leans toward The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT, GMD 中國國民黨) that Ma Ying-jeou belongs to.

Tsai Ing-wen 蔡英文, the presidential candidate from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP )民主進步黨 and the first woman presidential candidate in Taiwan, had a rally with candidates for Legislature Yuan in Mujha Market 木柵市場 on November 13. It was my first political rally in Taiwan. Various staff and candidates gave speeches, criticizing current political affairs (unsurprisingly). Most attendees were people over 50-60 years of age. Some parents and grandparents brought children to the rally. One six- or seven-year-old boy who sat near me responded loudly to each shout-out (phrases like "gets elected" 當選 and "yes" 好). I wondered if he understood what he was responding to, and what his shout-outs meant. Did his family "train" him from an earlier age on. Some attendees eventually left because of the on-and-off rain and the long wait for Tsai Ing-wen, but as a whole most people stayed. The rally began at 7pm, and Tsai appeared at around 9:15pm. The crowd grew more impatient and tired with each waiting moment, but found new energy immediately with the appearance of Tsai. The crowd really loved her. People rushed over to the stage to take pictures of her. Tsai looked tired but spoke for about 30 minutes. The crowd wanted her to say more, but she promised that she would return to talk more with the residents. Mujha was the last stop of her campaign for the day.

Tsai's appearance in Mujha was significant because, as I learned that day, Mujha is in the "bluest" districts in Taiwan, the Wunshan District 文山區. It is "bluest" because Ma Ying-jeou, the current president, used to live in the district. Its neighboring district, Ta-an District 大安區, is the second bluest district. Both districts had over 70% votes for the Blue Camp in the 2010 mayoral election and election for vacant positions in Legislature Yuan. This high percentage of support occurred even with the 2010 election, which revealed signs that Ma Ying-jeou's administration was losing popular support as his party the KMT did not win as many positions as they expected.

The current election status looks like KMT is on the defensive, while DPP is on the offensive. Many issues, mainly tied to the economy and employee benefits, are keeping the ruling party KMT on its toes. KMT currently holds the presidency and controls over 70% of the Legislature Yuan body. The judicial branch is also overwhelmingly, if not nearly 100%, full of KMT sympathizers.

This year's election feels very different from previous ones I have seen in Taiwan. The biggest factor being it is the first presidential election that I will witness while in Taiwan, and not Legislative Yuan or local elections. Still, the difference holds: campaign billboards are less color-coded- less blue, and definitely a lot less green. The two major political camps in Taiwan are blue and green. The Blue Camp 藍營 is a coalition of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT or GMD, 中國國民黨), People First Party 親民黨, and New Party 新黨. The latter two parties were split from KMT. What unifies these three parties is their pro-China stance in holding onto the idea of the Republic of China, and a lingers on the idea of China the homeland. The Green Camp 綠營 is a coalition of Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨 and Taiwan Solidarity Union 台灣團結聯盟黨. These two parties are pro-Taiwan in advocating Taiwan's uniqueness and independence from China.

Dutch in Formosa and the China Trade

Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, professor of archaeology and art from Princeton, gave a lecture on "Scratching the Surface: on the Dutch in China and Taiwan" at the Institute of Modern (Chinese) History at Academia Sinica on Tuesday. He was interested in the cultural exchange between Europeans via the Dutch and Chinese and Taiwanese in the 18th and the 19th centuries. His talk argued that the Dutch East India Company (VOC) helped facilitated cultural exchanges within Asia, from India to Japan, and less with facilitating exchanges between Europe and Asia. For Taiwan, he found remaining Dutch material goods among Taiwanese aborigines, but not within the Han Taiwanese population. For China, Kaufmann cited Dutch's lack of smart diplomacy with China to surpass other Europeans. He said that the Dutch dealt with the Manchu Qing emperor the same way they dealt with local chiefs in Batavia (Jakatar) in the 18th century. He also downplayed the value of porcelain in Europe-Asia trade by citing low quantity of porcelain export from China and low profit made from trading porcelain.

I can incorporate his talk and future books/articles into a world history syllabus. I can also include his information into China's relation with the world, and the history of Taiwan.

Seminar: Taiwan's Modern Education

I began auditing a three-hour graduate seminar on Taiwan's modern Education (近代台灣教育史) at the National Taiwan Normal University 國立師範大學 on Tuesday. Ten master's students (mostly of Institute of Taiwan History at National Taiwan Normal University) and one visiting master's student from Kyoto University 京都大学 have become my new classmates. The adviser of the student from Kyodai is prominent in studying education in Japanese-colonized Taiwan. I need to befriend him and read more of his adviser's research before I go to Japan next year.

This is the class structure. One student presents readings each week, and other students are expected to provide more comments and questions. The class is less of a discussion that I am familiar with at UC Santa Cruz, but more of a student report with critique of the student, supplemental information, and lecture from the professor. Students are reading both Chinese and Japanese literature and Japanese primary documents. The class focuses on analyzing the relationship between schools (學校) and the locale (地方). Students are expected to complete a research paper on the topic of education before the semester ends in February. They have begun to give weekly progress report yesterday. From them, I have learned about different sources and topics that I can explore for my project.

The instructor of the class is very knowledgeable. Professor Hsu Pei-hsien 許佩賢 has worked on the history of modern education in Taiwan during the Japanese period for years. I recently finished reading her book, Modern Schools of Colonial Taiwan (殖民地台灣的近代學校), a collection of essays on the topic. Her book focuses on primary schools and their impact on local society and people as well as ideas behind primary education (young citizenship 少國民). Although I have yet sat down with her to discuss my project, I need to do that once I have made some progress in my research.

Yoga

I began my weekly yoga lessons within the first week after arriving in Taiwan. As a beginner in an advance class and someone who has never been flexible, I tried not to compare with other classmates. Many poses are the same as ones I had learned already, but the instructor's instructions made a big difference for me. Contrast to the UC Santa Cruz yoga instructor who emphasizes the relaxation of every part of my body, this instructor in Taiwan emphasizes belly tightening and spinal cord extension while relaxing other parts of my body. I still have trouble tightening up my belly while maintaining the post and relaxing every part of my body. I "naturally" tightened up my shoulders. This combination of tightening and relaxation in different parts of my body has resulted in aches and soreness I experience in each part of my body, especially each bone and muscle on my back.

I hope that these lessons will be worth it, especially since this is the only form of exercise I am doing in Taiwan.

Chinese Nationalist Holidays in Taiwan

When I was a kid in Taiwan, I remembered October 10 (雙十節) and October 25 (光復節) as very important government holidays. I welcomed them as a child because we had days off school. October 10, 1911 was when the Xinhai Revolution succeeded in overthrowing the Manchu Qing dynasty, the last imperial system in China. October 25, 1945 was when Taiwan was "officially retro-ceded back to (Chinese Nationalist or the Republic of) China." While I barely noticed October 25 this year in Taiwan, October 10 was advertised and discussed virtually everywhere, on the street and on television.

While October 10 is no longer celebrated with much enthusiasm, or at least not over 50% of the population in Taiwan for the past decade, it was different this year. The current president, Ma Ying-jeou, and his administration (belonging to Chinese Nationalist Party, Kuomingtang KMT or Guomingdang GMD) emphasized this year's "Double-Ten" celebration because this year marked the 100 centennial of the founding of the Republic of China ROC (1911-2011). The Ma administration advertised Taiwan tourism with "celebrating ROC's centennial" this year. The administration also celebrated Double-Ten with military jet flying over presidential palace, students and soldiers marching in front of the palace, and other military drills that had almost disappeared in the last decade.

Many couples got married this year in hope of receiving luck from this "good year." Various business vendors, small and big, had promotion sales in celebration of ROC's centennial.

Streets were full of ROC flags. The community I live in encourages residents to display ROC flags to show their patriotism. This campaign stood in contrast to the suppression of ROC flag display during Zhang Mingqing's visit, a top official of the People's Republic of China (PRC), in February 2011. The Ma administration told people not to display the ROC flag because it did not want to provoke China.

Some people posted this on Facebook as the date approached October 10: Display our national flag today if you love Taiwan. Some foreigners called October 10 "Taiwan's 100th birthday." It made me wonder how well residents of and visitors of Taiwan understand Chinese and Taiwanese histories. The conflation of ROC and Taiwan is historically inaccurate, and the "celebration of ROC's centennial" is debatable. When ROC was established in 1911, Taiwan had been a Japanese colony for over 15 years (1895-1945). Chinese officials and leaders in China had to deal with many issues and problems inside China, and did not spend much time, if any, thinking or worrying about Taiwan (or Hong Kong and Macao, British colony and Portuguese colony respectively). ROC was not Taiwan.

Does ROC still exist? In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek and some one million Chinese refugees fled to Taiwan when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) won the civil war. Chiang "relocated" "China" (ROC) to Taiwan. Even after the United Nations recognized "China" as PRC in 1971 and unseated Chiang's ROC government as the legitimate China, Chiang continued his illusion of the existence of ROC. Since the 1990s and especially the 2000s, presidents in Taiwan from both the pro-ROC and pro-Taiwan-independence political parties seem to equate ROC and Taiwan. The phrase has evolved from the phrase of "ROC on Taiwan" vocalized by the first popularly elected president in 1996, Lee Teng-hui, to the phrase of "ROC is Taiwan, Taiwan is ROC" used by the current president Ma Ying-jeou. The ROC Constitution has been revised since the 1990s, and today it formally recognizes ROC as one with legitimacy over Taiwan, Pescadores, Kinmen, Matsu, and the Orchid Island. The Constitution no longer maintain the illusion that ROC has legitimacy over the entire territory under the current PRC (I think minus Hong Kong and Macao) and the independent country of Mongolia. Still, what does ROC mean? If ROC was created in China, and meant to serve the Chinese people in China, what does it mean when one claims "ROC is Taiwan"?

Is Taiwanese patriotism the same as ROC Chinese patriotism? The historical experience of the 2-28 Massacre/Incident/Uprising that occurred on February 28, 1947, suggests "NO." Representatives from ROC ordered Chinese Nationalist soldiers to arrest, jail, and execute Taiwanese intellectuals, professionals, and community leaders. Even less-prominent people were killed as their enemies reported them as "Communist spies" to the ROC representatives in Taiwan. Those who lived through or witnessed the event, or had family members (grandfathers and fathers, uncles and cousins), neighbors and friends killed or disappeared during the 2-28 Massacre and the subsequent White Terror would not equate Taiwanese patriotism with ROC patriotism. They understand the suffering of the people, both Taiwanese and some Chinese refugees in Taiwan, during the martial law era, imposed immediatedly after 2-28 Massacre until 1987.

As I watched people in Taiwan celebrate, or not celebrate, ROC's centennial, I saw that many do not understand history or what they were celebrating. It pains me to see people ignorant of well-known and recent histories.

First Conference of East Asian Environmental History, 2011

The First Conference of East Asian Environmental History took place at Academia Sinica from October 24 to October 26, 2011. The conference committee invited Mark Elvin as one of the keynote speakers. Panels included Ph.D. students, researchers, and professors from across the globe. The conference was conducted in English. I got sick, and missed the third day.

It was an interesting conference. I listened to how environmental historians do history: with a focus on the impact of environment/landscape on history. The theme that emerged from the panels I attended was the relationship between the environment, animals, and humans. Some of them emphasized the equal role that environmental and human factors played in shaping history, without privileging the environment or human activity. For example, debates surrounding the success of the Chinese Communist Party and its eventual victory over the Chinese Nationalist Party (CCP) fluctuate bewteen two "extreme" interpretations: 1) Communists as sympathetic and helpful companions and/or Nationalists (KMT or GMD) as horrible rulers, or 2) the series of droughts and other natural disasters/climate change led to famine and other problems. Micah Muscolino from Georgetown University argues that it was both human factors (e.g. The Nationalist government flooded the Yellow River in 1938) and environment/climate factors (e.g. locust attacks and droughts) that led to famines and CCP's success.

Corporate Capitalism vs. Individual Capitalism

Two women were chatting about their businesses on the bus. They were asking each other if they finished selling everything in their bags today. One said, "It's hard to make money. I don't make much. Some of my customers tell me to come sell in the market tomorrow, but I'm not going to. I'm too old now. I can't work that hard anymore. I'm just doing this for fun."

Most women selling vegetables and ready-to-eat foods in the "farmers/day market" (市場) are at least in their 60s, but probably more in their 70s, some are in their 80s. Men seem to range from in their 50s to 60s. Watching these women makes me wonder how long they have been working hard. They carry large bags of goodies, load them onto and off the bus to get to the market. Once off the bus, they carry them with quick and steady steps toward where they sell. I believe some continue to sell and work hard everyday for survival, but some do it "for fun."

Most of these women over the age of 70 had been working hard all their lives. They worked hard caring for their children and bringing money into the household. From my interviews conducted thus far, many of them had done various jobs to make money, including hand-washing other people's laundry, making tailored clothes for people, cleaning people's houses, nursing/breastfeeding other people's children. To be able to open a business of selling vegetable or ready-made-food was a big deal. it signals entrepreneurship in Taiwanese society. Taiwanese people considered running a business, no matter how small, to be a task that required creativity, smarts, and capital. This was in contrast to the "simplicity" of farming.

Jason pointed out, "Taiwan is a very capitalistic society." I had not thought about Taiwan in this way. The U.S. is capitalistic in terms of domination by corporate businesses, in contrast to Taiwan being dominated by small vendors. I asked him which system he prefers, or which one is a "better" capitalism. He did not made a decision. Because of the increasing income gap (refer to Gini coefficient) in the U.S., I prefer Taiwan's capitalism. But Taiwan's income gap is also increasing, and the country has become an import country. Without knowing much, I wonder if small vendors are struggling to just make a living as they compete with big vendors/businesses.

Will Taiwan's "individual capitalism" disappear and will "corporate capitalism" (supermarket chains) take over the fresh produce sector? If the sale of fresh produce in Taiwan is dominated by older female vendors, I wonder who will take their place after they are gone. In addition to this issue, the issue of farmers is also important. Farmers remaining in Taiwan today are of the older generation, mostly in their 60s and 70s. Once they are gone, who will grow foods for the Taiwanese? Will Taiwan become a complete import country? Farmers in Taiwan are also facing problems from the government who tries to buy their land for housing and other developments. Taiwan's farm land is decreasing in size too.