Cultural Change In Postwar Taiwan

With its increasing wealth, a growing and better-educated urban population, and one of the world's largest trade surpluses, Taiwan has shed its identity as an impoverished, war-torn nation and joined the ranks of developed countries. Yet, despite the attention focused on the country's profound transformation, surprisingly little information exists

The late twentieth century witnessed rapid changes not only in Taiwan's economy, but also in its identity. Both economic as well as ideological restructuring have been basic elements in the transformation of postwar Taiwan, as rapid democratization opened a Pandora's Box, and stirred a whirlwind of social discord. This volume considers such important questions as whether the old Taiwanese work ethic is a relic of the past, and whether Taiwan is likely to become a battleground of ideological wars.The book addresses Taiwanese nostalgia for Chinese culture; the rise and fall of postwar Taiwanese agrarian culture; the transformation of farmers' social consciousness in the period 1950–1970; the place of Confucianism in postwar Taiwan; and the awakening of the self and the development of a Taiwanese national identity in the post–World War II period. Finally, it considers whether mutual historical understanding may be the basis for Taiwan-Mainland relations in the twenty-first century. This second edition includes a new chapter on the history of Taiwan after World War II, incorporating additional developments in Taiwan in the past decade.Insights extrapolated from an understanding of history are essential for grasping and solving the basic problems Taiwan now faces and, above all, the conflicted relationship between Taiwan and Mainland China. The book's thematic undercurrent is the question of Taiwan and Mainland China: How do we deal with the tension between cultural China and political China?

Religion in Modern Taiwan takes a new look at Taiwan's current religious traditions and their fortunes during the twentieth century. Beginning with the cession of Taiwan to Japan in 1895 and the currents of modernization that accompanied it, the essays move on to explore the developments that have taken place as Buddhists, Daoists, Christians, non-Han aborigines, and others have confronted, resisted, and adapted to (even thrived in) the many upheavals of the modern period. An overview of Taiwan's current religious scene is followed by a comprehensive look at the state of religion in the country prior to the end of World War II and the return of Taiwan to Chinese sovereignty. The remaining essays probe aspects of change within individual religious traditions. The final chapter analyzes changes that took place in the scholarly study and interpretation of religion in Taiwan during the course of the twentieth century. Religion in Modern Taiwan will be read with interest by students and scholars of Chinese religion, religion in Taiwan, the modern history of Taiwan, and by those concerned with issues of religion and modernization. Contributors: Chang Hsun, Philip Clart, Shiun-wey Huang, Christian Jochim, Charles B. Jones, Paul Katz, André Laliberté, Lee Fong-mao, Randall Nadeau, Julian Pas, Barbara Reed, Murray A. Rubinstein.

The late twentieth century witnessed rapid changes not only in Taiwan’s economy, but also in its identity. Both economic as well as ideological restructuring have been basic elements in the transformation of postwar Taiwan, as rapid democratization opened a Pandora’s Box, and stirred a whirlwind of social discord. This volume considers such important questions as whether the old Taiwanese work ethic is a relic of the past, and whether Taiwan is likely to become a battleground of ideological wars. The book addresses Taiwanese nostalgia for Chinese culture; the rise and fall of postwar Taiwanese agrarian culture; the transformation of farmers’ social consciousness in the period 1950–1970; the place of Confucianism in postwar Taiwan; and the awakening of the “self ” and the development of a Taiwanese national identity in the post–World War II period. Finally, it considers whether “mutual historical understanding” may be the basis for Taiwan-Mainland relations in the twentyfirst century. This second edition includes two new chapters on the history of Taiwan after World War II, incorporating additional developments in Taiwan in the past decade. Insights extrapolated from an understanding of history are essential for grasping and solving the basic problems Taiwan now faces and, above all, the conflicted relationship between Taiwan and Mainland China. The book’s thematic undercurrent is the question of Taiwan and Mainland China: How do we deal with the tension between cultural China and political China?

In March 2000, for the first time in its history, Taiwan witnessed a democratic change in ruling parties. Given the contrasting stances on Taiwan's political and cultural belonging held by the defeated party, the KMT, and the new ruling party, the pro-independence DPP, the change wasa historical turning point. Although there has been increasing interest in Taiwan Studies in the last decade, no single volume has yet addressed the complexity and impact of the change in ruling parties in Taiwan. This book aims to fill that gap by comparing the years before and after the DPP's transition to power. Although the analytical starting point is the regime change of 2000, the scope of topics goes beyond party politics. Designed to provide an all-encompassing view, the thirteen chapters examine and evaluate the extent to which the change in Taiwan's ruling party has resulted in a political, social, economic and cultural transformation of the island. They build a complex picture of the differences and the perhaps surprisingly high degree of continuities between the two regimes. The book addresses readers interested in interdisciplinary approaches to Taiwan's recent political, social, and cultural changes.

This book describes and analyzes the demographic changes that took place in Taiwan between 1945 and 1995. It uses an interdisciplinary methodology so that different approaches to demographic change can be compared and contrasted. It attempts to evaluate Taiwan's experience so that lessons for the Third World can be extracted. The content and presentation of the material are deliberately designed to replicate the 1954 work of Barclay, Demographic Change and Colonial Development in Taiwan. As such the book seeks to provide the reasons that economic development without demographic change took place under the Japanese while development with demographic change took place under the Chinese. The volume is richly illustrated with some 82 original maps and graphs.

This volume centres on the creation of varied forms of individual and group identity in Taiwan, and the relationship between these forms of identity, both individual and collective, and patterns of Taiwanese religion, politics, and culture. The contributors explore the Taiwanese people's sense of who they are, attempting to discern how they identify themselves as individuals and as collectives and then try to determine the identity/roles individuals and groups construct for themselves. Ranging from the local essays to the national level and within the larger Chinese cultural/religious universe, these essays explore the complex nature of identity/role and the processes of identity formation which have shaped Taiwan's multileveled past and its many faceted present.