Culture of Taiwan

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sky Lantern festival in Pingxi
, Taiwan

Culture of Taiwan
Hanyu Pinyin
Táiwān wénhuà
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTâi-oân bûn-hoà

The culture of Taiwan is a blend of

indigenous Taiwanese cultures.[1] Despite the overwhelming Chinese cultural influence and minority indigenous Taiwanese cultural influence, Japanese culture has significantly influenced Taiwanese culture as well.[2] The common socio-political experience in Taiwan gradually developed into a sense of Taiwanese cultural identity and a feeling of Taiwanese cultural awareness, which has been widely debated domestically.[3][4][5]

Reflecting the continuing controversy surrounding the political status of Taiwan, politics continues to play a role in the conception and development of a Taiwanese cultural identity, especially in the prior dominant frame of a Taiwanese and Chinese dualism. In recent years, the concept of Taiwanese multiculturalism has been proposed as a relatively apolitical alternative view, which has allowed for the inclusion of mainlanders and other minority groups into the continuing re-definition of Taiwanese culture as collectively held systems of meaning and customary patterns of thought and behavior shared by the people of Taiwan.[6][7]

State cultural policy overview

Main articles:
Taiwanese Aborigines and History of Taiwan

Historical context

Main article: Taiwan under Japanese rule

Taiwan's culture and cultural legacy has been largely shaped by the processes of

Imperial Japan, postwar China and even, arguably, the United States.[9]

Bunun dancer in traditional aboriginal dress (1989)

Before the

cosmopolitan activities.[11] Japan's colonial legacy has shaped many of the customs and mannerisms of the Taiwanese. Japan's colonial legacy is still visible, due to Japan's massive effort in constructing Taiwan's economic infrastructure and industrial base, which is often cited as a major factor in Taiwan's rapid economic development.[12]

KMT era cultural policy

Main article:
History of KMT cultural policy

During the early postwar period the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) suppressed Taiwanese cultural expression and barred Taiwanese from cosmopolitan life except in the spheres of science and technology.[13] The authoritarian KMT dominated public cultural space and Chinese nationalist networks became a part of cultural institutions, leaving little resource for cultural autonomy to grow.[14]

Under the early KMT, Taiwan was realigned from a Japanese imperial center to a Chinese nationalist center, under the influence of KMT and American

geo-political interests.[citation needed] Although American cultural activities were modest, they played a significant role in Taiwan's developing cultural scene. The KMT claimed a loss of morale led to "losing China" and thus the state issued a series of ideological reforms aimed to "retake" China, which became the major state cultural program of the time. The immediate preoccupation with losing China diverted long-term investment in the humanities and social sciences. On another level, the state's main objective was to "sinicize" the Taiwanese by teaching them Mandarin Chinese and Nationalist ideology through compulsory primary education.[15]

By the late 1940s the KMT had

February 28 Incident destroyed Taiwan's urban elite and the arrival of the mainlander elite ensured Nationalist domination of urban cultural centers.[17]

In 1953, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek issued his first major opinion on culture to complete Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People, which included prescribing Nationalist curriculum for education, building facilities for intellectual and physical recreation and the major state cultural program of promoting anti-communist propaganda.[18] In regard to Taiwanese cultural life, the major thrust was for "universalization" of education in Mandarin, which was enforced by law. Despite the hard-line Chinese control over culture, the Soviet advances in technology led to a new Nationalist focus on building closer cooperation with American universities and developing engineering programs.[19] The American presence in Taiwan also encouraged Taiwanese to resume some politically, ethnically neutral cultural activities, which was expressed in a flourishing Taiwanese-language media market.[20]

Between the 1960s and the 1980s Taiwan's culture was described by its media as the contrast between Taiwan (Free China) and China (Communist China), often drawing from the official tropes of Taiwan as a bastion of traditional Chinese culture, which had preserved "true" Chinese values against the "false" Chinese values of post Communist China. At the same time, Taiwanese cultural expressions were brutally suppressed by Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT. In response to the

Chinese Classics, the symbolic functions of the National Palace Museum, promoting famous prewar scholars to prominent positions in government and academic institutions, textbook and curriculum design with a focus on the official view of "traditional" Chinese culture and involvement in social and community events and the exemplification of Confucian ideology intertwined with Sun Yat-sen thought.[citation needed
]

Taiwanization

Main article:
Taiwanization

After 1975

Taiwan Independence, and Taiwanese nationalism.[citation needed
]

Religion

Yin and Yang symbol of Taoism
The Dharmachakra represents the Noble Eightfold Path.
Main article: Religion in Taiwan

The prevalent form of religious belief in

Chinese ancestral worship, Mazu worship, Wang Ye worship and Zhai Jiao Traditions.[21] However, there are also large numbers of devotees to each of these belief systems.[22]

Apart from the syncretic form of traditional Chinese folk religion, Humanistic Buddhism is the major distinguishing trait of modern Taiwanese Buddhism. Humanistic Buddhism traces its roots to Chinese monk Venerable Taixu (1890–1947), who promoted more direct contributions to society through the Buddhist community and was a significant influence for Venerable Yin Shun, who is generally considered to be the key figure who brought Humanistic Buddhism to Taiwan.[23]

Christian churches have been active in Taiwan for many years, a majority of which are Protestant (with 2.6% of the population identifying themselves as Protestant)

pan-green coalition.[citation needed
]

Several Taiwanese religious organizations have extended their operations beyond the country. Several organizations, especially

Tzu Chi Foundation, Dharma Drum Mountain and Chung Tai Shan, have set up branch temples (or centres) and extended their humanitarian or missionary works around the world.[citation needed
]

Buddhist-Taoist religious belief makes up 93%, Christian 4.5%, and others 2.5%.[24]

Food

Pearl milk tea
Main article: Taiwanese cuisine

retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan
.

Languages

Main article: Languages of Taiwan

The most widely spoken and de facto language in Taiwan is

Hakka language. The Formosan languages and the Yami language are the native languages of the indigenous Taiwanese, comprising about 2.3% of the island's population.[25]

Standard Chinese is the official language and is almost universally spoken and understood. English is taught universally, starting in elementary school.

Taiwanese Mandarin, derived from Standard Chinese, is spoken at different levels according to the social class and situation of the speakers.

Some terms have different meanings in Taiwan and mainland China, such as: 土豆 (tǔdòu), which means peanut in Taiwan, but potato in China. There also exist differences in official[26] pronunciations of a few words such as 垃圾, which is pronounced lèsè in Taiwan but lājī in China, with the former being derived from Shanghainese.

Art

Main article: Taiwanese art

The artistic heritage of Taiwan is extremely diverse. Stonecutters of the

pop culture and artistic ideas such as abstract expressionism were introduced to Taiwan by the Americans. Democratization in the late 1980s and the lifting of martial law granted Taiwanese artists freedom of expression for the first time in history. The economic boom of the '80s and '90s also saw the financial resources of Taiwanese museums and patrons increase significantly.[27] By 1990 Taiwan was Asia's biggest art market.[28] As Taiwan's art scene matured there began to be a greater specialization in exhibit spaces with dedicated museums for things like photography and ceramics opening. In the 21st century Taiwan's artistic community embraced new technologies and new mediums.[27] While no longer the largest art market in Asia the tastes of Taiwan's collectors have matured and Taiwan remains the most cutting-edge art market in Asia.[29]

Media

Main article:
Media of Taiwan

Taiwan's

worldwide press freedom index
ranks at 32 among 169 nations, as of 2007. Taiwan had been under martial law, with strict restrictions on the press and broadcasting, before political liberalization loosened restrictions in the 1980s.

Sports

Main article: Sport in Taiwan

Popular sports in Taiwan include:

  • Badminton
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Cheerleading
  • Golf
  • Martial arts
  • Pool
  • Swimming
  • Table tennis
  • Tennis
  • Volleyball

Athletes from Taiwan compete in international sporting events, often under the banner of "Chinese Taipei" due to PRC's opposition to the use of "Taiwan" or "ROC" under such circumstances.

Tea

Main articles: Taiwanese tea and Taiwanese tea culture

tea ceremony, and a very social way of enjoying tea. While the most common teas are oolongs, especially Taiwanese oolongs such as Iron Goddess and Alpine Oolong. However, black teas and green teas are also popular. Many of the classical arts can be seen in the tea culture, examples: calligraphy
, flower arts, incense arts, and such.

Recreation

Entrance hall of a K-TV in Taipei

Taiwanese drama
.

Indoor shrimping has remained a popular form of recreation in Taiwan since the 1990s.[30][31][32][33]

Since 1999,

hot springs, known as wēnquán in Chinese and onsen in Japanese, have been making a comeback thanks to efforts by the government. Over 100 hot springs have been discovered since the Japanese introduced their rich onsen
culture to Taiwan, with the largest concentration on the northernmost part of Taiwan island.

Anime and manga are very popular in Taiwan. Comics, including manga, are called manhua in Taiwan. It is common to see a manga rental shop or a manga store every couple of streets in larger cities.

Convenience store culture

Two 7-Eleven stores opposite each other on a crossroad. Taiwan has the highest density of 7-Eleven stores per person in the world

Boasting over 9,200

Asia Pacific's and perhaps the world's highest density of convenience stores per person: one store per 2,500 people or .0004 stores per person.[34] As of 1 January 2009, Taiwan also has 4,800 7-Eleven stores, and thus the world's highest density of 7-Elevens per person: one store per 4,786 people or .000210 stores per person.[24][35]
In Taipei, it is not unusual to see two 7-Elevens across the street from or several of them within a few hundred meters of each other.

Because they are found nearly everywhere, convenience stores in Taiwan provide services on behalf of financial institutions or government agencies such as collection of the city parking fee, utility bills, traffic violation fines, and credit card payments. Eighty-one percent of urban household shoppers in Taiwan visit a convenience store each week.[34] The idea of being able to purchase food items, drink, fast food, magazines, videos, computer games, and so on 24 hours a day and at any corner of a street makes life easier for Taiwan's extremely busy and rushed population.

Cram school culture

Main article: Education in Taiwan
See also:
Suneung

Taiwan, like its neighbors in East Asia, is well known for its buxiban (

TOEFL, GRE, SAT, etc.). This is perpetuated by a meritocratic
culture that measures merit through testing, with entrance into college, graduate school, and government service decided entirely on testing. This has also led to a remarkable respect for degrees, including PhDs and overseas Western degrees (US and Great Britain).

English teaching is a big business in Taiwan, with Taiwan, as part of its project to reinvigorate the Taiwan Miracle, aiming to become a trilingual country—fluent in Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English.

Popular culture

Main article:
Taiwanese Wave

Cell phones are very popular in Taiwan. Mobile penetration rate stands at just over 120%.[36] Because of their high use, phones in Taiwan have many functions and are becoming cheaper.

Internet cafes
are very popular with teenagers. They often sell food. Many gamers eat while using the internet. Many parents and teachers are concerned with the amount of time youth spend in the internet cafes.

One of the best known figures in Taiwanese cinema is director

Leehom Wang, Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai, and David Tao. Some of them have gained international fame and toured Asian countries like Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Since Taiwan is well known for its entertainment scene, some of its TV stations have organised talent search to find new and young talents to join the big family of pop culture here. Some successful bands like S.H.E
were formed in the talent search.

Machi, and L.A. Boyz
.

desinicization
", which explains why these policies are generally applauded by most ethnic Taiwanese and opposed by the KMT.

One phenomenon that has resulted from the Taiwanization movement is the advent of Taike subculture, in which people consciously adopt the wardrobe, language and cuisine to emphasize the uniqueness of popular, groundroots Taiwanese culture, which in previous times had often been seen as provincial and brutally suppressed by Chiang Kai-shek.

The Kuomintang took power in 2008 with the election of Ma Ying-jeou to the presidency. The new KMT administration has controversially sought to reverse some of the desinicizing policies of the Chen administration, to various degrees of public support. The restoration of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to its former state has been generally supported. By contrast, a directive by the administration to foreign missions to henceforth refer to visits by foreign dignitaries as "visiting (cultural) China" has been rescinded after criticism from DPP legislators.

Organ Symphony No. 3

Since 1949, Taiwan had managed to develop itself into the center of Chinese pop culture (also known as "C-pop" or 中文流行文化). Today, the commercial Chinese music industry in the world (especially Mandopop and Taiwanese pop) is still largely dominated by Taiwanese pop artists. Successful Chinese pop artists from other countries (e.g. Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin from Singapore) are also trained, groomed and marketed in Taiwan. Chinese pop artists from other countries who wish to become successful usually have to go to Taiwan to develop their music career. Mandopop and Taiwanese (Hokkien) genre music continue to flourish in Taiwan today.

Ever since the 1990s, Taiwanese variety shows (綜藝節目) had grown from its home base in Taiwan to other parts of the world. Today, it is widely watched and enjoyed by the

United States
.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Huang (1994), pp. 1–5.
  2. ^ 黃文儀，《士大夫與羅漢腳》，《文教台灣》第092期
  3. ^ Yip (2004), pp. 230–248.
  4. ^ Makeham (2005), pp. 2–8.
  5. ^ Chang (2005), p. 224.
  6. ^ Hsiau (2005), pp. 125–129.
  7. ^ Winckler (1994), pp. 23–41.
  8. ^ Yip (2004), pp. 2–5.
  9. ^ Winckler (1994), pp. 28–31.
  10. ^ Wachman (1994), pp. 6–7.
  11. ^ Mendel (1970), pp. 13–14.
  12. ^ Gold (1986), pp. 21–32.
  13. ^ Winckler (1994), p. 29.
  14. ^ Phillips (2003), pp. 10–15.
  15. ^ Wachman (1994), pp. 82–88.
  16. ^ Kerr (1965), pp. 72, 266.
  17. ^ Gates (1981), pp. 266–269.
  18. ^ Winckler (1994), p. 30.
  19. ^ Wilson (1970).
  20. ^ Winckler (1994), p. 32.
  21. ^ TIO Gov Taiwan Archived 26 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ a b taipei times Archived 28 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ "解嚴後台灣佛教新興教派之研究". url.tw. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  24. ^ a b "Taiwan". The World Factbook. Directorate of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  25. ^ "Languages of Taiwan". zinglanguages.com. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  26. ^ Huang, Angel (11 April 2018). "Mainland Mandarin vs. Taiwanese Mandarin: Pronunciation Differences". Mandarin HQ. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  27. ^ a b Chung, Oscar (January 2020). "Beauty in Diversity". taiwantoday.tw. Taiwan Today. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  28. ^ Chow, Vivienne. "Taipei Was Asia's Biggest Market Hub 30 Years Ago. Can a Coterie of Art-World Insiders Return It to Its Former Glory?". news.artnet.com. Artnet. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  29. ^ Goldstein, Andrew. "Where Is Asia's Art Market Headed? Taiwan's New Taipei Dangdai Fair Shows a Region on the Verge of Massive Change". news.artnet.com. Artnet. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  30. ^ "Gone Shrimpin". Taiwan Today. 1 July 1993. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  31. ^ Lu, Danny (1991). "High-rise indoor shrimp fishing centers become popular in Taiwan". The Sun.
  32. ^ Jennings, Ralph (1 October 2012). "In urban Taiwan, indoor shrimp fishing is booming". Los Angeles Times.
  33. ^ "Close up: Urban shrimp fishing in Taiwan". BBC. 4 November 2012.
  34. ^ a b Prevzner, Alexander (2004), "Convenience Stores Aim at Differentiation", Taiwan Business TOPICS, 34 (11).
  35. ^ "International Licensing". 7-Eleven. 1 January 2009. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  36. ^ Kemp, Simon (15 February 2022). "Digital 2022: Taiwan". DataReportal.

Cited works

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