Taiwan's “Cultural Renaissance”: A Preliminary View

Abstract

Traditional Chinese culture may be facing extinction. In the last two decades, since Mao Tse-tung's capture of the Mainland and Chiang Kai-shek's withdrawal to Taiwan, Chinese culture has been subjected to intense stress, not only in Communist China but on Taiwan as well. On the Mainland the Chinese tradition has been under attack from the government, the most recent and most violent assault being the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The Communists under the leadership of Mao have consciously sought to destroy the old ways and to rebuild society and culture along new lines. The threat to traditional Chinese culture on Taiwan is more subtle, but none the less real. Cut off from its mainland base, Chinese tradition on Taiwan has been threatened from within by popular indifference and from without by strong western influences. The Nationalists, however, under the leadership of Chiang have inaugurated the Cultural Renaissance Movement on Taiwan for the avowed purpose of saving China's culture.

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“…The cultural renaissance in Taiwan began as a countermovement to the cultural revolution in China. It was led by President Chiang Kai-Shek in 1966 to preserve the country's culture based on tao t' ung, the orthodox transmission of the Tao, or described by Tozer (1970) as the historical and cultural traditions of the sages. The movement also created to preserve Dr Sun Yat Sen's san-min chu-i (Three principles of the people) that President Chiang argued would protect the national tradition from the mainland's communism and cultural revolution.…”

“…The council had several functions, mainly to promote cultural reconstruction based on Chinese culture. However, Tozer (1970) also highlighted how the renaissance movement was lacking in cultural goals. The action was more of a political movement that repressed the development of Taiwanese cultural artists' arts and culture.…”

Kształtowanie tajwańskiej tożsamości narodowej w polityce edukacyjnej Tajwanu

“…Przedmioty szkolne związane z wychowaniem obywatelskim obejmowały "Życie i etykę" (Life and Ethics) i "Naukę o społeczeństwie" (Social Studies) w szkole podstawowej oraz "Obywatelstwo i moralność" (Civics and Morality), "Historię" i "Geografię" na poziomie szkoły średniej I stopnia. Zadaniem wskazanych przedmiotów było sprawienie, żeby uczniowie posiadali wiedzę na temat rozwoju narodu chińskiego i zmian w obszarze jego terytorium oraz znaczenia Tajwanu jako bazy do odzyskania Chin kontynentalnych; doceniali chińską wyższość narodową i ducha narodowego; zgadzali się z pojmowaniem nauki przez Sun Yat-sena i Czang Kaj-szeka oraz zgodnie z interpretacją rządu przyjmowali ich wkład w rozwój narodu (Su, 2006 (Tozer, 1970). Ruch ten stanowił reakcję władz KMT na Wielką Proletariacką Rewolucję Kulturalną, która rozpoczęła się w Chinach kontynentalnych w 1966 roku.…”

Nationalist patriarchy and women painters in Taiwan under the Guomindang

“…The movement was a nationwide programme designed by the Guomindang in response to the Cultural Revolution in China. It developed and supported the research, teaching and organization of activities related to traditional Chinese culture (Tozer 1970).…”