For centuries now, although Taiwan and the Chinese Mainland have been separated politically due to unavoidable circumstances, in terms of culture and literature, however, they are from beginning to end one entity without any division. Linguistically speaking, since the people of Taiwan in the early years had moved to the island from the regions of Fujian or Guangdong, they spoke the dialects of these places (Fukienese and Hakka). But their written language used Chinese characters, so that in the writing of literature there was no split between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.


The Literature on Both Sides of the Straits Is from the Same Vein

    The high point of early immigration to Taiwan was from the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) until the Qianlong (1735-1796) and Jiaqing (1796-1820) periods of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). According to the census done in the sixteenth year of the Jiaqing period, the number of immigrants in Taiwan from Mainland China had already reached more than 1,900,000 people. The aboriginal inhabitants of Taiwan at that time had only a population of about one-hundred and some thousands. The vast majority of the population of Taiwan was already ethnic Chinese. The indigenous population did not have their own written languages, with the result that Taiwan’s culture was directly based on that of Mainland China.

    From the Yongzheng period (1722-1735) through the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods, literature in Taiwan underwent a lively development. At that time, the literati who came to Taiwan as officials brought with them a strong and superior cultural ambience. Add to them the intellectuals who had come to Taiwan from the coastal regions of Fujian and Guangdong, who were imbued with classical Chinese prose and poetry as well as being themselves outstanding in poetic composition. What they carried with them was the tradition of generations of Chinese culture. Intellectually, they were the beneficiaries of an education based on Confucius and Mencius, Laozi and Zhuangzi. They then used this same cultural tradition to educate their students and to instruct the people. Many scholars who returned to the Mainland for the civil service examinations proved to be very successful. Therefore, what Taiwan manifested in this regard in terms of the characteristics of a people, the kinds of values, popular customs, religious belief and ethical norms were in every instance from the same vein with that of Mainland China.

Taiwan Literature During the Time of Japanese Occupation

    By the end of the Qing dynasty, China was gradually becoming weaker; following her defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, she ceded Taiwan to Japan. At that time, the Taiwan people were disconsolate and shocked. They thought, “How could the descendants of the Yellow Emperor become ‘a race of barbarians’?” Therefore, they determined: “In the unity of spirit, the people of Taiwan were encouraged, until the last breath, to defend their land and resist the enemy.”
    Their feelings of anger and non-acceptance became manifest in their actions. Taiwanese of the same spirit joined together to stand up courageously to oppose Japan and combat the enemy. In the end, however, they were not able to overcome the powerful weapons of their enemy. After losing all advantages, the only thing they could do was to use the potential strength of culture, and write poetry proclaiming thoughts of patriotism. Poetry clubs appeared everywhere. Poems that described the sentiments of patriotism were exchanged by mail. In this way, the mission of traditional Chinese culture was handed on. At that time, poets everywhere responded in groups; poetry recital became very popular and took place throughout the island. The Japanese exercised severe thought control, but placed few restrictions on poetry. Having fallen under the fifty years of Japanese governance, traditional Chinese culture and the learning of poetry were allowed to continue and even sparkled. This literary fashion has remained strong even until now. The patriotic poets of that time should take the main credit. Nowadays, Taiwan still has traditional poetry clubs and poetry journals that exchange and recite poetry. Furthermore, reading poetry using the Min-nan vernacular is most appropriate for traditional rhyme and is something to be proud of. In no way does it show the influence of Japanese literature or Japanese poetry written in Chinese characters.

    Because Taiwan was wrongfully occupied by Japan for fifty years, it seemed that the mass of Taiwanese,....

*	From the Literary Supplement ofChung-hua jih-pao《 中華日報 》(China Daily News ), August 20, 2002. Written for the 9th International Symposium on Chinese Literature, Beijing, November 8-11, 1997.