taiwanese history

Just another archival misdirection

Last Wednesday, I was chatting with a librarian about her project cataloguing what are supposed to be rare tune books, hoping that she might have found some from China. Of course, since archival boxes reveal things that aren't on their labels, as anyone who spends time in archives knows that such boxes are wont to…Read more Just another archival misdirection

Foreign bones on Taiwan soil: the Princess of Eight Treasures (part 2)

(part 1) Having read about the Princess of Eight Treasures online years ago, when we were in Kenting for a night at a resort in late December 2015 (thanks parents!), I made sure to go see the temple in person. Granted, my pictures shared here are little different from what you can find yourself via online…Read more Foreign bones on Taiwan soil: the Princess of Eight Treasures (part 2)

Foreign bones on Taiwan soil: the Princess of Eight Treasures (part 1)

At the southern point of Taiwan, not far from the hedonic bustle of Kenting's main strip, small waves rush and retreat reassuringly across the white sand of the village's beach. At its eastern end sits a small temple, easily looked over as another one of the millions of shrines that dot the Taiwanese landscape, urban…Read more Foreign bones on Taiwan soil: the Princess of Eight Treasures (part 1)

Outlandish fables and Taiwanese curriculum reform

In the late 19th century, the period I focus on in my dissertation, one way of responding to the many crises that China was undergoing involved trying to morally realign society in such a way as to prevent such crises from ever happening again. This was on one level cosmic: heaven will no longer send…Read more Outlandish fables and Taiwanese curriculum reform

Maiden Huang 黃寶姑 (3)

(1: Tainan local women, Taiwan local religion) (2: Mother Gu Temple 辜婦媽廟) This post has been a very long time in coming because Huang Baogu's story is so rich with issues to discuss that it keeps threatening to turn itself into an article or a book chapter. Which, in fact, it may end up becoming…Read more Maiden Huang 黃寶姑 (3)

9-in-1 elections: A candidate who won’t win, and a plea for candidates who might

Next Saturday, Taiwanese will go to the polls in local elections for a record number of posts: over 11,000 nationwide. Since nine categories of elected offices (from mayors down to village wardens) make up the 11,130 open posts, the elections have been termed the 9-in-1 elections. Mr. Chao Yan-ching is running for Taipei mayor. He…Read more 9-in-1 elections: A candidate who won’t win, and a plea for candidates who might

Review: Fireproof Moth: A Missionary in Taiwan’s White Terror

The title of Milo Thornberry's book, Fireproof Moth: A Missionary in Taiwan's White Terror, comes from the remark of US State Department official, made shortly after the family was deported from Taiwan in 1971: "There is no shortage of American graduate students, missionaries... with both ardent views on Taiwanese Independence and a willingness to conduct…Read more Review: Fireproof Moth: A Missionary in Taiwan’s White Terror

The Black Bearded Barbarian

I've been thinking about this photo lately, of G.L. Mackay and his family, which I found in The Black Bearded Barbarian by Marian Keith, published in 1912. I wouldn't recommend reading it, mostly because it's written at a children's level with a few too many exclamation points, and also because, as Keith notes in the…Read more The Black Bearded Barbarian

Tainan local women, Taiwan local religion (1)

One of wonders of Tainan is how no matter what alley you walk down, you'll run into a temple. One day, I cut down an alley about a block away from the City God Temple and came across a mysterious (to me) little temple. Dedicated to Gu Fuma (辜婦媽) - Mother Gu, statues of three…Read more Tainan local women, Taiwan local religion (1)