taiwanese

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)

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

Followup with PayPal on my issue with shipping to a Taiwanese address

PayPal customer service (@AskPayPal) and I had a conversation this morning via direct messages on Twitter. I appreciate their prompt response. They looked into the issue where the Taiwanese address I gave them was passed on to the seller with "Province of China" appended. They will forward it on to the software engineers behind the…Read more Followup with PayPal on my issue with shipping to a Taiwanese address

You thought we wouldn’t notice? : Eroding Taiwan’s international identity

Followup to this issue can be found here. ----- Do you use PayPal? Do you have things that you buy using PayPal shipped to Taiwan? Did you know that PayPal adds "Province of China" to Taiwanese addresses after the fact? I discovered this when a book I ordered for my father in mid November failed…Read more You thought we wouldn’t notice? : Eroding Taiwan’s international identity

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