A few years ago when a movie, "Brave-Heart" was on the show, I clearly remember the beginning narrative of the movie. The narrative said that although the English had portrayed William Wallace as a liar, the Scottish regards Wallace as their hero. "History has been often written by the conqueror", the narrative continued, "it is time to re-visit the history from another perspective..."
This narratives applies perfectly well to Taiwanese history because the story of Taiwan was often written by the Chinese who usually plays the colonial role over Taiwan. A few days ago, I had reported a story about the Lin Swan-Wun's 林爽文 rebellion in 1787. It was a typical Taiwanese peasants' struggle against the oppressing Ching's colonialism. In the past, the Chinese had portrayed Lin and his followers are 'bandits' and justified all the suppressing actions as 'rightful duties' 義舉. Today, Lin is no longer considered as a bandit in Taiwan. Some of the Taiwanese streets even had Swan-Wun's name on them. Yet, there are still few places that bear the scars of historical ignorance. One example is the name of Chia-Yi 嘉義 county and Chia-Yi city. Chia-Yi was then called Ju-Lo 諸羅 at Lin's time. After suppressing Lin Swan-Wun in 1788, the Ching changed the name from Ju-Lo 諸羅 to Chia-Yi 嘉義 to 'praise' for Ju-Lo residents' 'rightful acts' resisting Lin's advancing peasant army 「嘉」獎諸羅義民「義」舉. The name, Chia-Yi, was named from the perspective of the Ching; it is insulting to Taiwanese peasants struggle against the colonialism.
One of those days, we shall change the name of Chia-Yi because it is a rightful thing to do from our perspective.
This narratives applies perfectly well to Taiwanese history because the story of Taiwan was often written by the Chinese who usually plays the colonial role over Taiwan. A few days ago, I had reported a story about the Lin Swan-Wun's 林爽文 rebellion in 1787. It was a typical Taiwanese peasants' struggle against the oppressing Ching's colonialism. In the past, the Chinese had portrayed Lin and his followers are 'bandits' and justified all the suppressing actions as 'rightful duties' 義舉. Today, Lin is no longer considered as a bandit in Taiwan. Some of the Taiwanese streets even had Swan-Wun's name on them. Yet, there are still few places that bear the scars of historical ignorance. One example is the name of Chia-Yi 嘉義 county and Chia-Yi city. Chia-Yi was then called Ju-Lo 諸羅 at Lin's time. After suppressing Lin Swan-Wun in 1788, the Ching changed the name from Ju-Lo 諸羅 to Chia-Yi 嘉義 to 'praise' for Ju-Lo residents' 'rightful acts' resisting Lin's advancing peasant army 「嘉」獎諸羅義民「義」舉. The name, Chia-Yi, was named from the perspective of the Ching; it is insulting to Taiwanese peasants struggle against the colonialism.
One of those days, we shall change the name of Chia-Yi because it is a rightful thing to do from our perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment