I’m from Paraguay, the only country of South America that recognizes Taiwan instead of Communist China. Both countries have had diplomatic relations for more than 60 years.
@@JJMcCullough well, Paraguay is not a big country. Compared to Taiwan, Paraguay is more than 10 times bigger in size, big it only has less than third of the island’s population. And answering your question, there are like 15000 Taiwaneses living in Paraguay.
I live in Costa Rica. Costa Rica used to recognize the government in Taipei until 2007, when President Óscar Arias decided to switch allegiances to the People’s Republic of China. In return, the People’s Republic of China donated our new national stadium. The People’s Republic of China has been doing the same with countries in Africa such as Gabon, where they donated Stade d'Angondjé. Stadium diplomacy, anyone?
El Salvador dropped Taiwan in favor of PRC in 2018 as one of the parting "gifts" of the leaving administration. It is a damn shame since there is a sizable community of Taiwanese people here.
*Another fun fact about Taiwan:* Its last dictator, Lee Teng-hui, was educated in Iowa and received a Bachelor's of Science before returning to Taiwan to be indirectly elected as President while the country was still under martial law. He later democratized the country and became its first directly elected president. Polls on historical presidents of Taiwan currently have him as the most popular Taiwanese president. I always find this kind of funny since Xi Jinping (current head of Communist China) was also educated in Iowa. As such I will forever imagine Iowa's unofficial slogan being: *"If we had a nickel for every time we made a Chinese dictator we'd have two nickels, but it was still weird that it happened twice."*
So many world leaders are educated in America but it’s always funny to hear about the ones that weren’t able to get into Harvard or whenever. Like The old president of Egypt went to UC Santa Cruz or something if I recall correctly
@@Nathan-jh1ho He also was briefly a member of the CCP before he moved to Taiwan, since he went to the mainland after his stay in Japan. Not exactly sure why though...
Just a slight correction, the indigenous people of Taiwan speak Austronesian languages, not Polynesian. Polynesian languages are a subset of Austronesian, but they're only really spoken in a specific part of the Pacific, whereas the larger Austronesian family includes hundreds of highly divergent languages in places like Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and even Madagascar. Also fun fact: despite the huge spread of the Austronesian family away from Taiwan there's still a lot more divergence between the languages in Taiwan than outside it. The most accepted theory subdivides the family into 13 primary branches, 12 of which are spoken on Taiwan, with all the other ones forming the 13th Malayo-Polynesian branch.
Yeah, the "pacific islander" term is probably better said as Austronesian, the people who migrated from the island of anicent Taiwan, down to the Philippines, through the pacific islands, and also throughout the Malay archipelago, and also Madagascar and potentially some islands in the Indian Ocean.
The traditional thatched roof style in Japan reminded me of things seen in pictures from Polynesia. Perhaps the connection is from Taiwan to Ryukyu to Kyushu.
@@JMM33RanMA There's actually some evidence suggesting that Japanese has an Austronesian substratum (or even base), likely from the Kumaso, Hayato, and Azumi peoples of Ancient Japan. Also, the Kra-Dai people of Southeast Asia may also be Austronesian as well.
@@Innomenatus That's very interesting. The Japanese language that I encountered is closely related to Korean, which is part of the Siberian language group. It used to be called Ural Altaic but the recent research has moved on from that. The grammar of the two languages is almost identical. There is a hypothesis that Gaya [or Kaya] was the bridge to Japan, and it is thought by some that when it was extinguished by Silla and Paekche the upper class went to Japan and the Imperial family may be descended from them. There is a triangular exchange in language, religion and culture between China, Korea and Japan that has been going on literally for ages. The Koreans have been slowly abandoning Chinese characters in favor of their own alphabet, and in the south many people now use English loanwords where former generations used Chinese. This has been a problem for North Koreans who get to South Korea.☮
In Wales we had a similar punishment for children caught speaking Welsh at school. They would be forced to wear the ‘Welsh (k)not’, a piece of wood with WN carved into it, hung around the kneck with string. If another child was caught speaking Welsh it would be moved onto them, and so on. At the end of the day, the last child wearing the WN would be caned. This ultimately resulted with children weaponising the language against each other, with those wearing the WN trying to get others to speak Welsh within earshot of teachers so that they can avoid the caning.
@@Raynieryful for context, this was between the late 18th to late 19th century. Today there’s roughly 880k speakers in wales, a million overall globally (mostly England, so not far from home). In Wales numbers are growing, promoted strongly by the devolved Welsh gov. Mae gobaith am yr iaith yn y dyfodol.
The KMT copied it from the Japanese hougen fuda or Dialect card, the japanese used the same shaming punishment in Okinawa, the japanese supposedly got the idea from the French Vergonha and the Welsh Noto.
Same thing in France. For the longest time there would be signs in school courtyards with the sign "Soyez propres, parlez français" (Be proper, Speak French) with the aim to eliminate regional languages like Breton, Alsatian, Occitan, Catalan, Arpitan, Corsican, Creole and others.
One interesting fact about Taiwan is that Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895-1945, and in fact, Teruo Nakamura, who was the last Japanese soldier to surrender after World War II, in 1974, was an Aboriginal Taiwanese who's birthname was Attun Palalin. He had been hiding on small island in Indonesia not knowing the war was over. There was actually a whole bunch of Aboriginal Taiwanese who fought for Japan during WWII, called the Takasago Volunteers. In general, Taiwanese attitudes about Japanese colonization were complex. The Japanese could be repressive, but they had set Taiwan up as a model showplace colony, and used sort of both a carrot and stick approach in Taiwan, both going out of their way to assimilate Taiwanese, but putting a lot of money into the economy and allowing a good deal of local control. It gets more complicated because when the Nationalists took over Taiwan, they cracked down very hard on Taiwanese culture and anything they saw as dissent, and their heavy handedness led a lot of Taiwanese to look back more fondly on Japanese rule.
Japan successfully brainwashed the island and downplayed the history of slaughtering the indigenous "Mountain People". Taiwanese were forced to learn Japanese language and take Japanese names, forbidden to practice their own culture and tradition. Much like what the white did to indigenous Indians. There was a famous Taiwanese movie about the history a few years back. It was not an interesting fact. It was a painful and brutal history. I guess the young Taiwanese people just don't care about that any more.
@@tamulemon We still care. We just care more about our modern colony and brainwash. Nationalists successfully brainwashed the whole generation of our parent to believe that there is already no colony in Taiwan.
@@tamulemon After WWII, KMT from China forced all aboriginal people to have Chinese names in the very first year. If Japan had not conquered the mountain areas in earlier 1990s to 1930, after KMT came, the Chinese Mainlanders would be the targets of the aboriginal people who still practiced headhunting. Also, the aboriginal people would be slaughtered by KMT like KMT did in 1947 to other ethnic Chinese people in the flat areas.
As a Taiwanese person (which i guess is rare on your channel lol), I'd like to share some opinions: 1. The sign at 10:43 actually says "I will not speak dialects" which includes Taiwanese, Hakka (another group of Han people), and the aboriginal languages (yes those are considered dialects of Mandarins in the past here). And all these languages do have standardized writing systems, just not widely recognized because they are not taught in schools in the past. 2. The differences between the so called "dialects" of Chinese is actually much wider than European ones, and actually comparable to different European languages. They should really be called languages rather than dialects. I believe Taiwanese and Mandarin are not mutually intelligible if you are not pre-exposed to both of them. 3. The sad thing is, after years of "Speak Mandarin" Campaign, a lot of younger people don't speak their mother tongue anymore, and speaking Taiwanese (or Hakka, aboriginal languages) is still considered "uneducated" by some. There is still a silver lining though, the local languages are indeed gaining momentum in recent years, and more people are learning how to read the languages.
Nah Those are languages. No such thing as dialect with dialect within dialect within dialect. Fuck politics, give linguist a break. And btw mandarin speaker pretty much has 0 understanding on what hokkien people speak. 🤣 若是汝這陣會曉寫臺語著好啦.莫予汝个母語失傳
@@youtubedeletedmyaccountlma2263 They are Taiwanese dialect of the Min Nan language just like Cantonese are the Guangdong dialect of the Yue language...
@@EricChien95 The current branch of "Min nan" can be separated into further three language. And Im speaking hokkien. Hokkien and Taiwanese is in the same group no doubt, but those other "min nan" like teochew definitely not mutually intelligible. Not just teochew, the longyan, the datian, the hainanese etc. The minnan is also a linguistic term not what local people refer to as their language.
@@youtubedeletedmyaccountlma2263 I've heard the different "Arabic" dialects are the same. Strange that we group a load of different non European languages together as a dialect rather than a language family. I'm sure someone can invent some imperialist conspiracy theory about reducing the complexity of other societies out of it, but for me I'm pretty satisfied with just saying it's weird.
Being half Taiwanese I was super surprised to see this video come out from your channel! Taiwanese culture, history, and politics is more vast and complex than people realize. Thanks for covering this topic!
My girlfriend once told me she was Taiwanese when I called her Chinese. I then had a long conversation with her regarding the complexity of the issue itself and how she views it.
@@Goffe909 Many Taiwanese people view themselves as "Chinese" ethnically and culturally, but "Taiwanese" nationally. But also many young Taiwanese think there is a separate "Taiwanese" culture and ethnicity separate from China, which is a step too far.
@@gkky-xx4mc My girlfriend tells me that constantly. Yet, I always introduce her as Chinese. I worked in China right out of university and it was ok. Aside from the police and censorship. I cannot wait to see what Xi has planned for them.
@@Goffe909 At least you didn't refer to her as Thai. 🤦 It's a very common point of confusion. Personally I'd feel disrespected if someone introduced me as anything but Taiwanese (it would feel like they weren't listening to me before) but I do believe it depends on the person.
I’m from 🇹🇼 Taiwan Fun fact: In Taiwan, Taiwanese citizens on average visit the doctor 15 times a year, since our country has one of the finest Health Insurance System (like 🇨🇦 Canada), but the price is really really cheap! Great Video Btw!
I appreciate the compliment as a Canadian, and I'm thankful our healthcare system is free, but it isn't the greatest in the world. Compared to most other rich countries it's slow and ineffecient, and it takes a very long time to see a doctor, especially with COVID. Canada's healthcare system is just better than the United States (especially if you're poor), and because of geography we're mostly compared only to each other. I'm very thankful to have been born in this country, but I wouldn't say we're the very best in the world on healthcare.
Taiwan is a country that I often visit because of its tolerant of diversity in culture, religion and freedom of expression. Taiwan is the beacon of Asia democracy💖💖💖
My mom grew up in Monterey Park, California, a town of mostly Han-Taiwanese immigrants. Granted, she grew up on the more Mexican/Armenian/Jewish East LA-ward side of town, but having gone to high school in the same area, Taiwanese dishes are a staple of my teen years and I miss them dearly.
Woah there’s a lot more immigrants then I thought. I remember when my dad was becoming a US citizen there were lots of Asian people from many countries in the east.
Today, Monterey Park is dominated by mainlanders and immigrants from Hong Kong. The Taiwanese immigrants have moved to other cities like Rowland Heights.
Greetings from Monterey Park! Ironically the large Taiwanese community here has made it easy for Chinese investment to flow in here. There’s this giant hotel built for all the Chinese tourists coming to LA conveniently located right next to the freeway to drive to the most interesting parts of the city 😆
I once dated a young woman in college who grew and went to school in that area. I would always mess with her by introducing her as my Chinese girlfriend. And ask her to sing for me from time to time.
13:32 Just to clarify, Chinese doesn't have an alphabet, but rather a writing system. An alphabet (like in korean) would imply more or less a standard character for each sounds, a syllabary (as in Kana japanese or Cherokee) implies a character for each syllable, and a character system (as in Chinese and Kanji in Japanese) implies a character for each word or idea.
You're totally right, but I'm pretty sure Taiwanese mandarin does actually have an alphabet. My Taiwanese friend got upset that I wasn't learning it, but I had no idea it existed because I was studying Simplified Chinese.
@@guacre2675 yes, bopomofo or Zhuyin. However that is a way of pedagogical tool to teach toddlers and children (or foreign students) how to pronounce characters when they aren't yet capable of memorizing characters and a means of phonetic input for keyboards. That is not their writing system, nonetheless. It's the equivalent of Pinyin in mainland China, you can input Chinese in Pinyin or Zhuyin but you'll never see a book, a street sign or a newspaper written in those scripts.
Yes, Chinese isn't written in an alphabet in the sense of alphabet proper where ideally, each phoneme is represented with one grapheme. But he used the term "alphabet" to mean "writing system", which is completely valid colloquially. And a "character system" is referred to as a "logographic" writing system. More examples are Cuneiform, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Linear A, most Mesoamerican scripts, Tangut, the Khitan Large script, Jurchen, etc.
Taiwan is honestly such a great example of how asian countries modernizing and stepping towards the future. I hope more and more asian countries will follow its' footsteps. Also the fact that Taiwan is the ancestral homeland of all austronesian and pacific islander nation would be an awesome reason to base a diplomatic/cultural alliance for insular southeast asian and polynesian countries. 🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼
@@lancetheking7524 taiwan deeply westernized they use English name (look at this person for example) they've been wanting to make English their official language they choose western ideology and culture over their own and they wish that upon other Asian ? shame .
Coming from taiwan, at first I saw this video as a potential landmine. Personally, the most racist and discriminatory thing one can say to a Taiwanese is to judge on its political standings while having zero idea on how the situation actually is. I'm glad that this video's outlook is mostly historical and real history rather than those redditor searching for that low-brow civil righteousness high of crticisizing something. This is probably one of the best videos on UA-cam about Taiwan now and I am really looking forward to you finishing the puzzle.
Currently a Belizean living in Taiwan. Taiwan still has several diplomatic relations with smaller countries around the world such as Belize, Guatemala, St. Kitts, Swaziland, and a few others. They offer these countries ICDF scholarships to the citizens of these countries to learn in Taiwan’s universities. Many of us stay here after graduation however so the international population while small is steadily growing in Taiwan.
Small linguistic note: the family of languages originating from Taiwan are called Austronesian languages. Polynesian languages are a thing but they are a specific subbranch of this Austronesian languages. The Austronesian languages of Taiwan are collectively referred to as the Formosan languages (based on the old name of Taiwan, Formosa).
I always wondered about if Formosa is a more genuine name for the island than Taiwan historically since it is just what passing Spanish(?) sailors called it when going off to trade with the Ming and then Qing.
Hi, JJ! I'm from New Taipei City, in the north of Taiwan, and I really enjoyed this video! Taiwan is such a great country and we are much more than our conflict with China. A part #2 would be great!!
My country doesn't officially recognise Taiwan - BUT I DO! I even bought a Taiwanese-made motorcycle that's been a lot of fun. Taiwan is cool, I hope to visit!
I’m a mixed kid from Taiwan and America and I always love hearing people talk about Taiwan because it’s not really recognized in some places and some people don’t even know Taiwan existed. I find it great to learn and reflect in these moments
I audibly cheered when JJ said "souvenirs" . I am both mortified and unsurprised.... We always learn something interesting so it's totally normal to react this way right? Hapoy Saturday everyone!! 👍
I lived in Taiwan for a few years. It’s a wonderful country for expats. Super friendly people, great public transportation, cheap accommodations. Etc. So nice. Thanks for making a video about this lovely country!
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle Most important: Language. Hardly anyone speaks English, even in Taipei. Groceries and everyday items: very limited choice, bad quality and overinflated prices, unstable supply. Every village discounter across Europe has a better portfolio than Jason’s here in Taiwan. Horrible traffic and rogue drivers everywhere, noisy and filthy city for the most part. I have been moving across many cities in Asia, from an expats perspective, Taiwan is the most challenging place in multiple ways. Doesn’t mean there are no goods things.
As a Taiwanese living in Canada, I’d like to point out that the population of Taiwan wasn't 95% Han Chinese despite the official document said that. In fact, most Taiwanese's ancestors are major Han Chinese and Taiwanese indigenous peoples, such like me. However, after ruled by Han Chinese and Japanese for three hundred years, many real history and cultures was buried. My indigenous ancestors are Siraya, which lost memories, cultures, and language before my grandparents’ generation.
There have been interesting academic studies of identity in Taiwan showing how claiming indigenous identity has waxed and waned depending on political circumstances. I believe as more Taiwanese have their DNA checked, it will become clear that many have a significant genetic contribution from pre-Han indigenous Taiwanese. Culture, however, is from shared lived experience, not from blood or distant (and sometimes forgotten) ancestry. It may be true that Taiwanese people have a very significant genetic inheritance from non-Han indigenous Taiwanese (I've seen estimates higher than a third, as for example with my Taiwanese wife, who has a lot of aboriginal DNA), but the percent of Taiwanese identifying with those aboriginal cultures and living with those cultural activities at the time of the 1946-1950 mass movement of mainlanders to Taiwan was probably around 5% or less.
The fun fact is that even though Taiwanese President is classified as Hakka Chinese, her grandma is Paiwan aboriginal. A lot of Taiwanese are like that.
Holy balls it's Prozzie. I'm one of those hundreds of thousands of chumps who know you as that dude who used to ride with Matt and Winston back before the CCP got all angry. Maybe one day we can build a lasso out of nano-tubes and pull Taiwan next to California. Keep being a bro. 🤘
Correction: The native aboriginals are Austronesian in ethno-nationalistic terms. Polynesians are Austronesians, but only refer to a specific branch of Austronesians who settled the Pacific.
As a Kiwi with a Taiwanese partner, I was really impressed by your comparison and insight of us embracing our indigenous cultures as a way to differentiate and juxtapose ourselves from our larger nations. Spot on!
I’m currently living in Taiwan and am hoping to start a masters degree focusing on the country next year. Great to see others taking interest in Taiwan’s history.
@@RumchugMusic is it or isn't it? I've been to Taiwan and been China. Taiwan has their own customs, defense, government, and coinage. My Chinese friends hesitate to go because there because they would need a visa. Why would you need a visa to visit a place that is part of your own country? Join Cena says it's not a country because he loses a lot of $$$$ if he disagree with the CCP by calling Taiwan an independent country.
FUN FACT: The Tsai Ing-wen Administration is currently trying to push for the English language as one of its official languages. Also, Tsai’s name translated in English is literally “English”
Its interesting that a ton of non english speaking countries nowadays are integrating english as one if their official languages. European countries, many south american countries, india, taiwan etc.
@@sookendestroy1 I don't think any Latin American country has English on an official level, the closest to it would be Panama but Panama bordered the US owned canal so the influence is there. English is used as a lingua franca in India and Europe plus Ireland is still in the EU and they speak English, Every nation that has English on an official level has an history with an anglophone nation, but Taiwan doesn't so that's quite strange.
@@jackyex Well Taiwan certainly has a history with the U.S. But it does make a degree of sense Taiwan wants good U.S relations with china on there doorstep. And it's a good common Language to have when you're close Military allies are the U.S, Australia, and Japan(of all places). The less time spend translating in a military conflict the better.
This is amazing! I live in Taiwan after several years of travelling to and from this beautiful island. The deep dive on each of the pieces while covering the history and cultural significance is enthralling. The mandarin pronunciations could be improved, but eh, as some of the phonetics are not very consistent with North American pronunciation it makes sense the way in which you read the names. From independent rule to colonization to democracy there are many interesting examples that can be learned from the Taiwanese society.
Taiwan is awesome, I went there on a month long study trip while I was learning Mandarin and it's such a fun place. The people are awesome, the island is beautiful, the food is great, I could go on. It's amazing to think about how different the PRC and ROC are despite their similarities.
I visited in 2015 and loved it. Great people, food and architecture. I was planning to visit again in 2020, but the borders shut the day before I was scheduled to arrive.
I used to date a Taiwanese girl and since then I fell in love with her country. It's a great mix of Pacific Islands, Chinese culture with some Japanese influence. I really hope to go there someday.
As a Taiwanese teenager. I'm pretty glad to see people introduce our culture to other people in the world. You even tell something that I didn't know before. I appreciate that :)
This once again convinced me, that I want to go and visit Taiwan at some point! I know a couple of Taiwanese people and their descriptions of the country have always been quite charming.
11:37, here in Mexico we speak a dialect of Spanish that is only spoken in the southern part of Spain (specifically Seville). We do not use third person plural when speaking with groups of people like Spanish people do, we do not use "vos" like Argentinians when referring we say "you", and our S is not a retractive like the S from other Hispanic Nations.
What I remember best from my brief stint living in Taiwan in 2014 is how safe it is. I would often ride my bike around town at 2 or 3 in the morning without a care in the world. Also, as far as I know, Taiwan has one of the lowest rates of sexual assualt in the world because of the implementation of things like CCTV-monitored "safe zones" at train stations and a relatively strict penal code for sex crimes. Also betel-nut beauties and scooters. Lots and lots of scooters.
Haha I hope there's something about Kenting National park. It is kinda a crazy place. You got a tiny desert, a micro-jungle, cliffs, mountains, coral reefs, AND scenic beaches all within a 30 min drive.
@@yuchenn No. It is true because there is no record of the library catalogue for Tsai's thesis. Tsai created different versions of fake documents which are contrast to each other. You are a liar too.
I'm a British National living in Taiwan (Kaohsiung, South Taiwan) now for 11 years .... please come visit and experience the fabulous hospitality and beauty of this Democratic country.
It was a very fascinating video. Taiwan is not a place that's talked about much in the greater Asian context except when people are talking about Chine. And it couldn't be any more further away from us... Literally. Taiwan, formerly called Formosa by Portuguese explorers, is an antipode with the Argentine province of Formosa. Taiwan is almost exactly the furthest point in the world away from my country of Argentina.
Thank you so much for the well-written and well-informed of Taiwanese history. As a Taiwanese-American it's great to see someone who works so hard learning about my country's culture
Oh my I’m so surprised to see Taiwan showing up here in this channel! My hometown Taiwan. It is absolutely fun and interesting for foreigners and locals here r always friendly regardless ur nationality. I hope people from the world could visit here post pandemic.
An interesting side effect of the rare timber part: After typhoons a lot artists and art suppliers will rush to rivers near the mountains to seek out rare wood that might have washed down after storms
I'm from mainland China. I’m pleased to see that finally someone has covered in depth about Taiwanese society and it’s history, rather than simply saying “Taiwan is not China”. Taiwan has a long, complicated history and politics that is hard to make sense with even for Taiwanese themselves.
Well, you have to blame the CCP and its internet trolls for that. I mean no Taiwanese, except Indigenous people and SE Asians who married Taiwanese, would said we are not Chinese. But Chinese means a lot of things other than nationality, its also and ethnicity and culture. And guess who's the one saying everyday to everyone over everything that Taiwan belong to China. So its normal for Taiwanese to simply rebuke with Taiwan is not China since China don't even want to have an in-depth discussion with Taiwan over this unsettled issue. Can you imagine what Americans would feel if UK keeps saying US is belong to UK.
Man I just found your channel and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. You provide so much value with no filler. Thank you for making such great content man
Great video! I'm an American living in Taiwan and you did a great job. Much of Taiwan was settled in a similar time period to the US. I live in a county with a high indigenous population. There are some county parks and hunting grounds which are run by and for the Indigenous tribes. One thing to note, many of the indigenous are Christians; this is partly because of American missionaries shortly after WW2.
This was really cool I've been wanting to learn more about Taiwan because my fiance's grandmother is Taiwanese and he is very close with her she doesn't talk much about it but I know her culture is important to her
I'm from Victoria, BC and I run a scuba shop / bar in Taiwan called Scubar. My business partner's name is JJ McCaulla.... lol (he's from Missouri) Anyways, so happy to see this video. Taiwanese culture... well, there is a strong divide in Taiwan's democratic theology where people either want to be closer with China and others feel China is a bully. It is sad that China doesn't want warm relations with Taiwan but instead chooses intimidation. Anyways, here is safer than even Canada (except the traffic).
Water-related animals' name is really interesting in Chinese. sea pig is dolphin. Sea horse is sea horse. River pig is puffer fish. And river horse is Hippo.
That's because chinese doesn't have an alphabet (or least when written formally) unlike other languages that may use Chinese characters (i.e. Japanese that can use Katakana, and to a lesser extent Korean), so we have to make up names for new animals and inventions.
This has been a surprisingly accurate depiction of Taiwan after a few days of English-speaking people (online) talking about Taiwan facts they pulled out of their asses. Good work! You obviously have, at least, done some research on Taiwan before making this video, and I appreciate that. The only thing I can fault you on is at 11:56 where you cut the word nation (民族) in half lol
When I was in Taiwan, the natives described their culture as the mix on Japanese and "new" Chinese because, at that point, both cultures had dominated the island back to back for roughly the same amount of time.
Perfect timing. I’m actually in the process of applying to teach English in Taiwan to elementary school students, so I am always searching for more information on Taiwan.
From personal experience, I will predict you will fall in love with a Taiwanese woman and get married and never leave Taiwan again. I'm saying this because I know about 10 guys that went thid route, no shame in that, I'm half Taiwanese and I'm glad I exist lol
In my elementary school we had Taiwan month. Taiwanese food in the cafeteria, and we did all the hobbies they did while watching their history and stuff. That changed my life forever, and ever since as a child Taiwan was my dreamplace. Lol. Uh oh.
I moved to Taiwan last year! Also, Taiwan recognizes every aboriginal language spoken here, Hokkien (Taiwanese), and Hakka, as well as Mandarin and English as "official languages" which is pretty cool of them!
When I was a kid in the 80s, I remember looking at the bottom of my My Little Pony and seeing "Made in Taiwan". I think they made a lot of those plasticky toys back in the 80s.
yea! taiwan was going through industrialization around that time and mass production was how we started off our economy. you can see the trend now with china, with many toy/objects being made there
I loveTaiwan, I've had friends from there and it seems like such a rich, and bustling country, that I'd love to visit when I ever get the funds to travel.
J.J -- I've attended Vancouver's TaiwanFest about a decade ago, being relatively nearby as a resident of north Idaho. I had a fantastic time! Had you never attended before? I also have Taiwanese friends, a Taiwanese (x)boyfriend, and have visited Taiwan twice. So rich in history (the National Palace Museum is astonishing!), culture, food, politics, scenic beauty, and LGBT life. It is my #1 place to travel to in the world. I urge you to visit Taiwan when the pandemic is over. 😊👍🇹🇼
I'm a bit obsessed with Taiwan, lol. It is the Asian nation I want to see most (yes, an independent nation) and I'm always wary about the CCPs action against them.
Zhōngguó will have reunification with its people. Chairman Xi is a strong leader who will do as he did with Hong Kong. I always tell my girlfriend I will visit again once Xi is in power.
Interesting timing the day after the CCP flew some bombers into Taiwan's airspace. Really great learning about their culture beyond the conflict with the communists. Thanks for the great work JJ!
Love this. Lived there for six years and tried to learn ad much ad I could "natively" (without googling. Now that I'm not there, seems fair to cheat a bit, and this was a phenomenal start. Thank you!
Interesting thing about Taiwan’s indigenous community is that while most Chinese people get 2 votes in elections (one for districts and the other for party list) indigenous people get 3. They get one more for aboriginal candidates. Also I always found it interesting that aboriginals typically support the KMT despite the DPP’s efforts to apologize.
The reason to this is because the people who founded or are in the DPP party were beneficiaries of the imperial Japanese, tsai eng wens family were actually intellectuals who profited off the colonialism during the 50 years. The imperial Japanese treated the Aborigines absolutely horribly wrong and even wiped out a whole tribe of ayatal.
Not really For indigenous people in Taiwan they can choose to vote in a normal geographical electorate or an electorate specifically for indigenous, but not in both types of electorates. Thus, in Taiwanese legislative elections, a Taiwanese voter would cast 2 ballots regardless of being indigenous or not: 1 for electorate and 1 for party list.
I believe this is true in New Zealand, maori voters get an extra vote for maori districts. Though I don't believe there is actually any requirement for the representatives to be maori themselves though.
The 'I will not speak Taiwanese' sign reminds me of the Welsh Knot used by the British government to punish children for speaking Welsh. Edit: A lot of people have been telling me that it wasn't the British government that enacted this policy, and they're probably right.
As fair as I am aware, the British Government never mandated such a thing, it was an invention of some Welsh schools (this was at a time when the language was seen quite negatively by Welsh elites, who saw it as an impediment to progress). In fact, I believe after a report was sent to the government describing the practice, there was a call to stop it.
@@Croz89 There was little government oversight of schools until 1899 in the UK anyway, the board of education was only created then. Widespread public education is largely a product of the late 19th century and early 20th, prior to that it was piecemeal and depended on local councils and parish organizations to organize and hire teachers for schools. The British government wouldn't have been directly involved in such policies at the time since the schools were not organized by the Crown. Though the British government certainly influenced those policies with discriminatory language policies for government positions, like you couldn't be a lawyer in Wales if you didn't speak fluent English, which created a lot of pressure on any family that weren't labourers or farmers to make sure their children spoke English.
@@ifeeltiredsleepy It's complicated, because there was a large Anglophilic population within Wales itself too, those who saw a future further assimilated into a more unified British culture, and were at least partly responsible for the suppression of the traditional language and culture of their fellow countrymen, and possibly more so than anyone in England. There's a lot of emotion around these things, particularly in recent years with the rise of regional nationalism and, dare I say it, an increase in anti-English sentiment. And to be fair, a lawyer who didn't speak English probably would still struggle nowadays in Wales. At least they weren't saying they couldn't speak Welsh, just that they must speak English or be bilingual. It's probably pretty close to what is the case with Taiwan when it comes to Taiwanese and Mandarin.
This isn't quite true. As a Welshman myself, this was obviously a dark period in our history but it wasn't the policy of the British government to abolish the Welsh language in schools, particularly being spoken informally by students in class (if anyone can provide proof that it was, I'd be keen to see it.) The punishment of Welsh speaking was done almost universally by local Welsh teachers against Welsh students. There was a view at the time that the Welsh language was anachronistic and useless in the modern world - they felt that they were doing good by encouraging students to use English exclusively. It was wrong, but I don't agree that it should be used as a stick to beat the English with, particularly when it's propaganidized towards younger people to drum up support for Welsh independence based on historical grievances.
The difference is that Hokkien is spoken today by hundreds of millions of people in China, Malaysia, Singpore, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Not so much Welsh.
Although I’m not Taiwanese/East Asian myself, I know of this one famous singer called Teresa Teng. Regarded as one of the most famous singers in Chinese-speaking communities worldwide, she is a symbol of unity for both Taiwan and China, before dying unusually at the young age of 42. Surprised that she wasn’t mentioned in the video otherwise. I believe her most famous song is “Tian Mi Mi”
Hawaii is also very distinct from the mainland. It's beet sad that there's no other government in Hawaii, unlike Taiwan, then the basic US imperialistic and racist one.
One thing I've always liked about Taiwan (talking as an outsider looking in, take with a grain of salt) is how open they are about talking about the faults in their society. In both the USA and China there is a much more blinding idea of patriotism where apparently criticizing your country means you don't love it. You know the whole: "The Liberal snow flakes hate America and they want to teach our children that America is terrible" when it comes to talking about America's faults. Or with Mainland China basically saying that everyone who criticizes China is just afraid of China's progress and that they are just being racist and know nothing about China. Basically when it comes to the East Asian countries (even when compared to Japan and South Korea) Taiwan just seems like the country that is willing to do the most self reflection.
The Taiwanese refer to Hokkien (a Chinese language) as "Taiwanese"... completely erasing the existence of natives and Formosan languages. Likewise, all place names in Taiwan are of Chinese root written in Chinese characters. This is dissimilar to the common preservation of indigenous place naming in the Americas. Taiwan is a fun place, but what you're saying is patently false. (Some place names stem from Japanese imperialism, but the point stands.)
"The Liberal snow flakes hate America and they want to teach our children that America is terrible" The reason this sentiment exists is because there are plenty of people who criticize the people, often in hyperbolic terms that lack all historical context.
@@JJMcCullough What are your thoughts on the refusal to renew the broadcasting license for Chung T'ien TV because they criticized the Tsai administration?
@@jessieFSD I can give you an example. Imagine the north lose Cvil war,and have to flea to Cuba. 70 years later, they still claim whole nowadays United States of America territory. And still call themselves “United States of America”.
Apart from all of these historical and cultural trivia, Taiwan is just a great holiday destination. Japan will probably always be my favorite, but Taiwan is a pretty close second. Good infrastructure, lots of interesting sights, visible history (including some Dutch influences) and beautiful scenery. And Food, so much glorious Food! The one thing it always does make me think: imagine how mainland China could have been right now if the Nationalists had won that war... There's only one thing about Taiwan I don't like at all: the weather....
I'm Taiwanese Canadian and I want to highlight some things that sometimes gets buried when covering Taiwan in the West. I do appreciate this video and I think it's more informed than most. I just want to say: you used the word "dialect" when talking about Taiwanese vs. Mandarin. I want to say that Taiwanese is a distinct language from Mandarin. They may come from a common source of a language we call "Chinese", but they are not dialects of each other. I like to make a comparison between Sinitic and Romance languages. The Romance languages are derived from Latin but have evolved in a way that we consider them different languages. The Sinitic languages are similar. In fact, the pronunciation of Taiwanese apparently evolved from Old Chinese while most other Sinitic languages come from Middle Chinese. People who exclusively speak Mandarin will not be able to understand Taiwanese. You do a good job explaining the differences between indigenous and "Han" Taiwanese. I want to break down Han Taiwanese a little more so that you can understand the differences between the groups. "Han" (I will use this word for lack of a better word, although I personally do not believe in the ethnic unity pushed by the KMT and CCP) Taiwanese can be split into three groups: Hoklo (from Fujian), Hakka (from Guandong/Fujian) and "Mainlanders" (refugees from the Mainland). The vast majority of "Han" Taiwanese are Hoklo with Hakka and "Mainlanders" making up similar percentages in the demographics. The politics of language played a huge part in allowing the "Mainlanders" to establish power and to oppress Settlers. As Japan owned Taiwan from 1895 - 1945, hardly any Taiwanese settlers spoke Mandarin and were kept out of positions of power as a result. In addition to this, the KMT (Nationalist party) established a brutal dictatorship where they exploited Taiwan's relatively intact economy for their civil war. This eventually culminated in the 228 Incident which eventually resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians who were executed by the Nationalist army. As a result, power has generally been concentrated in the "Mainlander" elite. If you look at Taiwan's 6 presidents, 3 out of the 6 were Mainlanders (and only one of them had to win elections). General narratives from the CCP and the KMT want to paint all "Han" Taiwanese as "one people", but the way we have been treated clearly demonstrates that there are real divisions- culturally, historically, and politically. When people talk about the Taiwanese Independence Movement, it wasn't formed to oppose the People's Republic of China (who have never administered Taiwan), but to overthrow (now replace) the Republic of China and Chiang's brutal dictatorship. The main problem of the narratives that surround Taiwan are that many sources only take the Nationalist vs. Communist narrative and don't consider the Settler or Indigenous point of view. The vast majority of Taiwanese come from Settler backgrounds or a mix between Settlers and the other groups (I am half Settler, half refugee). We don't want to "take back the Mainland" and we don't claim ownership over China. The reason why the government currently cannot change this view is because China has threatened to invade if the government revokes its claims over China. We put up with the Republic of China moniker because we have fought tooth and nail for democracy and we are currently one of a few shining beacons of democracy in Asia. For too long, the Refugee ruling class has dominated the narrative over Taiwan and is the reason why Taiwan is in its political quagmire (Chairman Mao advocated for Taiwanese independence in an interview with Edgar Snow). I want more people to understand that Taiwan wants to exist in peace and it wants to avoid annexation. Any turmoil on the straits is the a result from China's desire to annex Taiwan and from diehard orthodox KMT refugees who love Chinese nationalism more than anything else. I hope my post sheds some light on the issue. Thank you for your video!
@@KahruSuomiPerkele Taiwanese and Mandarin are completely unintelligible. When people talk about the “Chinese language”, they usually mean Mandarin. Whether or not you consider Taiwanese or Mandarin to be a “dialect of Chinese”, the assumption most people make is that Taiwanese is a form of Mandarin which is incorrect. I’m not a linguist and most of what I wrote wasn’t about linguistics. Taiwanese is mutually unintelligible from Mandarin but because of politics it’s labelled a dialect and generally diminished. You may not care, but it is my cultural heritage and it is being squeezed out for Mandarin. You may think you can define dialect and language more precisely than me, but you are missing the point of my comment which is to highlight my perspective as a Taiwanese person.
The distinction between a "language" and a "dialect" has always been political (unfortunately). It's as obvious as the sky is blue that the Chinese languages are mostly distinct languages, but "dialects" is the common term and getting hung up on it is in itself a political position. (Judging by your tone, I suspect even if the Taiwanese language were 95% identical to Mandarin you'd be here writing the same thing.) The same applies in reverse, there's lots of mutually intelligible so-called "languages" just because of nationalist rubbish. Hindi vs Urdu is an obvious example: they barely even qualify as separate dialects!
@@The98597thMark You say that the distinction between language and dialect has always been political and you then dismiss my opinion by saying that it’s political even though the opposite position is just as political. You say that I’d be saying the same thing if Taiwanese and Mandarin were almost identical, but this point is moot because they aren’t at all. I don’t argue that Taiwanese Mandarin and Mainland Mandarin are different because they aren’t that distinct. Taiwanese Mandarin is a dialect of Mandarin. I want to highlight Taiwanese as a distinct Sinitic language because I have heard it been called a dialect all my life and it has always been brushed aside by the KMT and the refugee side of my family as unimportant. I am told to learn Mandarin because it is the language of my heritage, but it can’t possibly be that when my Grandparents were the first generation on my settler side to learn it. Trying to suppress Taiwanese was one method of Chiang’s dictatorship to try to sinicize Taiwan to tighten his iron grip on Taiwan’s society. When you criticize my views on labelling Sinitic languages as dialects, you are upholding the opposite political view which has been ingrained into English by Chinese Nationalists.
@@The98597thMark Wow, you're quite self-righteous for a person who admits ignorance of the linguistic characteristics of Taiwanese. Dialect and language do not mean the exact same thing. The reply above to blue was equally dismissive and absurd. The distinction between a dialect and a language is quite clear, in that dialect means a locally derived version of a language that constitutes part of a continuum of related languages, and in common usage usually refers to mutually intelligible versions of a language. Such that Malay and Indonesian are intelligible dialects with minor differences. The initial post was clearly making the distinction that the usual understanding of dialect, which implies intelligibility, does not adequately describe the relationship between Mandarin and Taiwanese. Mandarin and Taiwanese are both sinetic languages, in the same way English and French are both Indo-European languages. Taiwanese is derived form Hokkien, which is derived from Minnan. It is a widely known fact that Min languages are not mutually intelligible with Mandarin as they are separated by 1000+ years of linguistic development, likely splitting from Old Chinese in 700 AD. This means that Taiwanese is as related to Mandarin as modern German is to modern English. No one would sensibly refer to German and English as dialects of European languages. And when people say Taiwanese is a dialect of Chinese, it implies intelligibility and they do not mean that Taiwanese is a dialect of Sinetic languages.
@@ifeeltiredsleepy Except Chinese is kind of the big exception, because the *written* language is mutually intelligible. For starters, the Taiwanese Minnanese language is *not* the national language, Taiwanese standard Mandarin is. You can google "Taiwanese national language" and get your result there. OP doesn't have a good point, even the Taiwanese Minnanese spoken by Hoklos is still a dialect of Chinese. Taiwanese Minnanese does not deviate significantly from Minnanese and Minnanese is a dialect of Chinese. That it is not a Mandarin-family dialect of Chinese is true, but it is still a dialect due to the written language. Had Taiwanese Minnanese changed *the meaning* behind those Chinese characters (e.g. in Japanese Kanji), then you can say that there is enough differentiation that it is not a dialect of Chinese. The problem is that right-wing nationalist movements in Korea and Vietnam have been pushing internationally this idea that their usage of Chinese characters doesn't matter and that they're really independent languages - fine, Korea reached this after pushing Hangul everywhere, but Hanja texts are perfectly intelligible to a Chinese reader. Many Korean nationalists hate how most Chinese people can read Korea's foundational texts but Koreans today can't (it's entirely in Hanja), but you can't win everything if you do everything in your power to mutate the language to "be independent." This is the reality of the situation - these people are trying to *change* the current culture to be something different. What also does not get mentioned with OP is that the Taiwanese natives (NOT the Hoklo or Hakka, but the true natives) overwhelmingly vote KMT. DPP does NOT have their support because time and time again DPP shows itself to primarily be interested in a Hoklo and Hakka-dominant identity for Taiwan. It is honestly just more nativism and ethnonationalism, much like White Power movements. That *this brand of Taiwanese immigrant* wants to call themselves the true Taiwanese and everyone else (including the natives and the most recent immigrants) as not is proof of this movement's true colors. This is why they are perfectly fine using horribly racist language to describe mainland Chinese people. I for one do not celebrate the racists of the DPP and Hong Kong who constantly call mainland Chinese locusts. The entire movement depends heavily on sinophobia to gain legitimacy abroad. Without it, everyone can tell immediately that when the Taiwanese indigenous people vote KMT, the issue is *far more complex* than simple DPP propaganda.
That 'I must not speak Taiwanese' punishment by the Mandarin government also occurred in South Africa; but replace the 'Taiwanese' part with 'Afrikaans' and the 'Mandarin' part with 'British'.
To the power elite, its "ours is the one true ideology and you shall bow before it." The US got it right: NO official language. A handful of other countries have similar positions.
@@guppy719 it's important to have a single language in which all of the population is fluent, but discouraging regional dialects and languages has always been a mean of control and castration of minorites. Here in Italy code-switching is basically constant between Italian/regional dialects/languages/slangs
As a normal kid from Hong Kong, I've always had an affinity for Taiwanese culture. The majority of media that I had consumed in middle school is Taiwanese, if not American. As such I've always loved the diversity of Taiwan, of its different regions and different peoples. Also, an inaccuracy: Mandarin was spoken in the Mainland and Taiwan as the de-jure official language in China, due to its promotion as the official language since the Qing Emperor Yongzheng and its reaffirmation as the national language by the Nationalists. Hence it is known as 官話 (government language) and 國語 (National language). Do note that most Chinese at the time, especially in the south, did not speak Mandarin as a first language, rather they were required to learn it in order to get government jobs. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese language is the descendant of Hokkien, a language spoken in Fukien (of Fujian) province. They are not mutually intelligible with Mandarin. Chiang Kai Shek himself was from Ningbo, and spoke the Ningbo dialect, a subdivision of the Wu language spoken in a small part of eastern China. Like many northern/central dialects, it is more similar to Mandarin. Most of the Nationalist government officials in Taiwan at the time were from the Mainland, as there was this class system which put mainlanders above Taiwanese islanders, even the Han Chinese from Taiwan. As such, the government pushed for the speaking of Mandarin Chinese, which they could understand well, instead of Hokkien or Hakka or other southern languages which were very different from Mandarin. Southern Sinitic languages were often older and more akin to their ancestors, as trade and commerce and the government was more centred around the north for the past millenium or so.
What's very strange is despite the DPP pushes the aboriginal identity to be more mainstream/represent distinct Taiwanese identity. They still are a very reliable voting demographic for the KMT which historically tried to sinicize them.
KMT patronage runs deep in aboriginal communities. As the KMT used to be the richest political party in the world, they were able to control local factions with their pocket books. However, as the grow more and more bankrupt and more out of line with the Taiwanese mainstream, hopefully they will whither away and Taiwan can continue to progress as a fully liberal society.
@@Nimroc I don't think so, because the native Han left the aboriginals mostly alone after chasing them into the mountains. While the KMT also wanted them to assimilate.
@@scarfacejosh123 I think the more likely scenario is the KMT will end up shifting their policy away from the Mainland. They still do very well in local politics just not on national and if you’ve been paying attention there is a small but still existent youth/reform faction that is trying to drop the 92 consensus.
@Happy Dragon Fujian is Chinese, aboriginal people are not. So naturally, wanting to have less to do with China the DPP would push that. Also, most Taiwanese natives aren't moatly Hakka but Minnan. Don't call people dumb if you don't know what your are saying.
Thanks JJ for covering Taiwan's indigenous people in this! I feel like they are too often overlooked when people talk/think about Taiwan. I'm Māori (indigenous Polynesian New Zealander) and a couple of years ago was fortunate enough to travel to Taiwan to meet with some of the indigenous people there. Despite being separated by ~3,000 years of history and 8,000km of ocean I found the prevailing cultural, linguistic and genetic similarities with them astounding. As an example, here's some basic vocabulary between Puyuma (an indigenous Taiwanese language) and Māori (indigenous language of NZ): Puyuma (left) | Māori (right) 1 - isa | tahi 2 - drua | rua 3 - telu | toru 4 - pat | whā 5 - lima | rima 6 - enem | ono 7 - pitu | whitu 8 - walu | waru 9 - iwa | iwa 10 - pulu | ngahuru (archaic) eyes - matsa | mata ears - tsangila | taringa hands - lima | ringa(ringa) fish - sikan | ika sky - langit | rangi It makes me sad to think that these people are basically our cousins, yet are typically ignored by both Polynesian communities and the world more generally whenever people talk about Taiwan. PS. As a side note, the man in the middle at 4:35 is Cudjuy Patjidres - an amazing man working on revitalising the traditional tattooing culture of the Paiwan tribe (not a typo - that's the tribe's name). I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with him and was kindly gifted some of his artwork on my own skin.
I’m from Paraguay, the only country of South America that recognizes Taiwan instead of Communist China. Both countries have had diplomatic relations for more than 60 years.
Wow! I didn’t know any big countries still did that. Are there many Taiwanese people in Paraguay?
@@JJMcCullough I think Lithuania is also trying to do that now too, after recent issues with China.
@@JJMcCullough well, Paraguay is not a big country. Compared to Taiwan, Paraguay is more than 10 times bigger in size, big it only has less than third of the island’s population. And answering your question, there are like 15000 Taiwaneses living in Paraguay.
I live in Costa Rica. Costa Rica used to recognize the government in Taipei until 2007, when President Óscar Arias decided to switch allegiances to the People’s Republic of China. In return, the People’s Republic of China donated our new national stadium.
The People’s Republic of China has been doing the same with countries in Africa such as Gabon, where they donated Stade d'Angondjé.
Stadium diplomacy, anyone?
El Salvador dropped Taiwan in favor of PRC in 2018 as one of the parting "gifts" of the leaving administration. It is a damn shame since there is a sizable community of Taiwanese people here.
*Another fun fact about Taiwan:* Its last dictator, Lee Teng-hui, was educated in Iowa and received a Bachelor's of Science before returning to Taiwan to be indirectly elected as President while the country was still under martial law. He later democratized the country and became its first directly elected president. Polls on historical presidents of Taiwan currently have him as the most popular Taiwanese president.
I always find this kind of funny since Xi Jinping (current head of Communist China) was also educated in Iowa.
As such I will forever imagine Iowa's unofficial slogan being: *"If we had a nickel for every time we made a Chinese dictator we'd have two nickels, but it was still weird that it happened twice."*
So many world leaders are educated in America but it’s always funny to hear about the ones that weren’t able to get into Harvard or whenever. Like The old president of Egypt went to UC Santa Cruz or something if I recall correctly
Another interesting thing is he had a Japanese name, and served in their military,, because Taiwan was still a Japanese colony.
@@Nathan-jh1ho He also was briefly a member of the CCP before he moved to Taiwan, since he went to the mainland after his stay in Japan. Not exactly sure why though...
what an odd coincidence
@@Nathan-jh1ho Iwasato Masao (岩里政男).
Just a slight correction, the indigenous people of Taiwan speak Austronesian languages, not Polynesian. Polynesian languages are a subset of Austronesian, but they're only really spoken in a specific part of the Pacific, whereas the larger Austronesian family includes hundreds of highly divergent languages in places like Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and even Madagascar.
Also fun fact: despite the huge spread of the Austronesian family away from Taiwan there's still a lot more divergence between the languages in Taiwan than outside it. The most accepted theory subdivides the family into 13 primary branches, 12 of which are spoken on Taiwan, with all the other ones forming the 13th Malayo-Polynesian branch.
I went to one of those aboriginal villiages before. Just down the hill a bit the language is already quite different.
Yeah, the "pacific islander" term is probably better said as Austronesian, the people who migrated from the island of anicent Taiwan, down to the Philippines, through the pacific islands, and also throughout the Malay archipelago, and also Madagascar and potentially some islands in the Indian Ocean.
The traditional thatched roof style in Japan reminded me of things seen in pictures from Polynesia. Perhaps the connection is from Taiwan to Ryukyu to Kyushu.
@@JMM33RanMA There's actually some evidence suggesting that Japanese has an Austronesian substratum (or even base), likely from the Kumaso, Hayato, and Azumi peoples of Ancient Japan.
Also, the Kra-Dai people of Southeast Asia may also be Austronesian as well.
@@Innomenatus That's very interesting. The Japanese language that I encountered is closely related to Korean, which is part of the Siberian language group. It used to be called Ural Altaic but the recent research has moved on from that. The grammar of the two languages is almost identical. There is a hypothesis that Gaya [or Kaya] was the bridge to Japan, and it is thought by some that when it was extinguished by Silla and Paekche the upper class went to Japan and the Imperial family may be descended from them.
There is a triangular exchange in language, religion and culture between China, Korea and Japan that has been going on literally for ages. The Koreans have been slowly abandoning Chinese characters in favor of their own alphabet, and in the south many people now use English loanwords where former generations used Chinese. This has been a problem for North Koreans who get to South Korea.☮
In Wales we had a similar punishment for children caught speaking Welsh at school. They would be forced to wear the ‘Welsh (k)not’, a piece of wood with WN carved into it, hung around the kneck with string. If another child was caught speaking Welsh it would be moved onto them, and so on. At the end of the day, the last child wearing the WN would be caned. This ultimately resulted with children weaponising the language against each other, with those wearing the WN trying to get others to speak Welsh within earshot of teachers so that they can avoid the caning.
Okay now this is something I’d also love to see a video on, and more so Welsh culture/history
My heart hurt reading this. I hope Welsh is being promoted again.
@@Raynieryful for context, this was between the late 18th to late 19th century. Today there’s roughly 880k speakers in wales, a million overall globally (mostly England, so not far from home). In Wales numbers are growing, promoted strongly by the devolved Welsh gov. Mae gobaith am yr iaith yn y dyfodol.
The KMT copied it from the Japanese hougen fuda or Dialect card, the japanese used the same shaming punishment in Okinawa, the japanese supposedly got the idea from the French Vergonha and the Welsh Noto.
Same thing in France. For the longest time there would be signs in school courtyards with the sign "Soyez propres, parlez français" (Be proper, Speak French) with the aim to eliminate regional languages like Breton, Alsatian, Occitan, Catalan, Arpitan, Corsican, Creole and others.
One interesting fact about Taiwan is that Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895-1945, and in fact, Teruo Nakamura, who was the last Japanese soldier to surrender after World War II, in 1974, was an Aboriginal Taiwanese who's birthname was Attun Palalin. He had been hiding on small island in Indonesia not knowing the war was over.
There was actually a whole bunch of Aboriginal Taiwanese who fought for Japan during WWII, called the Takasago Volunteers. In general, Taiwanese attitudes about Japanese colonization were complex. The Japanese could be repressive, but they had set Taiwan up as a model showplace colony, and used sort of both a carrot and stick approach in Taiwan, both going out of their way to assimilate Taiwanese, but putting a lot of money into the economy and allowing a good deal of local control. It gets more complicated because when the Nationalists took over Taiwan, they cracked down very hard on Taiwanese culture and anything they saw as dissent, and their heavy handedness led a lot of Taiwanese to look back more fondly on Japanese rule.
Japan successfully brainwashed the island and downplayed the history of slaughtering the indigenous "Mountain People". Taiwanese were forced to learn Japanese language and take Japanese names, forbidden to practice their own culture and tradition. Much like what the white did to indigenous Indians. There was a famous Taiwanese movie about the history a few years back. It was not an interesting fact. It was a painful and brutal history. I guess the young Taiwanese people just don't care about that any more.
@@tamulemon
We still care.
We just care more about our modern colony and brainwash.
Nationalists successfully brainwashed the whole generation of our parent to believe that there is already no colony in Taiwan.
@@tamulemon
After WWII, KMT from China forced all aboriginal people to have Chinese names in the very first year. If Japan had not conquered the mountain areas in earlier 1990s to 1930, after KMT came, the Chinese Mainlanders would be the targets of the aboriginal people who still practiced headhunting. Also, the aboriginal people would be slaughtered by KMT like KMT did in 1947 to other ethnic Chinese people in the flat areas.
As a Taiwanese person (which i guess is rare on your channel lol), I'd like to share some opinions:
1. The sign at 10:43 actually says "I will not speak dialects" which includes Taiwanese, Hakka (another group of Han people), and the aboriginal languages (yes those are considered dialects of Mandarins in the past here). And all these languages do have standardized writing systems, just not widely recognized because they are not taught in schools in the past.
2. The differences between the so called "dialects" of Chinese is actually much wider than European ones, and actually comparable to different European languages. They should really be called languages rather than dialects. I believe Taiwanese and Mandarin are not mutually intelligible if you are not pre-exposed to both of them.
3. The sad thing is, after years of "Speak Mandarin" Campaign, a lot of younger people don't speak their mother tongue anymore, and speaking Taiwanese (or Hakka, aboriginal languages) is still considered "uneducated" by some. There is still a silver lining though, the local languages are indeed gaining momentum in recent years, and more people are learning how to read the languages.
Nah Those are languages. No such thing as dialect with dialect within dialect within dialect. Fuck politics, give linguist a break.
And btw mandarin speaker pretty much has 0 understanding on what hokkien people speak. 🤣
若是汝這陣會曉寫臺語著好啦.莫予汝个母語失傳
@@youtubedeletedmyaccountlma2263 我會曉阿🤣 我嘛贊成台語佮華語是語言毋是方言 才佇dialect彼个字加quotes 我的意思就是有个人叫做「漢語方言」的物件 內部精差比誠濟歐洲語言之間差閣較濟 所以叫做語言比方言適合
@@youtubedeletedmyaccountlma2263 They are Taiwanese dialect of the Min Nan language just like Cantonese are the Guangdong dialect of the Yue language...
@@EricChien95 The current branch of "Min nan" can be separated into further three language. And Im speaking hokkien. Hokkien and Taiwanese is in the same group no doubt, but those other "min nan" like teochew definitely not mutually intelligible. Not just teochew, the longyan, the datian, the hainanese etc.
The minnan is also a linguistic term not what local people refer to as their language.
@@youtubedeletedmyaccountlma2263 I've heard the different "Arabic" dialects are the same. Strange that we group a load of different non European languages together as a dialect rather than a language family. I'm sure someone can invent some imperialist conspiracy theory about reducing the complexity of other societies out of it, but for me I'm pretty satisfied with just saying it's weird.
The guy who made this jigsaw obviously wasn't trying to present a sanitized version of his country--good for him.
I mean the DPP faction often brings up the sins of the former regime.
You have to represent a sanitized version of the US or you will be cancelled
Or her.
@@rogink I think they showed the author and they were male.
@@chaosXP3RT don’t let the vocal minority get you down
Being half Taiwanese I was super surprised to see this video come out from your channel! Taiwanese culture, history, and politics is more vast and complex than people realize. Thanks for covering this topic!
My girlfriend once told me she was Taiwanese when I called her Chinese. I then had a long conversation with her regarding the complexity of the issue itself and how she views it.
@@Goffe909 Many Taiwanese people view themselves as "Chinese" ethnically and culturally, but "Taiwanese" nationally. But also many young Taiwanese think there is a separate "Taiwanese" culture and ethnicity separate from China, which is a step too far.
@@gkky-xx4mc My girlfriend tells me that constantly. Yet, I always introduce her as Chinese. I worked in China right out of university and it was ok. Aside from the police and censorship. I cannot wait to see what Xi has planned for them.
@@Goffe909 At least you didn't refer to her as Thai. 🤦 It's a very common point of confusion.
Personally I'd feel disrespected if someone introduced me as anything but Taiwanese (it would feel like they weren't listening to me before) but I do believe it depends on the person.
@@maira3590 I dated a Thai woman before. I'm not that dumb I just act dumb. She knows I'll never call her anything other than Chinese.
I’m from 🇹🇼 Taiwan
Fun fact: In Taiwan, Taiwanese citizens on average visit the doctor 15 times a year, since our country has one of the finest Health Insurance System (like 🇨🇦 Canada), but the price is really really cheap!
Great Video Btw!
I heard it's not so great for the medical staff, though.
Taiwan's healthcare is a big part of why I have no plans to ever move back to USA. Taiwan is amazing, and my life is so much better in Taiwan❤️🇹🇼💙
@@CaptainsMorning 40% income tax doesn't equal free healthcare if you didn't know
@@daftcow706 nice choice of screen name😉
Taiwan doesn't charge 40% income tax.
I appreciate the compliment as a Canadian, and I'm thankful our healthcare system is free, but it isn't the greatest in the world. Compared to most other rich countries it's slow and ineffecient, and it takes a very long time to see a doctor, especially with COVID. Canada's healthcare system is just better than the United States (especially if you're poor), and because of geography we're mostly compared only to each other.
I'm very thankful to have been born in this country, but I wouldn't say we're the very best in the world on healthcare.
Taiwan is a country that I often visit because of its tolerant of diversity in culture, religion and freedom of expression. Taiwan is the beacon of Asia democracy💖💖💖
My mom grew up in Monterey Park, California, a town of mostly Han-Taiwanese immigrants. Granted, she grew up on the more Mexican/Armenian/Jewish East LA-ward side of town, but having gone to high school in the same area, Taiwanese dishes are a staple of my teen years and I miss them dearly.
Woah there’s a lot more immigrants then I thought. I remember when my dad was becoming a US citizen there were lots of Asian people from many countries in the east.
Today, Monterey Park is dominated by mainlanders and immigrants from Hong Kong. The Taiwanese immigrants have moved to other cities like Rowland Heights.
Didn’t expect to see you here sir. Hello👋
Greetings from Monterey Park! Ironically the large Taiwanese community here has made it easy for Chinese investment to flow in here. There’s this giant hotel built for all the Chinese tourists coming to LA conveniently located right next to the freeway to drive to the most interesting parts of the city 😆
I once dated a young woman in college who grew and went to school in that area. I would always mess with her by introducing her as my Chinese girlfriend. And ask her to sing for me from time to time.
13:32 Just to clarify, Chinese doesn't have an alphabet, but rather a writing system. An alphabet (like in korean) would imply more or less a standard character for each sounds, a syllabary (as in Kana japanese or Cherokee) implies a character for each syllable, and a character system (as in Chinese and Kanji in Japanese) implies a character for each word or idea.
You're totally right, but I'm pretty sure Taiwanese mandarin does actually have an alphabet. My Taiwanese friend got upset that I wasn't learning it, but I had no idea it existed because I was studying Simplified Chinese.
@@guacre2675 yes, bopomofo or Zhuyin. However that is a way of pedagogical tool to teach toddlers and children (or foreign students) how to pronounce characters when they aren't yet capable of memorizing characters and a means of phonetic input for keyboards. That is not their writing system, nonetheless. It's the equivalent of Pinyin in mainland China, you can input Chinese in Pinyin or Zhuyin but you'll never see a book, a street sign or a newspaper written in those scripts.
Yes, Chinese isn't written in an alphabet in the sense of alphabet proper where ideally, each phoneme is represented with one grapheme. But he used the term "alphabet" to mean "writing system", which is completely valid colloquially. And a "character system" is referred to as a "logographic" writing system. More examples are Cuneiform, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Linear A, most Mesoamerican scripts, Tangut, the Khitan Large script, Jurchen, etc.
@@rvat2003 Soooooooo, he was wrong, colloquially speaking, hahaha
@@luisfer9361 Practically he is not wrong but if he wanted to be specific then there are better choices.
I always thought Taiwan was just the ultimate version of Home Alone
Welcome to Taiwan where you are home alone!
Didn't expect to see you here
@@PurPurDot what
I don’t get it.
Lmao
Taiwan is honestly such a great example of how asian countries modernizing and stepping towards the future. I hope more and more asian countries will follow its' footsteps. Also the fact that Taiwan is the ancestral homeland of all austronesian and pacific islander nation would be an awesome reason to base a diplomatic/cultural alliance for insular southeast asian and polynesian countries. 🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼
It is called westernized not modernized . Ehh no thanks .
@@kdamprae4236 you can modernize without becoming westernize
@@lancetheking7524 taiwan deeply westernized they use English name (look at this person for example) they've been wanting to make English their official language they choose western ideology and culture over their own and they wish that upon other Asian ? shame .
@@kdamprae4236 they need the help from the west so they have to appeal to the west
@@Glory_to_Arstotzka and be the west lol
Coming from taiwan, at first I saw this video as a potential landmine. Personally, the most racist and discriminatory thing one can say to a Taiwanese is to judge on its political standings while having zero idea on how the situation actually is. I'm glad that this video's outlook is mostly historical and real history rather than those redditor searching for that low-brow civil righteousness high of crticisizing something. This is probably one of the best videos on UA-cam about Taiwan now and I am really looking forward to you finishing the puzzle.
Are you chinese
JJ: “Fascinating Island Nation”
China: *-100 Social Credit Points*
Person: Taiwan is a countr-
China: *executes*
Only -100? He is lucky he is still breathing. He lives in Vancouver, BC, Province of the PRC.
@@kyrstensinemahatespoorpeop9666 I mean Taiwan is still the name for the Island.
I'm anti CCP and so and so. But the whole "social credit" comments have become karma whoring and hacky.
Blacklisted lol
Currently a Belizean living in Taiwan. Taiwan still has several diplomatic relations with smaller countries around the world such as Belize, Guatemala, St. Kitts, Swaziland, and a few others. They offer these countries ICDF scholarships to the citizens of these countries to learn in Taiwan’s universities. Many of us stay here after graduation however so the international population while small is steadily growing in Taiwan.
I continue tapping my forefinger waiting for Canada to do the same.
Small linguistic note: the family of languages originating from Taiwan are called Austronesian languages. Polynesian languages are a thing but they are a specific subbranch of this Austronesian languages. The Austronesian languages of Taiwan are collectively referred to as the Formosan languages (based on the old name of Taiwan, Formosa).
Cool
I always wondered about if Formosa is a more genuine name for the island than Taiwan historically since it is just what passing Spanish(?) sailors called it when going off to trade with the Ming and then Qing.
Hi, JJ! I'm from New Taipei City, in the north of Taiwan, and I really enjoyed this video! Taiwan is such a great country and we are much more than our conflict with China. A part #2 would be great!!
My country doesn't officially recognise Taiwan - BUT I DO! I even bought a Taiwanese-made motorcycle that's been a lot of fun. Taiwan is cool, I hope to visit!
Thank you - from Taiwan :)
I’m a mixed kid from Taiwan and America and I always love hearing people talk about Taiwan because it’s not really recognized in some places and some people don’t even know Taiwan existed. I find it great to learn and reflect in these moments
You're literally the female version of me
@@nathandrake5544 you are me but i'm not american and all we really have in common is being half taiwanese
@@yvette8415 im half dutch half taiwaness
@@DragonYeng Now I'm curious what mandarin sounds like in a Dutch accent
I’m also half Taiwanese :)
I audibly cheered when JJ said "souvenirs" . I am both mortified and unsurprised.... We always learn something interesting so it's totally normal to react this way right? Hapoy Saturday everyone!! 👍
Happy JJ Day!
Pretty sure JJ would like Jerome, Arizona.
I lived in Taiwan for a few years. It’s a wonderful country for expats. Super friendly people, great public transportation, cheap accommodations. Etc. So nice. Thanks for making a video about this lovely country!
Friendly for expats…? Tell me what you have been smoking 😂
@@radiumdude the sweet smoke of experience.
@@kylawiebe well… then you are missing the experience of comparison.
@@radiumdude alright then give a reason why it's not friendly
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle Most important: Language. Hardly anyone speaks English, even in Taipei. Groceries and everyday items: very limited choice, bad quality and overinflated prices, unstable supply. Every village discounter across Europe has a better portfolio than Jason’s here in Taiwan. Horrible traffic and rogue drivers everywhere, noisy and filthy city for the most part.
I have been moving across many cities in Asia, from an expats perspective, Taiwan is the most challenging place in multiple ways. Doesn’t mean there are no goods things.
As a Taiwanese living in Canada, I’d like to point out that the population of Taiwan wasn't 95% Han Chinese despite the official document said that. In fact, most Taiwanese's ancestors are major Han Chinese and Taiwanese indigenous peoples, such like me. However, after ruled by Han Chinese and Japanese for three hundred years, many real history and cultures was buried. My indigenous ancestors are Siraya, which lost memories, cultures, and language before my grandparents’ generation.
There have been interesting academic studies of identity in Taiwan showing how claiming indigenous identity has waxed and waned depending on political circumstances. I believe as more Taiwanese have their DNA checked, it will become clear that many have a significant genetic contribution from pre-Han indigenous Taiwanese. Culture, however, is from shared lived experience, not from blood or distant (and sometimes forgotten) ancestry. It may be true that Taiwanese people have a very significant genetic inheritance from non-Han indigenous Taiwanese (I've seen estimates higher than a third, as for example with my Taiwanese wife, who has a lot of aboriginal DNA), but the percent of Taiwanese identifying with those aboriginal cultures and living with those cultural activities at the time of the 1946-1950 mass movement of mainlanders to Taiwan was probably around 5% or less.
Masusu ta imhu ki su ka maka Sinkan? Yang (Yuag) is a predominant name from 蕭壠社. Is that where your family is from?
西拉雅後裔 簽到
@@BBarNavi Pretty close, but my family is from Danei districts. My ancestry is Bakaloan (目加溜灣).
The fun fact is that even though Taiwanese President is classified as Hakka Chinese, her grandma is Paiwan aboriginal.
A lot of Taiwanese are like that.
So when are we getting J.J in Taiwan?
Yesss, when are we? 🙊 😂 I love JJ's content.
Holy balls it's Prozzie.
I'm one of those hundreds of thousands of chumps who know you as that dude who used to ride with Matt and Winston back before the CCP got all angry.
Maybe one day we can build a lasso out of nano-tubes and pull Taiwan next to California. Keep being a bro. 🤘
@@alexjgilpin let’s do it!
Hey its you been a subscriber for a while keep up the good work man
Hey Prozzie. I'm big fan of your channel. And J.J. as well. Am also watching a lot of content from your buddies, Winston and Matt.
Correction: The native aboriginals are Austronesian in ethno-nationalistic terms.
Polynesians are Austronesians, but only refer to a specific branch of Austronesians who settled the Pacific.
the fact he got those two mixed up in a video abt taiwanese history is embarassing
This video was incredible! Hoping for part two!!
As a Kiwi with a Taiwanese partner, I was really impressed by your comparison and insight of us embracing our indigenous cultures as a way to differentiate and juxtapose ourselves from our larger nations. Spot on!
A further similarity is that both countries have special legislative seats reserved for aboriginal members that only aboriginal citizens vote for.
Howdy partner
I’m currently living in Taiwan and am hoping to start a masters degree focusing on the country next year. Great to see others taking interest in Taiwan’s history.
I love Taiwan ever since I studied there for one semester. Great decision to go there. Absolutely fascinating place! Thanks for this video!!!
JJ : “Let’s learn about this island nation”
China : *Stares In censorship*
China probably doesn't like him already due to his videos against both Falun Gong and the CCP
@@TheSteam02 good, being disliked by the CCP is a badge of honour, means you're doing something right
Welp, he called it a nation in the first minute!
@@janaeshepherd5854 You need to watch John Cena's video. He knows Taiwan isn't a country.
@@RumchugMusic is it or isn't it? I've been to Taiwan and been China. Taiwan has their own customs, defense, government, and coinage. My Chinese friends hesitate to go because there because they would need a visa. Why would you need a visa to visit a place that is part of your own country? Join Cena says it's not a country because he loses a lot of $$$$ if he disagree with the CCP by calling Taiwan an independent country.
FUN FACT: The Tsai Ing-wen Administration is currently trying to push for the English language as one of its official languages. Also, Tsai’s name translated in English is literally “English”
Its interesting that a ton of non english speaking countries nowadays are integrating english as one if their official languages. European countries, many south american countries, india, taiwan etc.
now that's what I call nomative determinism
@@sookendestroy1 I don't think any Latin American country has English on an official level, the closest to it would be Panama but Panama bordered the US owned canal so the influence is there. English is used as a lingua franca in India and Europe plus Ireland is still in the EU and they speak English, Every nation that has English on an official level has an history with an anglophone nation, but Taiwan doesn't so that's quite strange.
@@jackyex English is the official language of Belize, in central America.
@@jackyex Well Taiwan certainly has a history with the U.S. But it does make a degree of sense Taiwan wants good U.S relations with china on there doorstep. And it's a good common Language to have when you're close Military allies are the U.S, Australia, and Japan(of all places). The less time spend translating in a military conflict the better.
Fun fact: Taiwan is a country despite what John cena tells you
ya...kinda like quebec
Wat? But John Xina told me the CCP is the greatest government ever! How could they lie?
@@beaverchicken I know i was sad when I found out
Calling Taiwan a Chinese province is like saying Canada is a US state.
@@alexhaowenwong6122 it's not nearly that accurate...
This is amazing! I live in Taiwan after several years of travelling to and from this beautiful island. The deep dive on each of the pieces while covering the history and cultural significance is enthralling. The mandarin pronunciations could be improved, but eh, as some of the phonetics are not very consistent with North American pronunciation it makes sense the way in which you read the names. From independent rule to colonization to democracy there are many interesting examples that can be learned from the Taiwanese society.
Taiwan is awesome, I went there on a month long study trip while I was learning Mandarin and it's such a fun place. The people are awesome, the island is beautiful, the food is great, I could go on. It's amazing to think about how different the PRC and ROC are despite their similarities.
I visited in 2015 and loved it. Great people, food and architecture. I was planning to visit again in 2020, but the borders shut the day before I was scheduled to arrive.
I used to date a Taiwanese girl and since then I fell in love with her country. It's a great mix of Pacific Islands, Chinese culture with some Japanese influence. I really hope to go there someday.
I'd love to visit Taiwan at some point. I was obsessed with Taipei 101 (former world"s tallest building) as a kid.
J.J. does a Taiwan episode!!!! Woohoo!!!!
I've lived here since 2012, this country is amazing. Glad you mentioned the forestry part.
As a Taiwanese teenager. I'm pretty glad to see people introduce our culture to other people in the world. You even tell something that I didn't know before. I appreciate that :)
This once again convinced me, that I want to go and visit Taiwan at some point! I know a couple of Taiwanese people and their descriptions of the country have always been quite charming.
Yet another award winning JJ video!!! Thank you for making these. They're so much fun!!!
What awards did it win?
Need to visit Taiwan one day. Always been fascinated by it ever since learning about modern Chinese history and the origin of the Austronesians.
11:37, here in Mexico we speak a dialect of Spanish that is only spoken in the southern part of Spain (specifically Seville). We do not use third person plural when speaking with groups of people like Spanish people do, we do not use "vos" like Argentinians when referring we say "you", and our S is not a retractive like the S from other Hispanic Nations.
What I remember best from my brief stint living in Taiwan in 2014 is how safe it is. I would often ride my bike around town at 2 or 3 in the morning without a care in the world. Also, as far as I know, Taiwan has one of the lowest rates of sexual assualt in the world because of the implementation of things like CCTV-monitored "safe zones" at train stations and a relatively strict penal code for sex crimes. Also betel-nut beauties and scooters. Lots and lots of scooters.
Haha I hope there's something about Kenting National park. It is kinda a crazy place. You got a tiny desert, a micro-jungle, cliffs, mountains, coral reefs, AND scenic beaches all within a 30 min drive.
the virgin peoples republic vs the chad fascinating island nation
I always like JJ's plushy of Tiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen its so cute
I had to put her in the closet with all of the other world leaders dolls to make room for the globe
@@JJMcCullough So you have a Trudeau plushy?
@@akshatvendha3398 It's a fake news.
@@yuchenn
No. It is true because there is no record of the library catalogue for Tsai's thesis. Tsai created different versions of fake documents which are contrast to each other. You are a liar too.
@@akshatvendha3398 Woke
Taiwan is a pretty underrated country.
I'm a British National living in Taiwan (Kaohsiung, South Taiwan) now for 11 years .... please come visit and experience the fabulous hospitality and beauty of this Democratic country.
It was a very fascinating video. Taiwan is not a place that's talked about much in the greater Asian context except when people are talking about Chine. And it couldn't be any more further away from us... Literally. Taiwan, formerly called Formosa by Portuguese explorers, is an antipode with the Argentine province of Formosa. Taiwan is almost exactly the furthest point in the world away from my country of Argentina.
He’s back, finally always fun when JJ uploads
I know this is a gimmick account, but I have to ask:
What is in the reconciliation bill that you don't like!?
@@SamAronow I like the bill as myself as a person but I think she said it was a big amount of money to spend on.
Her big corporate donors*
as a taiwanese, i love your introduction of taiwan ;) will love to know more of your puzzles stories 😊
Thank you so much for the well-written and well-informed of Taiwanese history. As a Taiwanese-American it's great to see someone who works so hard learning about my country's culture
Oh my I’m so surprised to see Taiwan showing up here in this channel! My hometown Taiwan.
It is absolutely fun and interesting for foreigners and locals here r always friendly regardless ur nationality.
I hope people from the world could visit here post pandemic.
An interesting side effect of the rare timber part: After typhoons a lot artists and art suppliers will rush to rivers near the mountains to seek out rare wood that might have washed down after storms
Visited Taiwan a few years ago. Absolutely wonderful country with wonderful people. And a really vibrant culture of democracy as well.
I'm from mainland China. I’m pleased to see that finally someone has covered in depth about Taiwanese society and it’s history, rather than simply saying “Taiwan is not China”. Taiwan has a long, complicated history and politics that is hard to make sense with even for Taiwanese themselves.
Exactly
Are you pro unification or independence
Well, you have to blame the CCP and its internet trolls for that.
I mean no Taiwanese, except Indigenous people and SE Asians who married Taiwanese, would said we are not Chinese. But Chinese means a lot of things other than nationality, its also and ethnicity and culture.
And guess who's the one saying everyday to everyone over everything that Taiwan belong to China. So its normal for Taiwanese to simply rebuke with Taiwan is not China since China don't even want to have an in-depth discussion with Taiwan over this unsettled issue. Can you imagine what Americans would feel if UK keeps saying US is belong to UK.
Man I just found your channel and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. You provide so much value with no filler. Thank you for making such great content man
Great video! I'm an American living in Taiwan and you did a great job. Much of Taiwan was settled in a similar time period to the US. I live in a county with a high indigenous population. There are some county parks and hunting grounds which are run by and for the Indigenous tribes. One thing to note, many of the indigenous are Christians; this is partly because of American missionaries shortly after WW2.
This was really cool I've been wanting to learn more about Taiwan because my fiance's grandmother is Taiwanese and he is very close with her she doesn't talk much about it but I know her culture is important to her
謝謝你做了這支影片🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼
Thank you for making this video！
Glad you did this video, the History and Culture of the current ROC is underrated.
I'm from Victoria, BC and I run a scuba shop / bar in Taiwan called Scubar. My business partner's name is JJ McCaulla.... lol (he's from Missouri) Anyways, so happy to see this video. Taiwanese culture... well, there is a strong divide in Taiwan's democratic theology where people either want to be closer with China and others feel China is a bully. It is sad that China doesn't want warm relations with Taiwan but instead chooses intimidation. Anyways, here is safer than even Canada (except the traffic).
Ive been talking about trying to visit Taiwan ! This video was so informative for telling us about the foundations that make modern say Taiwan.
6:38 As someone who’s learning kanji (Chinese characters used in Japanese), I love how the white dolphin’s Chinese name adds up to “white sea pig.”
Water-related animals' name is really interesting in Chinese. sea pig is dolphin. Sea horse is sea horse. River pig is puffer fish. And river horse is Hippo.
@@niu-3- Hippopotamus literally comes from Greek, meaning river horse
That's because chinese doesn't have an alphabet (or least when written formally) unlike other languages that may use Chinese characters (i.e. Japanese that can use Katakana, and to a lesser extent Korean), so we have to make up names for new animals and inventions.
Dolphin and pigs both belong in Cetartiodactyla,so it's oddly accurate in a way
One Old English word for the ocean is hronrāde, which translates literally as whale-road.
This has been a surprisingly accurate depiction of Taiwan after a few days of English-speaking people (online) talking about Taiwan facts they pulled out of their asses. Good work! You obviously have, at least, done some research on Taiwan before making this video, and I appreciate that.
The only thing I can fault you on is at 11:56 where you cut the word nation (民族) in half lol
When I was in Taiwan, the natives described their culture as the mix on Japanese and "new" Chinese because, at that point, both cultures had dominated the island back to back for roughly the same amount of time.
Please make part two of this video! Love it
11:00 this sign saying 我不說方言 is more like "I will not speak dialects" or "I will not speak topolects" for those who oppose the term "dialect"
Perfect timing. I’m actually in the process of applying to teach English in Taiwan to elementary school students, so I am always searching for more information on Taiwan.
From personal experience, I will predict you will fall in love with a Taiwanese woman and get married and never leave Taiwan again.
I'm saying this because I know about 10 guys that went thid route, no shame in that, I'm half Taiwanese and I'm glad I exist lol
In my elementary school we had Taiwan month. Taiwanese food in the cafeteria, and we did all the hobbies they did while watching their history and stuff. That changed my life forever, and ever since as a child Taiwan was my dreamplace. Lol. Uh oh.
I moved to Taiwan last year! Also, Taiwan recognizes every aboriginal language spoken here, Hokkien (Taiwanese), and Hakka, as well as Mandarin and English as "official languages" which is pretty cool of them!
When I was a kid in the 80s, I remember looking at the bottom of my My Little Pony and seeing "Made in Taiwan". I think they made a lot of those plasticky toys back in the 80s.
yea! taiwan was going through industrialization around that time and mass production was how we started off our economy. you can see the trend now with china, with many toy/objects being made there
I loveTaiwan, I've had friends from there and it seems like such a rich, and bustling country, that I'd love to visit when I ever get the funds to travel.
J.J -- I've attended Vancouver's TaiwanFest about a decade ago, being relatively nearby as a resident of north Idaho. I had a fantastic time! Had you never attended before? I also have Taiwanese friends, a Taiwanese (x)boyfriend, and have visited Taiwan twice. So rich in history (the National Palace Museum is astonishing!), culture, food, politics, scenic beauty, and LGBT life. It is my #1 place to travel to in the world. I urge you to visit Taiwan when the pandemic is over. 😊👍🇹🇼
Sadly Taiwan may be gone before covid is😔
I'm a bit obsessed with Taiwan, lol. It is the Asian nation I want to see most (yes, an independent nation) and I'm always wary about the CCPs action against them.
Zhōngguó will have reunification with its people. Chairman Xi is a strong leader who will do as he did with Hong Kong. I always tell my girlfriend I will visit again once Xi is in power.
better get going fast, something tells me, Xi wants all the han nations, by hook or by crook
The ccp can’t risk losing a war to take back Taiwan so for now they aren’t going to any time soon
@@Goffe909 Wumao
@@Goffe909 you mean unification. Why do you not think Xi is not in power?
Interesting timing the day after the CCP flew some bombers into Taiwan's airspace. Really great learning about their culture beyond the conflict with the communists. Thanks for the great work JJ!
Man, thats a thorough video of Taiwan background. Thanks so much of spending great efforts making it!
Love this. Lived there for six years and tried to learn ad much ad I could "natively" (without googling. Now that I'm not there, seems fair to cheat a bit, and this was a phenomenal start. Thank you!
Interesting thing about Taiwan’s indigenous community is that while most Chinese people get 2 votes in elections (one for districts and the other for party list) indigenous people get 3. They get one more for aboriginal candidates. Also I always found it interesting that aboriginals typically support the KMT despite the DPP’s efforts to apologize.
The reason to this is because the people who founded or are in the DPP party were beneficiaries of the imperial Japanese, tsai eng wens family were actually intellectuals who profited off the colonialism during the 50 years. The imperial Japanese treated the Aborigines absolutely horribly wrong and even wiped out a whole tribe of ayatal.
In China ethnic minorites taking the Gaokao get extra points compared to Han Chinese students.
In China ethnic minorites taking the Gaokao get extra points compared to Han Chinese students.
Not really
For indigenous people in Taiwan they can choose to vote in a normal geographical electorate or an electorate specifically for indigenous, but not in both types of electorates.
Thus, in Taiwanese legislative elections, a Taiwanese voter would cast 2 ballots regardless of being indigenous or not: 1 for electorate and 1 for party list.
I believe this is true in New Zealand, maori voters get an extra vote for maori districts. Though I don't believe there is actually any requirement for the representatives to be maori themselves though.
Thank you for doing a video on Taiwan and referring to it as a nation and educating is on its fascinating and independent history.
The 'I will not speak Taiwanese' sign reminds me of the Welsh Knot used by the British government to punish children for speaking Welsh.
Edit: A lot of people have been telling me that it wasn't the British government that enacted this policy, and they're probably right.
As fair as I am aware, the British Government never mandated such a thing, it was an invention of some Welsh schools (this was at a time when the language was seen quite negatively by Welsh elites, who saw it as an impediment to progress). In fact, I believe after a report was sent to the government describing the practice, there was a call to stop it.
@@Croz89 There was little government oversight of schools until 1899 in the UK anyway, the board of education was only created then. Widespread public education is largely a product of the late 19th century and early 20th, prior to that it was piecemeal and depended on local councils and parish organizations to organize and hire teachers for schools. The British government wouldn't have been directly involved in such policies at the time since the schools were not organized by the Crown. Though the British government certainly influenced those policies with discriminatory language policies for government positions, like you couldn't be a lawyer in Wales if you didn't speak fluent English, which created a lot of pressure on any family that weren't labourers or farmers to make sure their children spoke English.
@@ifeeltiredsleepy It's complicated, because there was a large Anglophilic population within Wales itself too, those who saw a future further assimilated into a more unified British culture, and were at least partly responsible for the suppression of the traditional language and culture of their fellow countrymen, and possibly more so than anyone in England. There's a lot of emotion around these things, particularly in recent years with the rise of regional nationalism and, dare I say it, an increase in anti-English sentiment.
And to be fair, a lawyer who didn't speak English probably would still struggle nowadays in Wales. At least they weren't saying they couldn't speak Welsh, just that they must speak English or be bilingual. It's probably pretty close to what is the case with Taiwan when it comes to Taiwanese and Mandarin.
This isn't quite true. As a Welshman myself, this was obviously a dark period in our history but it wasn't the policy of the British government to abolish the Welsh language in schools, particularly being spoken informally by students in class (if anyone can provide proof that it was, I'd be keen to see it.)
The punishment of Welsh speaking was done almost universally by local Welsh teachers against Welsh students. There was a view at the time that the Welsh language was anachronistic and useless in the modern world - they felt that they were doing good by encouraging students to use English exclusively.
It was wrong, but I don't agree that it should be used as a stick to beat the English with, particularly when it's propaganidized towards younger people to drum up support for Welsh independence based on historical grievances.
The difference is that Hokkien is spoken today by hundreds of millions of people in China, Malaysia, Singpore, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Not so much Welsh.
Although I’m not Taiwanese/East Asian myself, I know of this one famous singer called Teresa Teng. Regarded as one of the most famous singers in Chinese-speaking communities worldwide, she is a symbol of unity for both Taiwan and China, before dying unusually at the young age of 42. Surprised that she wasn’t mentioned in the video otherwise. I believe her most famous song is “Tian Mi Mi”
I lived in China for a while, and the first time I visited Taiwan it was all WOW - totally distinct from the mainland.
Hawaii is also very distinct from the mainland. It's beet sad that there's no other government in Hawaii, unlike Taiwan, then the basic US imperialistic and racist one.
One thing I've always liked about Taiwan (talking as an outsider looking in, take with a grain of salt) is how open they are about talking about the faults in their society.
In both the USA and China there is a much more blinding idea of patriotism where apparently criticizing your country means you don't love it.
You know the whole:
"The Liberal snow flakes hate America and they want to teach our children that America is terrible" when it comes to talking about America's faults.
Or with Mainland China basically saying that everyone who criticizes China is just afraid of China's progress and that they are just being racist and know nothing about China.
Basically when it comes to the East Asian countries (even when compared to Japan and South Korea) Taiwan just seems like the country that is willing to do the most self reflection.
You are so correct! 😊👍🇹🇼
Yes I noticed that as well, it seems to be a country with a very healthy democratic spirit and culture.
The Taiwanese refer to Hokkien (a Chinese language) as "Taiwanese"... completely erasing the existence of natives and Formosan languages. Likewise, all place names in Taiwan are of Chinese root written in Chinese characters. This is dissimilar to the common preservation of indigenous place naming in the Americas. Taiwan is a fun place, but what you're saying is patently false.
(Some place names stem from Japanese imperialism, but the point stands.)
"The Liberal snow flakes hate America and they want to teach our children that America is terrible"
The reason this sentiment exists is because there are plenty of people who criticize the people, often in hyperbolic terms that lack all historical context.
@@JJMcCullough What are your thoughts on the refusal to renew the broadcasting license for Chung T'ien TV because they criticized the Tsai administration?
Nice use of "Papers, Please" at 5:02.
Daily reminder that Taiwan and China are separate sovereign nations
why does taiwan claim mainland china and Mongolia then?
@@jessieFSD why don’t you ask them? My comment is true regardless of what you’ve said
Hi, I’m Taiwanese. And I’m glad to answer your question. And the answer is , I don’t know either.
Taiwan relinquished their claims to Mongolia in 2002
@@jessieFSD I can give you an example. Imagine the north lose Cvil war,and have to flea to Cuba. 70 years later, they still claim whole nowadays United States of America territory. And still call themselves “United States of America”.
love from Paraguay to all of my Taiwanese friends
🇹🇼❤️🤝🇵🇾
Apart from all of these historical and cultural trivia, Taiwan is just a great holiday destination. Japan will probably always be my favorite, but Taiwan is a pretty close second. Good infrastructure, lots of interesting sights, visible history (including some Dutch influences) and beautiful scenery. And Food, so much glorious Food! The one thing it always does make me think: imagine how mainland China could have been right now if the Nationalists had won that war...
There's only one thing about Taiwan I don't like at all: the weather....
I'm Taiwanese Canadian and I want to highlight some things that sometimes gets buried when covering Taiwan in the West. I do appreciate this video and I think it's more informed than most. I just want to say: you used the word "dialect" when talking about Taiwanese vs. Mandarin. I want to say that Taiwanese is a distinct language from Mandarin. They may come from a common source of a language we call "Chinese", but they are not dialects of each other. I like to make a comparison between Sinitic and Romance languages. The Romance languages are derived from Latin but have evolved in a way that we consider them different languages. The Sinitic languages are similar. In fact, the pronunciation of Taiwanese apparently evolved from Old Chinese while most other Sinitic languages come from Middle Chinese. People who exclusively speak Mandarin will not be able to understand Taiwanese. You do a good job explaining the differences between indigenous and "Han" Taiwanese.
I want to break down Han Taiwanese a little more so that you can understand the differences between the groups. "Han" (I will use this word for lack of a better word, although I personally do not believe in the ethnic unity pushed by the KMT and CCP) Taiwanese can be split into three groups: Hoklo (from Fujian), Hakka (from Guandong/Fujian) and "Mainlanders" (refugees from the Mainland). The vast majority of "Han" Taiwanese are Hoklo with Hakka and "Mainlanders" making up similar percentages in the demographics. The politics of language played a huge part in allowing the "Mainlanders" to establish power and to oppress Settlers.
As Japan owned Taiwan from 1895 - 1945, hardly any Taiwanese settlers spoke Mandarin and were kept out of positions of power as a result. In addition to this, the KMT (Nationalist party) established a brutal dictatorship where they exploited Taiwan's relatively intact economy for their civil war. This eventually culminated in the 228 Incident which eventually resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians who were executed by the Nationalist army. As a result, power has generally been concentrated in the "Mainlander" elite. If you look at Taiwan's 6 presidents, 3 out of the 6 were Mainlanders (and only one of them had to win elections). General narratives from the CCP and the KMT want to paint all "Han" Taiwanese as "one people", but the way we have been treated clearly demonstrates that there are real divisions- culturally, historically, and politically. When people talk about the Taiwanese Independence Movement, it wasn't formed to oppose the People's Republic of China (who have never administered Taiwan), but to overthrow (now replace) the Republic of China and Chiang's brutal dictatorship. The main problem of the narratives that surround Taiwan are that many sources only take the Nationalist vs. Communist narrative and don't consider the Settler or Indigenous point of view. The vast majority of Taiwanese come from Settler backgrounds or a mix between Settlers and the other groups (I am half Settler, half refugee). We don't want to "take back the Mainland" and we don't claim ownership over China. The reason why the government currently cannot change this view is because China has threatened to invade if the government revokes its claims over China. We put up with the Republic of China moniker because we have fought tooth and nail for democracy and we are currently one of a few shining beacons of democracy in Asia. For too long, the Refugee ruling class has dominated the narrative over Taiwan and is the reason why Taiwan is in its political quagmire (Chairman Mao advocated for Taiwanese independence in an interview with Edgar Snow). I want more people to understand that Taiwan wants to exist in peace and it wants to avoid annexation. Any turmoil on the straits is the a result from China's desire to annex Taiwan and from diehard orthodox KMT refugees who love Chinese nationalism more than anything else.
I hope my post sheds some light on the issue. Thank you for your video!
@@KahruSuomiPerkele Taiwanese and Mandarin are completely unintelligible. When people talk about the “Chinese language”, they usually mean Mandarin. Whether or not you consider Taiwanese or Mandarin to be a “dialect of Chinese”, the assumption most people make is that Taiwanese is a form of Mandarin which is incorrect.
I’m not a linguist and most of what I wrote wasn’t about linguistics. Taiwanese is mutually unintelligible from Mandarin but because of politics it’s labelled a dialect and generally diminished. You may not care, but it is my cultural heritage and it is being squeezed out for Mandarin. You may think you can define dialect and language more precisely than me, but you are missing the point of my comment which is to highlight my perspective as a Taiwanese person.
The distinction between a "language" and a "dialect" has always been political (unfortunately). It's as obvious as the sky is blue that the Chinese languages are mostly distinct languages, but "dialects" is the common term and getting hung up on it is in itself a political position. (Judging by your tone, I suspect even if the Taiwanese language were 95% identical to Mandarin you'd be here writing the same thing.)
The same applies in reverse, there's lots of mutually intelligible so-called "languages" just because of nationalist rubbish. Hindi vs Urdu is an obvious example: they barely even qualify as separate dialects!
@@The98597thMark You say that the distinction between language and dialect has always been political and you then dismiss my opinion by saying that it’s political even though the opposite position is just as political. You say that I’d be saying the same thing if Taiwanese and Mandarin were almost identical, but this point is moot because they aren’t at all. I don’t argue that Taiwanese Mandarin and Mainland Mandarin are different because they aren’t that distinct. Taiwanese Mandarin is a dialect of Mandarin.
I want to highlight Taiwanese as a distinct Sinitic language because I have heard it been called a dialect all my life and it has always been brushed aside by the KMT and the refugee side of my family as unimportant. I am told to learn Mandarin because it is the language of my heritage, but it can’t possibly be that when my Grandparents were the first generation on my settler side to learn it.
Trying to suppress Taiwanese was one method of Chiang’s dictatorship to try to sinicize Taiwan to tighten his iron grip on Taiwan’s society. When you criticize my views on labelling Sinitic languages as dialects, you are upholding the opposite political view which has been ingrained into English by Chinese Nationalists.
@@The98597thMark Wow, you're quite self-righteous for a person who admits ignorance of the linguistic characteristics of Taiwanese. Dialect and language do not mean the exact same thing. The reply above to blue was equally dismissive and absurd. The distinction between a dialect and a language is quite clear, in that dialect means a locally derived version of a language that constitutes part of a continuum of related languages, and in common usage usually refers to mutually intelligible versions of a language. Such that Malay and Indonesian are intelligible dialects with minor differences. The initial post was clearly making the distinction that the usual understanding of dialect, which implies intelligibility, does not adequately describe the relationship between Mandarin and Taiwanese. Mandarin and Taiwanese are both sinetic languages, in the same way English and French are both Indo-European languages. Taiwanese is derived form Hokkien, which is derived from Minnan. It is a widely known fact that Min languages are not mutually intelligible with Mandarin as they are separated by 1000+ years of linguistic development, likely splitting from Old Chinese in 700 AD. This means that Taiwanese is as related to Mandarin as modern German is to modern English. No one would sensibly refer to German and English as dialects of European languages. And when people say Taiwanese is a dialect of Chinese, it implies intelligibility and they do not mean that Taiwanese is a dialect of Sinetic languages.
@@ifeeltiredsleepy Except Chinese is kind of the big exception, because the *written* language is mutually intelligible. For starters, the Taiwanese Minnanese language is *not* the national language, Taiwanese standard Mandarin is. You can google "Taiwanese national language" and get your result there.
OP doesn't have a good point, even the Taiwanese Minnanese spoken by Hoklos is still a dialect of Chinese. Taiwanese Minnanese does not deviate significantly from Minnanese and Minnanese is a dialect of Chinese. That it is not a Mandarin-family dialect of Chinese is true, but it is still a dialect due to the written language. Had Taiwanese Minnanese changed *the meaning* behind those Chinese characters (e.g. in Japanese Kanji), then you can say that there is enough differentiation that it is not a dialect of Chinese. The problem is that right-wing nationalist movements in Korea and Vietnam have been pushing internationally this idea that their usage of Chinese characters doesn't matter and that they're really independent languages - fine, Korea reached this after pushing Hangul everywhere, but Hanja texts are perfectly intelligible to a Chinese reader. Many Korean nationalists hate how most Chinese people can read Korea's foundational texts but Koreans today can't (it's entirely in Hanja), but you can't win everything if you do everything in your power to mutate the language to "be independent." This is the reality of the situation - these people are trying to *change* the current culture to be something different.
What also does not get mentioned with OP is that the Taiwanese natives (NOT the Hoklo or Hakka, but the true natives) overwhelmingly vote KMT. DPP does NOT have their support because time and time again DPP shows itself to primarily be interested in a Hoklo and Hakka-dominant identity for Taiwan. It is honestly just more nativism and ethnonationalism, much like White Power movements. That *this brand of Taiwanese immigrant* wants to call themselves the true Taiwanese and everyone else (including the natives and the most recent immigrants) as not is proof of this movement's true colors. This is why they are perfectly fine using horribly racist language to describe mainland Chinese people.
I for one do not celebrate the racists of the DPP and Hong Kong who constantly call mainland Chinese locusts. The entire movement depends heavily on sinophobia to gain legitimacy abroad. Without it, everyone can tell immediately that when the Taiwanese indigenous people vote KMT, the issue is *far more complex* than simple DPP propaganda.
I KNOW AN INTERESTING FACT! "TAIWAN NUMBAAA ONE!!!!" - angrypug
That 'I must not speak Taiwanese' punishment by the Mandarin government also occurred in South Africa; but replace the 'Taiwanese' part with 'Afrikaans' and the 'Mandarin' part with 'British'.
It occurred all over the world. Having a single unifying langue was and is important to the health of a nation.
To the power elite, its "ours is the one true ideology and you shall bow before it."
The US got it right: NO official language. A handful of other countries have similar positions.
@@alchobum fun fact, Taiwan also has NO (at least de jure) official language
@@guppy719 it's important to have a single language in which all of the population is fluent, but discouraging regional dialects and languages has always been a mean of control and castration of minorites. Here in Italy code-switching is basically constant between Italian/regional dialects/languages/slangs
What is Mandarin Government?
Another fun fact about Taiwan: Taiwan(ROC) is one of the founder of United Nation.
As a normal kid from Hong Kong, I've always had an affinity for Taiwanese culture. The majority of media that I had consumed in middle school is Taiwanese, if not American. As such I've always loved the diversity of Taiwan, of its different regions and different peoples.
Also, an inaccuracy: Mandarin was spoken in the Mainland and Taiwan as the de-jure official language in China, due to its promotion as the official language since the Qing Emperor Yongzheng and its reaffirmation as the national language by the Nationalists. Hence it is known as 官話 (government language) and 國語 (National language). Do note that most Chinese at the time, especially in the south, did not speak Mandarin as a first language, rather they were required to learn it in order to get government jobs.
Meanwhile, the Taiwanese language is the descendant of Hokkien, a language spoken in Fukien (of Fujian) province. They are not mutually intelligible with Mandarin. Chiang Kai Shek himself was from Ningbo, and spoke the Ningbo dialect, a subdivision of the Wu language spoken in a small part of eastern China. Like many northern/central dialects, it is more similar to Mandarin. Most of the Nationalist government officials in Taiwan at the time were from the Mainland, as there was this class system which put mainlanders above Taiwanese islanders, even the Han Chinese from Taiwan. As such, the government pushed for the speaking of Mandarin Chinese, which they could understand well, instead of Hokkien or Hakka or other southern languages which were very different from Mandarin.
Southern Sinitic languages were often older and more akin to their ancestors, as trade and commerce and the government was more centred around the north for the past millenium or so.
hker here, am inspired by this video to review hk history and make a similar piece
as a Taiwanese grow up in the 90;s I remeberd back then HKers used to call us Taiwanese "poor and uncultured f_g's" and look down on us
@Happy Dragon you're right, but more northern relative to us
@@Laurence0227 which is funny cuz here in Malaysia us Chinese used to look at Taiwan as high class and rich
@@alphestanley7194 I thought Chinese Malaysian believe Taiwanese is a bunch of terrorist because that’s what China’s foreign ministry says
What's very strange is despite the DPP pushes the aboriginal identity to be more mainstream/represent distinct Taiwanese identity. They still are a very reliable voting demographic for the KMT which historically tried to sinicize them.
KMT patronage runs deep in aboriginal communities. As the KMT used to be the richest political party in the world, they were able to control local factions with their pocket books. However, as the grow more and more bankrupt and more out of line with the Taiwanese mainstream, hopefully they will whither away and Taiwan can continue to progress as a fully liberal society.
I would assume part of it is due to historical animosity between aboriginal taiwanese and the descendants of pre-KMT immigrants.
@@Nimroc I don't think so, because the native Han left the aboriginals mostly alone after chasing them into the mountains. While the KMT also wanted them to assimilate.
@@scarfacejosh123 I think the more likely scenario is the KMT will end up shifting their policy away from the Mainland. They still do very well in local politics just not on national and if you’ve been paying attention there is a small but still existent youth/reform faction that is trying to drop the 92 consensus.
@Happy Dragon Fujian is Chinese, aboriginal people are not. So naturally, wanting to have less to do with China the DPP would push that. Also, most Taiwanese natives aren't moatly Hakka but Minnan. Don't call people dumb if you don't know what your are saying.
This is such a detailed and interesting video! There are things that even I, as a Taiwanese, have never heard of before.
Thanks JJ for covering Taiwan's indigenous people in this! I feel like they are too often overlooked when people talk/think about Taiwan.
I'm Māori (indigenous Polynesian New Zealander) and a couple of years ago was fortunate enough to travel to Taiwan to meet with some of the indigenous people there. Despite being separated by ~3,000 years of history and 8,000km of ocean I found the prevailing cultural, linguistic and genetic similarities with them astounding.
As an example, here's some basic vocabulary between Puyuma (an indigenous Taiwanese language) and Māori (indigenous language of NZ):
Puyuma (left) | Māori (right)
1 - isa | tahi
2 - drua | rua
3 - telu | toru
4 - pat | whā
5 - lima | rima
6 - enem | ono
7 - pitu | whitu
8 - walu | waru
9 - iwa | iwa
10 - pulu | ngahuru (archaic)
eyes - matsa | mata
ears - tsangila | taringa
hands - lima | ringa(ringa)
fish - sikan | ika
sky - langit | rangi
It makes me sad to think that these people are basically our cousins, yet are typically ignored by both Polynesian communities and the world more generally whenever people talk about Taiwan.
PS. As a side note, the man in the middle at 4:35 is Cudjuy Patjidres - an amazing man working on revitalising the traditional tattooing culture of the Paiwan tribe (not a typo - that's the tribe's name). I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with him and was kindly gifted some of his artwork on my own skin.
I'm Indonesian and I agree -- I'm so sad that our ancestors are "ignored" by the world. We need free those people from China! ✊
Hi from Taiwan! I’ve been following you for a long time and really enjoy your content. Thank you so much for making a video about my country!
I would enjoy a part two to this!