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Of Ma and the nation's real telling of history

Democratic progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) asked an interesting question during his televised discussion with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on June 9: If Taiwanese nationalism pioneer Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水) and his Taiwan People's Party (TPP) were as important as Ma said, then why were the "patriotic" TPP members who engaged in resistance against Japan arrested and killed after the KMT came to Taiwan?

And why is it that textbooks on Taiwanese history from the KMT era never talked about Chiang and the TPP?

As history philosopher Benedetto Croce once said: "All history is contemporary."

The different manners in which people interpret the past often change as interests and allocation of resources change with time. Ma's talk about localization and his historical view on Chiang and the TPP are very telling. This is the history of the elite, which centers on China and important government officials. And in this "great history," traces of the common people -- the "small history" -- don't exist.

In his book On Stories, Irish philosopher Richard Kearney emphasizes that nothing has happened unless it is recorded. Kearney said that all facts of history must be passed on in the form of narration. But according to this theory, during the Martial Law era and the White Terror, the real voices of this land were either oppressed or were those that connected the country with China. Ma's talking about Chiang resisting Japan is a good example of this.

One's historical outlook can determine one's politics. Ma's talk of "linking Taiwan," his interpretations of the 228 Incident and his new book Taiwan Spirit all reveal his Sinocentric view of Taiwanese history.

But Taiwan is a pluralistic society and its politics have been democratized. People now have a variety of viewpoints on Taiwanese history. An increasing number of them are discussing a history that the KMT tried to hide, especially Austronesian culture and the Republic of China as a government in exile. They are also discussing possibilities for the nation's future, such as the drafting of a new constitution, or changing the country's name.

The more people discuss these things, the more Ma's Sinocentric view of history will become that of the minority. Ma needs to base his discussion of localization on Taiwanese history and identity -- much more important issues than the history of individuals.

Huang Ter-yuan is a doctoral candidate at the Sun Yat-sen Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities at National Chengchi University.

Translated by Anna Stiggelbout
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