The government on Dec. 25 passed the National Languages Development Act (國家語言發展法) and it has been pushing for the establishment of a Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) public TV station to promote the language.
This raises the question of what “the Taiwanese language” refers to exactly. Some argue that it is the same as Minnan (閩南) or Hoklo (河洛) languages and say that the term “Taiwanese” is chauvinistic.
Others say that all languages spoken in Taiwan should be referred to as “Taiwanese.” They also say that differences have arisen between “Taiwanese” spoken in Taiwan and original Minnan, and that the same applies to Hakka spoken in Taiwan and in China. In that sense, Hakka spoken in Taiwan is also a Taiwanese language.
The easiest way to preserve Taiwan’s languages would be to produce large-scale historical TV dramas in those languages.
For the past few years, history education has attached great importance to localization. When significant Taiwanese historical figures, such as Lin Shuang-wen (林爽文), Lin Wen-cha (林文察), Tai Chao-chun (戴潮春) and Lai He (賴和), are brought up in the classroom, most students already have a vague idea of who they are.
While it would be going too far to say that they have any comprehensive knowledge about these people, at least they have a basic idea, and this could serve as a basic foundation for producing large-scale historical dramas.
Watching TV dramas is the simplest and most powerful way to become familiar with history. Chinese hit series Story of Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略) familiarized people with the imperial consorts of the Qing Dynasty. Another Chinese TV series, The Advisers’ Alliance (大軍師司馬懿), which aired earlier, allowed the general public to rediscover Sima Yi (司馬懿), a military general of the Cao Wei state during the Three Kingdoms period, whose life story is no less intriguing than the Shu Han military strategist Zhuge Liang’s (諸葛亮).
Have President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her ministers ever binge-watched TV series? If they have, did they think about encouraging productions of large-scale Taiwanese historical dramas?
Producing a large-scale historical drama about Taiwan that would appeal to the general public requires attentive research and sticking to historical truth, complemented with intrigue and a dramatic plot.
The most ideal way to produce such a drama would be to use the original languages to allow the audience to experience the languages used by their Taiwanese forebears in their interactions between the different ethnic groups at the time.
These languages should include Minnan spoken in Quanzhou (泉州) and Zhangzhou (漳州) in China’s Fujian Province, Hakka spoken in China’s Guangdong (廣東) and Guangxi (廣西) provinces, as well as Mandarin and others, including Aboriginal languages, spoken by ethnic groups after 1949.
If such a production succeeds in attracting a wide viewership, Taiwan’s history would become deeply rooted in people’s minds, and all Taiwanese languages used in the drama would be preserved and promoted.
Taiwan boasts so many historical stories worthy of adaptation that it could serve as an inexhaustible source of story material and inspiration to produce a long series of large-scale historical dramas.
The key to preserving and promoting Taiwan’s languages and history is neither to amend laws nor to establish a TV station.
No matter how many laws are enacted or amended or how many more TV stations there are, the most essential aspect is to be down to earth and close to the public, otherwise the attempts would be futile.
The key element is to present the nation’s history and languages as part of people’s daily lives in the most conspicuous way — producing an attractive historical drama with a huge budget.
The Public Television Service is filming its flagship historical drama, Lady the Butterfly (傀儡花), adapted from Chen Yao-chang’s (陳耀昌) 2016 novel of the same name.
Director Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖) is planning to produce a “Taiwan trilogy” that covers the story of Ming loyalist Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), also known as Koxinga (國姓爺). These efforts should be praised.
The nation’s television and movie industry has produced many historical dramas, so there is no lack of experience. What the industry needs is ambition, a huge budget and the power to integrate resources.
No matter which political party holds power, the government should devote its efforts to the study of Taiwan’s history, develop more materials and present the true stories to the public in the most colorful way and with the most authentic language.
Weber Lai is a professor in the National Taiwan University of Arts’ department of radio and television, and president of the Chinese Communication Management Society.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming
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