The Ministry of Education has revised a high-school history textbook to more accurately reflect Taiwan's development as an independent nation, media reports said yesterday.
Under the ministry's orders, the title of the textbook was changed from National History (
In the textbook, terms like "our country" (woguo,
To put Taiwan and China's relationship into context, the textbook now uses neutral words to describe events in China's history, such as describing the 1911 Wuhan Uprising that toppled the Manchu Dynasty as a "riot" (qishi, 起事) instead of a "justified uprising" (qiyi, 起義).
In addition, the Republic of China's first president, Sun Yat-sen (
Another change condensed ancient Chinese history, but includes a section on the Taiwan-China separation. The section includes a passage that reads: "Taiwan's future remains a big question mark. Will Taiwan's independence bring war? How to protect Taiwan from being swallowed? How to maintain the status quo? How to deal with China? Taiwan's people are frustrated."
"School textbooks must reflect social changes, regardless of the era or the nation," National Institute for Compilation and Translation Director-General Lan Shun-teh (藍順德) was quoted as saying in the CNA report.
Some teachers, however, are opposed to the revisions.
"In the compilation of the history textbook, there was strong political intervention from the government and only one voice was allowed. This is control by the state apparatus," Wu Chan-liang (吳展良), head of the history department of the National Taiwan University, was quoted saying by the China Times.
In recent years the government has undertaken many "desinicization" measures, such as removing the word "China" from the names of some state-run enterprises.
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