Each year, the commencement address at Harvard University becomes the center of attention, as it conveys the values of one of the world’s best universities and its hopes for future generations. The graduates themselves comprise only a fraction of all the listeners. This year, director Steven Spielberg delivered a moving and profound speech, whose insight continues to spread around the globe through the Internet.
Spielberg mentioned the dark side of “tribalism.”
“Identification” lets us find our companions and keep our footing, but it also divides the world into “us” and “them,” usually based in hatred, he said.
In a recent incident, self-styled citizen reporter Hung Su-chu (洪素珠) made discriminatory remarks against an elderly waishengren (外省人, Mainlander) — a term referring to people who fled to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after its defeat in the Chinese Civil War — and it was a result of the same kind of hatred that Spielberg talked about: the hatred of Muslims, of Jews, of minorities and of the LGBT community.
Those who already lived in Taiwan before the end of World War II and their descendants are called benshengren (本省人).”
There is a benshengren versus waishengren complex in Taiwan. Although Hung’s behavior was extreme and should be condemned, such hatred and division can be found everywhere, be it government agencies, schools, workplaces, markets or parks. It is not unlikely that some people who saw what Hung was doing were quietly appreciative.
Diversity is widely discussed around the globe —be it biodiversity, cultural diversity or social diversity. Thanks to this diversity, there is tolerance and stability. It is often said that “the most beautiful scenery in Taiwan is its people.” However, Taiwanese are made up of a diversity of ethnic groups, including Aborigines, Dutch, Japanese, waishengren, benshengren and immigrants. The diverse cultures, customs and cuisines are what Taiwan has been proud of and what friends from around the globe are attracted to.
My father came from China; my mother was born in Taiwan. That makes me half-Chinese, half-Taiwanese. My father lived in Taiwan for more than 70 years. He spent four-fifths of his life in Taiwan, and that made him Taiwanese, although he did miss his birthplace at times. I am, of course, Taiwanese. I was born here and have devoted my life to Taiwan. However, when my father passed away, I went to China, met for the first time my elder brother, who showed me the well from which my father used to pump water in his childhood. My heart palpitated.
My students are certainly Taiwanese; their perception of China is remote and unfamiliar. It is perfectly understandable that an intimidating China enrages them.
However, regardless of your connection to China and whether you agree, we are all Taiwanese. Just because you think you love Taiwan does not mean everyone else should be expelled. Unfortunately, politicians have maneuvered to use hatred to tear apart Taiwanese of different origins.
The purpose of transitional justice should be to help Taiwanese understand their history and let go of the past. The perpetrators and the victims of the past have already passed on and if the result of transitional justice is endless retribution, Taiwan will forever be caught in an unending melancholy of misfortune.
Spielberg said that hatred can only be dissolved through more humanity. We have to replace fear with curiosity and contacts between “us” and “them” in search of a shared “us” instead of trying to isolate “them,” and by believing that we are members of the same tribe and by feeling empathy for every soul.
Hung did not feel empathy for the elderly waishengren. The question is: Is there a chance for Taiwanese to find a shared “us”?
Yuan Hsiao-wei is a professor at National Taiwan University.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
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