The controversy over the 12-year compulsory curriculum has thus far centered on the removal of certain topics from history textbooks, but the real change is the move away from a focus on the individual protagonist, or history as seen through the actions of “great men.”
This protagonist-centered view of history — perhaps best rendered as “cometh the hour, cometh the man” or “cometh the man, cometh the hour” — has two sides: Opponents of the changes have railed at the disappearance of well-known historical characters such as Tang Dynasty empress Wu Zetian (武則天), China’s sole empress, but last semester, when I was working as a substitute Taiwanese history teacher, I also discovered that many important Taiwanese historical figures have become far less visible.
For example, the leaders of Taiwan’s three main popular uprisings have been relegated to an appendix, and figures such as anti-Japanese advocates Lin Hsien-tang (林獻堂) and Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水) only appear once, at least in the textbook I was given to use.
The curriculum seems to focus on major developments within a wider context, a complete upending of the previous concentration on individual historical figures.
The National Academy for Educational Research has announced that the history curriculum is not intended to turn students into history experts, but to help a “new generation of citizens” to “understand how the world in which they live was formed,” as if the correctness of viewing history through the actions of individual protagonists should be left in the hands of professional historians.
Retaining an adequate amount of the “great men” view in the curriculum would advance the goal of showing students how to become the “new generation of citizens.”
The historical figures would inspire them and motivate them in their studies.
My experiences as a substitute teacher have shown me that children take an interest in recognizable figures, especially when those figures are colorful, charismatic characters, which is why young people follow celebrities and enjoy cosplay.
The inclusion of historical figures would facilitate achieving the oft-cited goals of inspiration, interaction and the “common good.”
The most successful civic society in the history of human civilization was ancient Rome. With citizenship as the foundation of their society, the Romans developed a sprawling empire, whose ruins became the foundation of modern Western civilization. The Romans viewed the world through the actions of individuals.
Regarding Rome’s founding, the Roman historian Livy wrote: “The traditions of what happened prior to the foundation of the city, or whilst it was being built, are more fitted to adorn the creations of the poet than the authentic records of the historian, and I have no intention of establishing either their truth or their falsehood. For such is [Rome’s] renown in war that, when she chooses to represent Mars as her own and her founder’s father, the nations of the world accept the statement with the same equanimity with which they accept her dominion.”
The speed with which negative news spreads might make it more difficult to create the legends of Livy’s time, but “great figures” — even more than “great men” — can be used to explain history, inspiring students’ interest in learning and passing on the lessons of civic society.
Hopefully, this facet will also find its way into the curriculum.
Jimway Chang holds a master’s degree from National Tsing Hua University’s Institute of History.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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