"I am a Taiwanese" — An Essay Concerning the National Identification of Mr. Ya-Tan, Lian

Author: Yu-Tee Lin (Education Department, National Taiwan Normal University)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 42 (New Version)
Date：October 1997
Pages：1-12
DOI：10.6210/JNTNULL.1997.42.01

Abstract：

Mr. Lian was a characteristic scholar especially manifests himself at the aspect of Taiwanese identification during his lifetime in the Chin Dynasty, Japanese colonization, and K.M.T.'s control over Taiwan. Two things he struggled & devoted his whole life, the one was to study & apprehend the history of Taiwan, and to understand the Taiwan native language was the other. All the works he wrote, these two areas were remarkable historically. Judging from his current environment, political and ideological, Mr. Lian's identification of Taiwanese was vague & ambiguous to a certain degree. While he argued very much he was neither a subject of the Chin Dynasty nor a surrender of alien country (Japan), he emphasized and repeated to took the saying “I, am a Taiwanese” as a proud maxim and warned his younger generation to follow it, but he embarrassed to attend and failed the civil examination held by the Chin Dynasty, in addition, his command of Japanese language was quite excellent. After the defeat of Japan in 1945, no sooner than K.M.T. took over Taiwan, Lian quickly changed his insisted identification, he substituted “I, am a Taiwanese, and also a Chinese” for “I, am a Taiwanese”, the former was approved and appraised by the KM.T.'s government. And his immediate son and grandson have occupied the vary important position in politics as the consequence of this alternation. This topic deals with the complicated issue of Lian's identification of Taiwanese, many historical documents, information, correspondences, diaries, whatever material relevant to it appears in this paper. Criticism and judgment accompany it also.

Keywords：national identification, civil examination, History of Taiwan, Language of Taiwan

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