Adventures in Taipei

Sunday I set out for a third time to see the National Palace Museum. This time I was going to see a special visiting exhibit on Tibetan art. On the bus ride up, I got off a little late and ended up in the Shipei neighborhood, where I had lunch and caught a bus back to Shilin and then the museum.

The exhibit brought in priceless art from galleries and temples around the world and involved a lot of cooperation between China and the planners of the exhibition in Taipei. Tibetans around the world had protested the exhibit, saying China had looted these treasures when they invaded Tibet, destroyed the country, and sent its leaders into exhile. The "Republic of China" (Taiwan) also claims Tibet, and by having this exhibit on display, leaders of both Chinas could come together to promote Chinese nationalism. The exhibit may have overemphasized the centuries of cultural exchange between China and Tibet and perhaps there is some basis to Tibetans claims. Like the rest of the National Palace Museum, the exhibit was swarmed with thousands of Chinese tourists. Still, I was able to see most of the art, some of it quite exquisite.

From there I walked down to the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, which I enjoyed greatly. The museum was quiet and empty, with only a handful of Taiwanese and Japanese tourists, in addition to myself. One of the interns at the museum, Cheng Borong, also happened to be a student at Taiwan University and I talked to her about the museum and the university. She was a history major and new Fat Cat (one of my neighbors). I also met a really nice couple who were soon to be married. The woman was a Han Taiwanese from Tainan and the man, A Du, was a Bunnum aborigine from eastern Taiwan, who works in a Japanese automobile factory near Taoyuan. They were very friendly and we talked about Taiwanese history and culture. A Du and I may have an opportunity to meet this weekend in Taoyuan for some coffee.

Wow. What an amazing museum. It featured interactive videos, a movie theater, fantastic pottery, crafts, weapons, and displays. I learned a lot about Taiwan's aboriginal people, including both their history and their current situation. The museum touched on the relationship between the various aboriginal peoples and other groups of people throughout Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean, many of whom are descended from immigrants who left Taiwan thousands of years ago. The Taiwanese aborigines came to Taiwan about 7000 years ago, but before that there was human habitation in Taiwan. What were the people there like before the current aboriginal population came there? Perhaps they were related to the current and aboriginal populations of New Guinea and Australia. The museum also touched on the differences between the different aboriginal nations in a way that was both interesting and respectful. It also spoke a lot about the conditions facing Taiwan's aborigines: abject poverty in the mountains, economic insecurity in the cities, unemployment, alcoholism, discrimination, and forced assimilation. The first floor featured some amazing bass reliefs. Some of the snake motifs and stylized depictions of humans in the art of the Paiwan people (southern tip of Taiwan) really resonated with me. They reminded me of West African art I had seen in one of my classes at Yale.

After leaving the museum, I explored some of the neighborhoods along the Wai Shuang Si river until I came to the northern part of Shilin, from which I took buses back to my apartment.

Well, I was going to do some more traveling, but three typhoons hit Taiwan and I had to postpone those plans indefinitely. Still, better safe then caught in a mudslide. I've spent the past few days resting and cleaning my room, along with studying Chinese, exploring the library, and doing some reading. I am greatly enjoying Gus Speth's book on the environmental challenges of unlimited economic growth and the economic and political changes needed to address those challenges, including a curb in the growing concentration of global wealth and power. I hope to watch some movies at the library's multimedia center.

Tuesday, I decided to explore more of Taipei. I visited the National Taiwan Museum, which is different from the National Palace Museum. Located in the 228 Peace Park, the museum is one of the oldest in Taiwan. I saw an interesting exhibit on the history of camphor production in Taiwan. Camphor is an important product in chemical engineering and can be used to make gunpowder, film, clothes, and bug repellent. It was important to the economy of both Qing and Japanese Taiwan. The exhibit featured a Japanese documentary from the early 1930's. There were also exhibits on Paiwan art (which I am growing to love) and legends, endangered species, natural disasters, and Taiwan's biodiversity.

I had hoped to see the 228 Memorial Museum, but it was under construction. Instead I saw an outdoor exhibit on one of the oldest trains in Taiwan, also in 228 Peace Park. While there, I noticed a crowd outside the park, in front of the president's house. The crowd numbered in the thousands - chanting slogans in Taiwanese, singing songs, and waving banners. Hundreds of police in riot gear guarded the street across from them. Being curious I joined the rally and asked the people what they were there for. The protesters were farmers, concerned about recent changes in the policies of Ma Yingjiu's regime. The government was proposing that poultry farmers not be allowed to slaughter their own fowl and instead pay the government to contract that task out to large, government-approved companies. The farmers claim that would be too expensive for them and word begin a trend that would transform Taiwan's agricultural sector into something resembling america - large conglomerates using highly industrialized methods of food production. The farmers claim they would lose out and so would Taiwan's consumers.

Pictures:

Poultry farmers protest. Shinkuang plaza, a symbol of urban Taiwan's economy in the background.

Protesters come out despite the rain.

Protesters rest and hold up their banner.

Taiwan's farmers protest in front of the presidential palace.

One of the many lines of riot police.

Beautiful Paiwan art.

Man sits with Ronald Macdonald statue.

Well, no photos were allowed at the Tibetan art exhibit at the National Palace Museum, but I took this photo of a now closed Tibetan art gallery nearby.

Statues of Taiwan's different First Nations in the Indigenous People's Park near the museum.