Thoughts on Taiwanese History

According to Wikipedia, the term coolie has two definitions:

1. "A historical term for manual laborers from Asia, particularly China and India, in the 19th century and early 20th century"

2. "A contemporary racial slur or ethnic nickname for people of Asian descent, including people from India, Central Asia, etc."

While the term has a South Asian origin, the Chinese translation of the term is quite interesting and worthy of note. 苦力, pronounced exactly the same as the English term, only with the addition of tones, is composed of two characters. The first one, "ku", means bitterness. The second one, "li", means strength or force.

The term accurately conveys a part of Taiwan's history. The Han did not always live in Taiwan. The Dutch colonists of the 17th century, after forcibly taking land from the aborigines and decimating the islands deer population for skins, proceeded to transform the prairies and forests of southwest Taiwan into endless sugar plantations. To work the fields they needed laborers, and for that they turned to a turbulent, impoverished, war ravaged, and desperate 17th century China. Chinese coolies were brought over to work in the sugar fields, facing extreme hardship, exploitation, heavy taxation, and conditions of de-facto slavery. The sugar was planted with their strength and toil, but they ate only bitterness. They suffered "ku"; used all their "li" to survive. They were coolies. Then, in the 1660's, the pirate king Koxinga came to Taiwan, fleeing the Manchu invasion of China and plotting a reconquest which would never be realized. Koxinga's forces ousted the Dutch, liberated the coolies, and declared an independent kingdom which would ultimately be overrun by the Manchus.

Taiwan may seem like a very different place from where I grew up. Furthermore, Taiwan's history and culture appear alien to that of America. But looking through my eyes, Taiwan is reflection of my own heritage, a mirror image of my own past. I'm fortunate in that I was raised in a multicultural home and had exposure to African-American, Jewish, and Jamaican cultures. I feel very lucky to have grown up in such a home because it allowed me to view the world from multiple perspectives. Here are some of my thoughts on the similarities between Taiwan's history and my own history:

1. Coolie slavery in Taiwan and chattel slavery in Jamaica

At the same time as Chinese coolies were being brought to Taiwan to work as de-facto slaves on Taiwan's sugar plantations, African slaves were being brought by the Spanish (and later the English) to work Jamaica's sugar plantations. Slave and coolie half a world apart shed blood, sweat, and tears for the same system of colonialism. Following the abolition of Jamaican slavery, Chinese and Indian coolies were brought in as indentured servants.

2. Dutch rule in Taiwan and Dutch rule in New York

During the 17th century, at the same time as the Dutch ruled Taiwan, my hometown of New York was also a Dutch colony and as in Taiwan, influences from the Dutch period can still be found in New York's architecture, street names, and culture.

3. Han-Aborigine intermarriage in Taiwan and Black-Indigenous intermarriage in America

Because most of the coolies in Taiwan were young men, many intermarried with aborigines and between the two groups there was a complex cultural exchange. Similarly, many African-Americans intermarried with America's own indigenous peoples (including my great-grandmother’s parents).

4. Yiddish and the struggle to preserve Taiwan's linguistic diversity

After a century of Japanese rule and KMT dictatorship, Taiwan's people have managed to preserve their language and culture. Taiwanese (Minnan), Hakka, and aboriginal languages such as Atayal and Bunun have survived despite efforts of the Japanese to make everyone speak Japanese and of the KMT to make everyone speak only Mandarin. However, with the notable exception of Taiwanese (Minnan), many of Taiwan's languages were on the verge of extinction twenty years ago. Following political reforms of the 1990's, the "mother tongue" movement was born. The movement hoped to revitalize Taiwan's linguistic diversity by promoting the use of Taiwanese, Hakka, and indigenous languages. Many Taiwanese youth who were not familiar with the languages of their ancestors began to study their "mother tongues" in Taiwan's high schools and universities. Today, one can hear songs in aboriginal langauges and Hakka on the radio in addition to songs in Minnan, Mandarin, and English. However, in the aboriginal communities, preservation of indigenous languages has been an uphill battle against sinification. It is unclear how aboriginal languages will fare in the 21st century. Following the horrors of the Holocaust and the decimation of Jewish communities in Eastern and Central Europe, Yiddish - the language of Europe's Jews - began to disappear. Further blows came to the language via the assimilation of America's Jews and the adoption of Hebrew as the national language of Israel. However, in the past few decades, many Jews around the world have made efforts to promote the Yiddish language.

In conclusion, while Taiwan may seem like the far side of the world (indeed it is halfway around the world from America), upon closer examination it appears much more familiar.