Culture

The Chinese culture of Taiwan consists of the culture of mainland China carried eastward with successive waves of Chinese immigrants over the centuries. Since these immigrants originated largely from the provinces of Fukien and Kwangtung, the culture of Taiwan is coloured by the local cultures of these regions. In addition, it has developed in response to the actual needs of life in the Taiwanese environment. Since China has such a long history as a cohesive cultural entity, its culture has deep roots and is developed to an extremely high degree. In all the various aspects of life, including cuisine, clothing, habitation, transport, education and entertainments, the Chinese possess a cultural heritage passed down from the accumulated experience of many generations. This is surely worth protecting, maintaining and developing to the full.

Cuisine:

Food and drink are the basic necessities for maintaining life, and Chinese cooking can rightly claim a special place of its own among the great cuisines of the world. It has even been elevated into an art form in its own right. In former times our ancestors in Taiwan ate simply and crudely. Whether in the substance of their meals, or the utensils with which those meals were prepared and eaten, they can hardly be compared with the plenty and advanced progress of today.

In olden times, the usual practice was to eat three meals a day, but during the times of the year when agricultural work was especially busy, it was common to eat five meals in a day, including snacktimes in both the morning and the afternoon. Most families would worship on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, conducting a ceremony designed to bring good fortune. On the 2nd and 16th of each month merchants and businessmen would hold banquets, in which meat and wine were first offered to the ancestors and gods, and then used as an especially tasty meal. This practice has been described as an event where "the gods get money, and the people get food." The villagers in olden times lived a very frugal and simple life, to the extent that straight white rice was reserved only for special occasions or guests; ordinarily, a staple made by mixing strands of sweet potato with rice was used in its place.

Chinese folk tradition places a high value on restorative foods and medicines. The customary practice of eating such specialties on the winter solstice is known as "The Winter Repair."

Clothing:

The Chinese in Taiwan have always lived modestly and frugally, spending little on their food and personal things. As far as clothing was concerned, a single outfit of homespun would often be worn all year round, as long as it sufficed to keep the wear r warm and dry. In Taiwan in former times, clothing textiles were either made local- ly by housewives themselves, or more usually imported as plain cloth from Chekiang and eastern Kwangtung provinces. These were processed and dyed locally, the preferred colours being dark blue and light blue. Clothing styles were very simple, with men and women alike wearning "Taiwan jackets" which buttoned either down the centre or down one side. Only women and children wore clothes of patterned cloth, or with col- ourful hems.

Habitation:

The private housing of Taiwan generally preserves the Southern Chinese style common in Fukien and Kwangtung. City dwellings and the residences of wealthy families usually have a tiled roof and walls of brick. Houses in country villages tend to be constructed of bamboo or wood, or else built of clay bricks. Although Taiwan's traditional housing varies according to the wealth of the owner as to scale and lavishness of its decoration, the main structure is fairl uniform. Most families used to occupy houses with either two or four private apartments leading off a central halllike living room, forming a squared U-shape with an empty courtyard in the center where crops could be sunned and dried. In recent decades, modern architecture in the Western style has become the norm for both urban and rural communities in Taiwan, and furnishings and interior fittings tend to be modeled on the Western style with the accent on modernity.

Transportation:

The early forms of transport in Taiwan consisted of ox -carts, sedan chairs, rickshaws and tricycle carts. In other words, the traditional forms of transport of mainland China were maintained and adapted to the requirements of the local topography.

Education:

Historical materials on the evolution of the educational system reveal that education in the Ch'ing dynasty still followed the Ming system. In all 30 provincial capitals (fu) and in every county seat (hsien) throughout the empire, there were established government schools which were supervised by the local off icials and directed by the intendants for education. The official examination system was introduced into Taiwan in 1687, during the reign of the K'anghsi Emperor, with one place reserved for Taiwan in the provincial examination. The first provincial graduate in Taiwan was HsOeh 0 from Peng-shan, the first metropolitan graduate was Chuang Wen-chin, and the first Hanlin compiler was tseng Wei-chen. In the whole 213-year history of the imperial examinations system in Taiwan, from 1683 to 1895, a total of 33 metropolitan graduates came from Taiwan, of whom three becam Hanlin compilers. With the cession of Taiwan to Japan, a Japanese language system of education was instituted with Japanese language schools and education centres, the purpose of which was to strengthen Japan's colonial rule. Later the Taiwan Education Regulations were promulgated which made schools into institutions dominated largely by Japanese pupils. In order to coordinate education with the Japanese war effort, the educational system was overhauled so as to mobilize school students for the benefit of 'he military authorities in Taiwan. The chances for Taiwanese Chinese students to receive higher education were strictly limited. In 1944, there was a total enrollment of 2,818 in all of Taiwan's institutions of higher learning, of which Taiwanese Chinese constituted merely 19%.