Taiwan Today

Economic News—Writer's return Chen Jo-hsi, author of The Execution of Mayor Yin, returned to Taipei for a visit after an 18-year absence. The Execution of Mayor Yin, which has been or will be published in Chinese, English, German, French, Danish, Dutch, Japanese, Swedish and Norwegian, has been acclaimed as honest and objective description of life in mainland China during the "great proletarian cultural revolution." Chen Jo-hsi was born in Taipei in 1938. After earning a B.A. in English literature at National Taiwan University in 1957, she studied at Mount Holyoke College in the U.S. and received her M.A. from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 1966, she and her husband, S. Y. Tuan, who holds a Ph.D. in fluid dynamics from Johns Hopkins, went to mainland China to participate in construction. They left the mainland in 1973 and spent a year in Hongkong, and moved to Vancouver, Canada. She is now a research fellow at the Asian Studies Center of the University of California at Berkeley. Miss Chen's first published work was "Weekend," a short story appearing in a literary magazine in 1954. While in the United States, she and some friends established Contemporary Literature Monthly. She did no writing during her seven years on the mainland. In 1974, a year after her departure from the mainland, The Execution of Mayor Yin appeared in the Hongkong daily Ming Pao. Her early writing is subjective, passionate and exaggerated. After the mainland experience, her style become more condensed and lucid. She was matured by her seven-year ordeal. Her later stones are simple and direct but convey the appalling reality of the mainland. Miss Chen was surprised by the political, economic and cultural progress in Taiwan. The day after her return, she gave a press conference, from which the following is excerpted. She left mainland China mainly because of the discrimination faced by her children because their parents belonged to the intellectual class. Totalitarianism has not destroyed the good nature of the Chinese people. Indomitable humanity and unflagging optimism mark her stories. The "cultural revolution" had one beneficial aspect, she said. It sent the Red Guards into every part of the land. They could see how feudalistic, impoverished and hopeless the villages were under Communist rule. She hopes that when young people who suffered the ordeals of power struggle, political training and long-term frustration enter middle age and begin taking over the reins, they will have no illusions about Maoism and may be able to change the regime. With schools shut down during the years of "cultural revolution," however, the former Red Guards are sorely handicapped. "This is the most painful defect of the Red Guards," Miss Chen said. "So they are currently doing their best to learn." She does not believe it is right to lay all the blame for the "cultural revolution" on the "gang of four." "Mao should be added to make a gang of five," she said. "Actually, the entire Communist party should be blamed." Asked about the "four modernizations," she said, "The prospect is not promising. All of the decision makers are old and it is hard to say what will happen to the four modernizations when they die." She said human rights activist Wei Ching-sheng, who was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment last October, "should be immortalized for what he has done." Miss Chen was happy to see the progress in Taiwan. "More and more people, including the Chinese on the mainland and in the United States, are becoming aware that much can be learned from Taiwan," she said. In the last two years, she said, the Communists have begun to acknowledge Taiwan's rapid economic growth. Most people on the mainland do not know about Taiwan's political progress, but most are aware of the material achievements. They yearn for the same progress. Miss Chen plans to continue research on the "cultural revolution" and also on marriage and social customs. Dynasty—Breathing naturally A center for research on Taoism and the study of Taoist breathing exercises has been established at Taipei. Chou Hsi-po, the founder, said the morning class at 5 emphasizes Taoist breathing exercises and meditation. The evening class at 7 includes instruction on the origin and development of Taoism and the relationship to breathing exercises. Chou, who has practiced the breathing exercises for more than 30 years, believes that they exemplify Lao-tze's "Tao" or "way." According to Lao-tze (born about 570 B.C.), the ways of man are artificial and unnatural. "By being humble and satisfied with one's lot, adapting to what one has, one becomes like water that wears down the rocks," Chou said. To describe the concept of the natural, the untaught and the primitive, Taoists use the term Pu, meaning an uncarved piece of wood. This is symbolized in a sculpture of Lao-tze astride a buffalo, riding happily to his death. Legend has it that Lao-tze rode a buffalo to Han Ku Pass. Kung Yin stopped him and pestered him with questions. Lao-tze wrote out the answers, leaving the 5,000-word Book of Tao. Lao-tze mounted his buffalo again and rode into the desert beyond the pass, disappearing forever. Lao-tze's teachings were expanded by Chuang-tze, who was born in the third century B.C. A famous story illustrates Chuang-tze's poetic concept of life. "Once upon a time, perhaps on a lazy afternoon, a butterfly fluttered into the dreams of Chuang-tze as he drowsed on a grassy river bank. Chuang-tze dreamed that he was a butterfly and was filled with sunlit happiness. Then he woke up and discovered that he was Chuang-tze. But, he asked himself, was he a man dreaming that he had been transformed into a butterfly, or was he a butterfly dreaming that he had been transformed into a man? Chou said his center is trying to teach students to apply the Tao of Lao-tze and Chuang-tze on the mental and physical levels. Mental exercises consisting mainly of meditation and physical exercises including ways of breathing can be combined to increase one's life span, Chou said. Express News—Striking oil on film A Chinese motion picture company hopes to strike oil cinematographically. "The Pioneers" is set 100 years ago when Chinese settlers started a search for petroleum. Some of the special effects, such as an oil well explosion, match those of Hollywood. Starring roles have been given two foreign actors, John Philip Law and Deborah Zon. The budget of US$1.6 million accounts for two-fifths of CMP spending in 1979. Cooperation with foreign movie makers has played a big role in improving the company's techniques. Profits were US$800,000 in 1979. Efforts are concentrated on making movies that are both educational and entertaining. Express News—Eels for Germany The marine products industry has been making rapid progress. Fish farmer Tai Hsueh-chien has been successful in raising large quantities of Chiu Kung abalone in an area close to the newly opened coastal highway in northern Taiwan. Abalone eggs are attached to a plastic board and placed on a reef. It takes about three months for the Chiu Kung to reach maturity. Within the next two or three years, production of cultured lobsters will reach 10,000 metric tons annually, an official of the Taiwan Marine Products Experimental Institute disclosed. In 1979, Taiwan produced 3,200 tons of cultured lobsters, 57 times the quantity in 1967. The second 70-kilogram trial air shipment of live eels to West Germany was carried out recently. The consignment reached its destination in 52 hours. This will be shortened to 18 hours when a new route via Hongkong and Rotterdam is opened. Eel industry sources said prices in Europe have fluctuated between US$5 and $10 per kilogram. West Germany, the largest consuming country in Europe, may import between 3,000 and 5,000 metric tons of eels from Taiwan. Economic News—Let's learn Chinese Study of the Chinese language is becoming more popular. About 1,500 foreigners are learning Mandarin in Taiwan each year. The majority attend schools attached to colleges or universities, including National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University, National Chengchi University, Fu Jen Catholic University, Tunghai University, Tamkang College and Feng Chia College of Engineering and Business. Some programs have fewer than 20 students. Others have nearly 600. Each is supported by tuition. Classroom space is short. Wu Hsi-chen, director of the Mandarin Training Center at Taiwan Normal, said, "In the past we had to rent an apartment and use the space for classrooms. Now we have space at the Student Activity Center. " Enrollment has risen to 523. There are now four or five students per teacher contrasted with the individual tutorial system of old. There are more than 100 teachers. The Stanford Language Center at National Taiwan University is having financial troubles. Director William M. Speidel said, "Our annual budget is currently US$ 280,000, just enough to cover overhead. If we want to upgrade teaching equipment, facilities and programs, there is no money." The center was founded 16 years ago and supported by the Ford Foundation for six years. The cost of living in Taiwan was very low at that time and the value of the U.S. dollar was high. Tuition is US$900 for each term and most regular students stay for three terms. Tuition for a fourth term is US$600. With 36 regular students, 11 special students, 2 faculty associates and contributions from U.S. and Taiwan sources, the budget is still short by one-fourth. Any increase in tuition will be small. There are no plans to increase the number of students or otherwise lower standards. Students are concerned but have their own financial problems. In the past most received full or substantial assistance. Most now pay their own way. A student from the University of Iowa said that the cost of a year's study is about US$8,000. A Stanford University report indicates that three-quarters of the doctorates in U.S. China studies during the last 10 years have gone to students of the center. The Taipei Language Institute is a private institution teaching Mandarin and Fukienese in three cities. Enrollment is about 600. It was established in 1957 to teach Chinese to American missionaries but has been enlarged to accept students of many nationalities. The Taipei branch has 200 students, 70 of them full-time. Two-thirds are missionaries. Some are housewives or businessmen. Each summer the institute sends about 20 teachers to help language teaching of overseas Chinese visitors invited by the China Youth Corps. National Taiwan Normal University's Mandarin program is Taiwan's largest. Established in 1956, its goal is to grant credit and degrees. The National Institute for Compilation and Translation has been working on a set of materials to improve Mandarin teaching at Taiwan Normal and other institutions. Most schools use materials from Yale University. This includes a pronunciation system and text. Expressions and situations go back 20 or 30 years and are out of tune with modern Taiwan. Recently the Peiping regime brought out new teaching materials, including a pronunciation system. These have been adopted by some universities in the United States. The Republic of China is rising to the challenge. Romanization will be used in the United States and phonetic symbols in Taiwan. The system should be ready this year. Advanced teaching materials are varied. Speidel said, "In the past when we had a bigger budget, we edited our own materials. Now we turn to contemporary or classical literature. "Students pick up more about the language in their daily lives. I try to take them out of Taipei City to such interesting places as Lukang and Peikang so they will have more exposure to Chinese culture." One two-year student said, "Studying in Taiwan has not only increased my Chinese language ability and understanding of Chinese culture, but also my ability to be independent and get around alone."