A projected new Chinese dictionary to be completed in June of 1979 will have a glossary of Chinese Communist terms. It is the first government compilation in 40 years.
A government commission headed by Dr. George Yeh, minister without portfolio, had been working on the project for nearly a year. Researchers have been poring over the Kuo Yu Tzu Tien of 1936 to determine which entries are obsolete and should be dropped.
The Yeh commission is collecting expressions and terms that have come into use since the Kuo Yu Tzu Tien was published by the Commercial Press in Shanghai. The old dictionary is in four volumes and entries are arranged in such a way that the user has to be able to pronounce the word he is looking for in a special Chinese phonetic alphabet (Chu Yin Fu Hao). It has 107,000 entries.
The new dictionary of six volumes will include such common terms as suchiao (plastics) and t'aik'ung (outer space). There will be 150,000 to 160,000 entries, more than 50,000 of them new.
Colloquialisms and slang words not included in the Kuo Yu Tzu Tien will be presented.
Some 4,700 commonly used words will be presented in their most usual form to counter the simplified Chinese Communist writing of fewer strokes.
The project has a budget of NT$3,500,000, plus US$30,000 from the Sino-U.S. Cultural Fund.
Dr. Yeh is supervising the work, assisted by Profs. Mao Tzu-shui, Kao Ming and Lin Yin.
More educated youths returning
The brain drain of the 1960s is showing signs of a reverse trend due to the tighter job market abroad and increased employment opportunities at home.
The National Youth Commission of the Executive Yuan reported 722 foreign-trained Chinese with advanced degrees returned to Taiwan last year, an all-time record. Most came from the United States.
Few foreign-trained scholars returned before 1974. In that year, 486 came home, mainly because they could not find employment in the United States. In 1975 the number was 569.
For the last two decades, an average of 2,000 college graduates have left Taiwan annually for advanced training abroad.
The National Youth Commission reported that 15 per cent of last year's returnees found their own employment. The remaining 85 per cent landed jobs with the help of the commission.
USIS services welcome in Taiwan
The U.S. Information Service has become a familiar name in academic circles of Taiwan - for good reasons. It provides information on American history, culture, literature and current U.S. policy.
USIS branches are open in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
The USIS Lincoln Center on Nanhai Road in central Taipei was set up when the government of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan in 1949. Most of the staff members are Chinese, including some who worked for the U.S. Office of War Information in Chengtu, Szechwan, during World War II. There are 69 staff members on the USIS payroll in Taiwan, including nine Americans assigned by the U.S. government.
USIS has information, cultural affairs and administrative sections in Taiwan.
The information section is in contact with the local press. It handles news and issues a "News Backgrounder" to the press and Chinese government agencies.
The information section publishes a news magazine, Student Review, which is popular among college students.
The Lincoln Center has a library with 11,000 volumes and some 280 American periodicals.
College education shows major gains
Of Taiwan college students, in the 1975-76 school year, 106,380 or 36.8 per cent were girls. Only 726 girls attended college in 1950, Education Minister Y.S. Tsiang said.
Tsiang said the number of college students increased one and a half times in the last 10 years. He said 274 out of every 1,000 persons are now in schools of various levels, 65 of them in colleges. Of persons in the 18-23 age bracket, 155 of every 1,000 are in college.
The number of colleges increased 2.29 times in the 10 years. The current count is 25 universities and colleges and 76 junior colleges.
Nineteen universities and colleges offer graduate programs with an enrollment of 4,501. In 1950, only National Taiwan University had a graduate school - and five graduate students.
Minister Tsiang said the government will seek a more balanced emphasis in higher education. "We have paid too much attention to training students in economy-related fields," he said.
He said at least 60,000 college graduates need job assistance each year.
2 million tourists expected by 1986
The Republic of China will have 2 million tourists by 1986.
Hsu Chin-teh, chairman of the Taipei Tourist Hoteliers' Association, said the 2 million will spend a total of US$1 billion.
Tourists numbered 14,000 in 1956 and broke the million mark last year.
Hsu estimated Taipei City will need new 7,700 hotel rooms in the next four years.
In January, 95,241 tourists visited Taiwan, an increase of 16,920 or 21.6 per cent over the same month last year, the Tourism Bureau reported.
Foreign visitors numbered 80,956, up 11,152 or 16 per cent, and overseas Chinese 14,285, up 5,768 or 67.7 per cent.
Japanese topped the list of foreigners with 59,538, or 62.51 per cent of non-Chinese visitors. This is an increase of 8,783 or 17.3 per cent over January of 1976.
Americans ranked second with 8,867 or 9.31 per cent and an increase of 1.9 per cent.
Most overseas Chinese tourists came from Hongkong with 12,733 or 89.14 per cent of the total. This was an increase of 5,711 persons or 81.3 per cent.
There's still hope for opera revival
One Peiping opera actress recently complained that audiences are so sparse she notices if one old faithful fan is missing.
This probably is an exaggeration of the plight of China's national drama. However, an evening at the Armed Forces theater on Chunghua Road is unlikely to reassure the visitor about the chances of Peiping Opera surviving.
The audience is mostly made up of old men from North China. Young people are likely to be students from one of the Peiping opera schools or curious foreigners.
However, all is not gloomy in the world of Chinese drama. There is a general feeling among performers and pundits alike that this unique art form has been saved in the nick of time.
Peiping opera is a synthesis of various styles, most of which originated in Central China. Born in the upper plains of the Yangtze River, Peiping opera was bred in the teahouses of Peiping.
It ousted the more sophisticated Kunchu and signaled the triumph of the drama of the boards over that of the literati. As time went by, it, too, grew in sophistication.
The appreciation of Peiping opera calls for a not inconsiderable education in its language, lore and symbolism - and here lies its chief problem. There are too few young people sufficiently grounded in its intricacies to be able to enjoy it.
Plans are being mooted to help overcome this impasse. Of these, the most basic and in the long run the most important would be a change in Chinese literature and folklore instruction at the primary school level.
Chinese movies need more promotion
A symposium organized by the Republic of China's Movie and Drama Association was held to promote Chinese movies and help them to fulfill their social function.
Directors, critics, producers, playwrights and officials of the Government Information Office took part.
Ting Shan-si, director of "800 Heroes," said the Central Motion Picture Corporation of the Kuomintang must lead other private producers in making nonprofit films.
"Loans and citations to promote Chinese movies should be forthcoming from the government," Ting said.
Director Hsu Chin-liang said: "Wages for photographers, designers and other workers should be raised. Pay of actors should not be exorbitant. A best foreign films exhibition should be held annually."
"Movie workers should further their studies along with their profession," said Liu Yi, who recently received the Chungshan Literary Award.
"The transfer law for actors should be strictly observed to safeguard the rights of movie companies," said Kuo Nan-hung, a Kungfu director.
Yang Yen, a director, Kang Pai and Chang Yung-hsiang, playwrights, said deterioration of Chinese movies is caused by the star system.
Writers, composers get a tax break
The Legislative Yuan completed revision of the income tax law with writers and composers as the biggest beneficiaries.
The new law also favors working couples and permits a bigger tax write-off for medical bills and research expenses.
The legislators passed without amendment the Cabinet's proposal that earnings from intellectual labor be exempted from tax.
Specifically stipulated are earnings from literature, musical compositions, plays, cartoons and lectures.
Also exampled will be allowances for grading exam papers or conducting government-sponsored examinations.
The law provides that bills for hospitalization or childbirth are deductible provided the taxpayer produces receipts from reputable hospitals.
Manufactures can enjoy a 100 per cent write-off for research and development expenses.
Another revision provides that those without permanent residence in the Republic of China shall pay income tax if their stay in the country reaches 183 days.
Chinese golfers come out on top
Hsu Sheng-san of Taiwan captured the men's championship and a prize of NT$133,000 with his three-below-par 285 in the 11th Chinese Professional Golf Association open tournament.
Play at the Tamsui Golf and Country Club drew some 140 men and women from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and the Republic of China.
Second and third places also went to Chinese professionals: Chen Chien-chung at 288 and Hsu Chi-san at 289.
Lu Liang-huan, a former champion, had a 292 for fifth.
Among the women, Tu A-yu of the Republic of China won at 151 for 36 holes, 10 strokes ahead of a Japanese competitor.
Aborigines know their mountains
Wilderness survival training and experience supplied by aborigines at Nanhutashan have drawn the public's attention as a result of Taiwan mountain tragedies.
Experts said most accidents are caused by sudden climatic changes and errors by climbers.
"It is useful to carry a knife and a package of salt," said Pan Yi Ai-wei, an aborigine at Nanhutashan.
For aborigines, wilderness survival is part of a life style that has endured a thousand years or longer.
Li Kuang-hui hid out in Indonesian jungles for more than 30 years.
Aborigine girls do not like to marry a man who cannot hunt, a skill basic to wilderness survival.
In Taiwan, bears, deer, goats, monkeys, rabbits and many other animals can be hunted from November to March.
Aborigines never hunt within two hours before sunset. If it's late, they construct a hut and light a fire.
Signals show one's location and salt prolongs body energy. Keeping calm also helps.
Taipei schools get swimming pools
Taipei will allocate some NT$60 million to construct swimming pools at 10 primary and middle schools this year.
The pools will be built at Tatung, Yangming, Mensheng and Minglung middle schools and Chungcheng, Sheungyuan, Mucha, Lungan, Yuching and Sungshan primary schools.
Construction is aimed at providing a recreational outlet for young people.
Of 49 Taipei middle schools, only Nanmen Middle School has a swimming pool. Among 101 primary schools, only Shihlin, Tungmen, Shimen and Taipeng have pools.
Each pool will cost about NT$44 million.