LIEN HENG (1878-1936) AND THE GENERAL HISTORY OF TAIWAN

Throughout his life, the Taiwanese poet, linguist, and historian Lien Heng devoted himself to the creation of a distinct Taiwanese culture. According to his ideal, the Taiwanese culture was not merely an extension of the local Min-nan culture, but rather a diverse and distinct one that was compatible with China's main cultural stream of the Central Plains, chung-yuan wen-hua. The three-volume General History of Taiwan, completed in 1918 and published in 1920 and 1921, presents his constructive design. This article introduces his times and his personality, and explores the path of his extensive writings, including a comparison of the General History of Taiwan and the Historical Records, shih chi. The article is excerpted from "Lien Heng (1878-1936): Taiwan's Search for Identity and Tradition," forthcoming from Indiana University Oriental Series.

THE TIMES, CHINA, AND TAIWAN

The author of the General History of Taiwan, t'ai-wan t'ung-shih, lien Heng (L. Ya-t'ang, h. Chien-hua, or Wu-kung, 1878-1936,) lived in the most turbulent period of modern Asian history. he was born in Taiwan when the Ch'ing dynasty in China was in disarray, facing both domestic and foreign problems that had been eroding the empire since the early nineteenth century. During his life of nearly sixty years he experienced the losses of his hometown and his identity. he was mostly in great plight as he moved from place to place on the island and between Mainland China and Taiwan, passionately searching for his identity and working for an intellectual and cultural path, as he believed it should be, for himself and the Taiwanese people. He, like most Asian intellectuals of his time, fought to preserve the national character as he drifted intellectually toward a middle path between the conflicting forces that were traditional and modern, Eastern and Western.

From the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century the world of Asia reached its peak of political, social, and cultural foment as it underwent transition from an indigenous, particularistic, and imperial order to a modern, universalistic, and Westernized pattern. Politically, Western powers spread imperialism throughout the East and challenged the survival of the old Asian empires, which ironically paved the way for individual nation states to replace the ancient family-dominated empires. Socially, individualism prevailed. Men were more conscious of their own worth. Women fought for equality to men. The old-fashioned notions of class division and hierarchical structure were undermined; instead, people were alert to ideas of rights and freedom. Culturally, the old values and moralities were transvalued. People judged the standards of morality from new and different perspectives and questioned the traditional measures. People's behavior, actions, and thoughts tended to be modified according to the Western standards. In sum, the global features of the early modern era challenged and prevailed over the traditional order and cultural values of Asian civilizations developed over thousands of years. During this turbulent period of transition many heroes emerged. There were distinguished politicians, military men, scientists, professionals, social thinkers, and writers, each exploring ways to resolve immediate problems and to benefit his or her people. Their works and ideas contributed to the enrichment of life in Asia during their time and into the future. As a poet, historian, and linguist, lien Heng was surely preeminent among them.

The western powers had begun the encroachment on China's southeastern coast in the early nineteenth century. Taiwan, an island separated from the Mainland by a water area of about one hundred miles, was entangled in the national struggles, especially in the periods of the Opium War (1839-42) and the Sino-French War (1883-1885). Because of its location and historical connection with China, the island had to cope with external dangers and eventually played the role of a frontier defender of the empire. Furthermore, the island itself became a coveted target of the modernized Meiji Japan. A Japanese military intrusion into northern Taiwan in 1874 that challenged Ch'ing sovereignty was followed by a French incursion into southern Taiwan in 1884 as part of its campaign to subdue Vietnam. This prompted the Ch'ing dynasty to realize the necessity to build up the island to secure its southeastern coast.

The sustained threats and changes brought about by the Western powers forced the Chinese people to reevaluate their traditional mode of life and worldview, and opened them to a world in rapid transition. The process of westernization was most rapid in the provinces of the southeast coast. Maybe because of the island's geographical separation and loose ties to the alien Manchu dynasty, or maybe because of their adventurous mind and frequent contact with the Western traders and missionaries who came to East Asia beginning in the sixteenth century, the inhabitants of Taiwan faced the changes with greater openness.