Taiwan Panorama 2017 Oct

10610 42 10
Vol. 42 No. 10 October 2017

CHINESEENGLISH BILINGUAL MONTHLY ISSN 1991-525X
10
Taiwan Panorama

Food Fusion in Taiwan

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Harvest

S ummer is the season to harvest the rice crop
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Yilan County you can see farmers driving harvest-
ers through the fields to reap the full golden ears of
rice. A group of white egrets follow behind, getting
a filling meal in the wake of the machine.
(photo and text by Jimmy Lin/tr. by Phil Newell)

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Ethnic Harmony on the EDITORS NOTE
Tips of Our Tongues
M emories of tastes are unforgettable.

When these fondly remembered fla
vors spread through the mouth, whether
Taiwan, they are planting seeds of hope for
the next generation.
When Chien Mu, the great master of
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they come from beef noodles from a military Chinese cultural studies, delivered his US$55/2 years by regular mail
Elsewhere: US$45/year,
dependents village, pan-fried milkfish from last class before his retirement in 1986, US$80/2 years by airmail
Tainan, or Hakka caozaiguo (glutinous rice he attracted major public figures to attend, Sinorama Magazine
951 Taiwan
cakes flavored with herbs), you get a clear including Professor Lu Yao dong, General Panorama
and vibrant impression, Yes, thats exactly Kong Ling sheng, and politician James
GPN: 2008000038 ISSN1991-525X
the flavor! You cannot forget or exchange Soong. Chien has long since left us, but

these vivid impressions for anything. memories of his exemplary approach to

186

On Toad Hill in Taipei, Mrs. Tong of the education still linger in every corner of his
229
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husband hails from mainland Chinas Hei Using shutter speeds of 1/2000 of a sec 0128106-5
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longjiang Province, has learned how to cook ond, Taiwan Panorama photographers have 2600
pickled cabbage in the northeast Chinese captured exciting moments from compet Taiwan Panorama (USPS 000624) is published
monthly, US$32.00 per year, by Kwang Hwa
style, while Mrs. Ye, a Hakka from Hsinchu itors in the Summer Universiade for this Publishing (USA), Inc., 3731 Wilshire Blvd 104,
Los Angeles, CA 90010, USA. All rights reserved.
who married a man from Jiangsu Province, months Photo Essay. Reproduction in whole or in part without written
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has mastered mainlandstyle noodles in addi Art, whether it be street graffiti art or ma at Los Angeles, California.
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nostalgic flavors that have allowed people flects the myriad patterns of our lives. Artist

from different origins to blend together. Paul Chiangs work The Hundred Year Temple Readers in the US & Canada should subscribe
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fine wines, such as those made by Shu-Sheng at Taipeis Longshan Temple. Graffiti artist 3731 Wilshire Blvd 104, Los Angeles, CA 90010,
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young homegrown chefs like Nicola Cheng culture of Taichungs Dongshi District when

and Hsiao Tsunyuan, as well as new im he painted a mixandmatch work depicting President: K.T. YANG
General Manager: Jenny WU
migrants who are bringing in the flavors of tung blossoms, persimmons and a mystical Assistants: WU Chia-ying, Thomas KOH
Southeast Asia, are increasing the diversity dragonhorse on a restaurant wall.

and refinement of our cuisine. Their creations Whether it be nostalgic flavors that de
not only excite diners, they also convey the light the tongue, learnercentered education,

All rights reserved. Photos and articles may not be
spirit of true emotions. or artistic creations, they all spring from the
reprinted without our permission.
If you wish to reprint any of our articles or
Education is a painstaking vocation that energy that abounds on this island of Tai
photographs, please contact our senior
administrative editor.
works for longterm results. Whether it be wan. This issue of Taiwan Panorama will take
Damaged or misbound copies returned to us will
be gladly replaced.
the Tavalan family who are reviving Sirayan you for an indepth experience of Taiwans
culture, or Alex Wang, a teacher who is driv beauty and wonder. l
ing the adoption of the flipped classroom in (Ivan Chen/tr. by Phil Newell)

CONTENTS 10610 42 10 Vol. 42 No. 10 October 2017
Cover Story
6
A Cultural and Culinary Melting Pot:
8
Food Fusion in Taiwan
8

A New Fusion Style:
Taiwanese Chefs Create Downhome
Cuisine

18

Western-Style Wine, Taiwanese Terroir:
Man and Nature Hand in Hand
18

28

The Open-Air Feasts of Toad Hill:
Dining Rituals of a Hillside Community

36

Two Desserts:
Sweet Footnotes to Hard Times

28
Photo Essay
56
Capturing the Moment: Gymnastics

Editors Note Postcards from Home
2 1 46
Ethnic Harmony on the Harvest Variety Pages
Tips of Our Tongues

Old Residences
66

Chien Mus Last Class:
The Cultured Elegance of Su Shu House

Cover: Pt de foie gras on Taiwanese rice, served in
a golden bowl on a stone tray beside ears of grain. The Education
presentation has all the elegance of a work of art.
(photo by Chuang Kung-ju) 74

Revitalizing Siraya Culture:
Fearless Campaigners on the
Path to Recognition

82

Lets Learn Sirayan!
66
Taiwans First Siraya Elementary School

88

Alex Wangs Dream:
Grassroots Flipped Education

Cultural Trends
98

74
Inspired by Music, Pursuing Beauty:
Paul Chiang, High Priest of Art

108

BOUNCE
The City Is My Canvas:
Graffiti Artist BOUNCE Mixes New and
Old Cultures

Southeast Asian Focus
116
98

The Taste of Home:
Savor a Spoonful of Southeast Asian
Spices

COVER STORY

A s a multi-ethnic society with diverse resources,

Taiwan has the foundations on which to move
toward broader culinary possibilities and to accept
cuisine from all over. Western and Southeast-Asian
cuisines have come on board in recent years, and chefs
are carrying forward the global trends toward sustain-
ability and returning to the local. Through the prism
of foreign techniques and dishes, we can see anew the
energy and value of the local, while expanding the
boundaries of Taiwans food and beverage culture. l
(Lynn Su/tr. by Phil Newell)

COVER STORY
8 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

Taiwanese Chefs Create Downhome Cuisine

I n recent years a number of young chefs

perhaps on returning from overseas or
after comprehensive training in a high-
class restauranthave independently made
the same decision: to open a fusion-style
restaurant. They use the cooking techniques
of Western cuisine, but their flavor concepts
draw on the tastes of their homeland. In this
movement to develop Taiwanese takes on
Western cuisine, there are hidden questions
that chefs cannot avoid: Who am I? Where
do I come from? Where do I want to go?
9
Kopi Ibrik/

DNA

Ascend

jazz
Kopi Ibrik/

juicy roasting

y a m T c h a
y a m T c h a
Adeline Grattard
Ascend has a background in jazz perfor-
mance from a European music school, and
has studied the Arab oud to a high level. As the
owner of the Taipei coffee shop Kopi Ibrik, he is
promoting the old Turkish technique of brewing

coffee in a bed of hot sand, and is using this to
convey his unique juicy roasting philosophy.
For many years he has immersed himself in all
kinds of life flavors, taking food seriously, skilled
at cooking, and even blogging on his views

about food. In recent years he has proposed
various food-related ideas, including matching idea
coffees with foods, and the future of rice cuisine.


Ascend, owner of the Kopi Ibrik coffee shop, which ments to French cooking, or with creating Westernstyle
opened just this year, says: In the past, if you mentioned foods that meet the dietary habits of Taiwanese. The
Turkish coffee, no one would think it had anything to do creative cuisine that was popular for a while in the
with specialty coffee. But now people have started using past cannot compare in terms of presentation, combina-
the language of specialty coffee to talk about Turkish coffee, tion of flavors, elegance, or completeness, says Ascend.
and to explore such things as its extraction yield, the types I categorize these innovative dishes as Taiwanesestyle
of coffee beans used and their places of production, so it is Western cuisine.
beginning to draw the attention of coffee aficionados. But what is the biggest difference between such in-
The same logic applies in the culinary world. Food and novative dishes and creative cuisine?
beverages have developed to a point where Western cui- The difference is in the foundation, says Ascend.
sine is a generally recognized international language. But In the world of professional cooking, there are no short-
at this point, led by Nordic cuisine, there is a trend toward cuts, only repeated practice and experimentation, so that
local style and seasonal cooking. Chefs around the world a person can build a solid foundation that has stood the
are drawing on their own cultural DNA and flavor experi- test of time. Only then can you add things in a logical,
ences, and using local ingredients to express these within grounded way; otherwise you are just acting blindly.
the format of Western cuisine. This enables diners to di- You will only do this if you miss home
rectly experience local cooking through their own senses, Besides the Hero Restaurant, which opened in
and from there to understand the source of a particular December of 2013 and launched this wave of fusion
cuisine, without having to draw on outside knowledge. cuisine, Ascend also mentions other representative
Innovative dishes with logic and foundations restaurants, including Akame and Lovely Casual Din-
Today there is a group of rigorously trained chefs who ing Room. Independently, they have decided not to set
are experimenting with adding Taiwanese or Chinese ele up in Taipei, on the front lines of highend restaurants.
11

Joelle Chen thinks things are there to be used, so she serves
customers with a tea set passed down in her family.
3

201312
Hero RestaurantAkame

Rialto Cucina ItalianaDe Loin Restaurant
buffet

He says: Maybe people do this because they miss
Lovely Casual Dining Rooms service manager
home. These chefs have been through rigorous training, Joelle Chen and head chef Nicola Cheng.
but they have decided, like a school of migrating fish,
to leave the noisy city and return to their hometowns to
open restaurants that are entirely their own, in order to
fully express their personal characters and depth. down from Chens grandfather. Taking inspiration from
Nicola Cheng worked in established Western restau- Western herbal teas, guests are welcome to add rose
rants like Rialto Cucina Italiana and De Loin Restaurant, petals, chamomile, and mint. The wafting herbal fra-
while his wife Joelle Chen worked on the service side at grances add a great deal of pleasure to the meal.
De Loin. Together they moved back to Taoyuan and re- Why use the concepts of Chinesestyle cuisine?
modeled the family home into the Lovely Casual Dining Nicola Cheng responds: Because I like Chinese food.
Room. In this warm little space, the chef prepared for Gentle memories of his mothers signature dishes have
us a dish of dried scallops and fresh shrimp, prepared become the hidden stream underlying his meals.
with Shaoxing wine, on linguine. In it he used three basic Seeking oneness with nature
sauces. Besides the notuncommon Frenchstyle shrimp When the Hero Restaurant moved to Taichung from
sauce and chicken broth, he marinated the dried scallops Nantou in October of 2016, Hsiao Tsunyuan, the original
in the Shaoxing wine overnight, removed them to steam owner and chef, brought in Lin Kaiwei, who had been a
and shred them, then marinated them again, which pro- classmate of his in the Department of Chinese Culinary
vided the main strand of flavor running through the dish. Arts at National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality
Joelle Chen is especially fond of old things, so and Tourism, to create a dual head chef system, making
Lovelys foods are mostly served on tableware passed the whole team more complete. The two had both de-
down in her family, or on antique plates. The meal wraps cided even in university that in the future they would go
up with Taiwanese tea, served using a tea set passed in the direction of fusion dishes. Hsiao has been through
13

201610Hero
Restaurant
Latelier de Jol Robuchon
Institut
Paul Bocuse
Hero Restaurant
Michel Bras
Gault Millau
Lvo
Hero Restaurant
Western cuisine emphasizes separate preparation of foods.

These are placed out to eat in a certain order, and emphasize
both visual effect and flavor.

a baptism of restaurants including Du Xiao Yue Taiwan lily bulb pure. The basic idea comes from the Chinese
Seafood Cuisine in Yilan, LAtelier de Jol Robuchon in dish of lily bulb, asparagus, and shrimp, but unlike in
Taipei, and the Bulgari restaurant in Tokyo. Lin, on the the traditional dish, where all the flavors are blended
other hand, after graduation went to the Institut Paul together, Western cuisine is particular about preparing
Bocuse in France for advanced training. Even early on ingredients separately, and respecting the flavors of the
in his career, when he was head chef at the Yetsen Man- ingredients themselves. Allowing all kinds of textures
sion restaurant in Taichung, he was attracting attention. and characters to mix in the mouth makes the entire dish
When I was at Yetsen, you had to use highgrade mate- carry a message of freshness and richness.
rials to show your stuff. There was no emphasis on local The Hero Restaurant has its own vegetable farms in
ingredients, but some dishes had a Chinese flavor to Nantou and elsewhere, and the whole team participates
them. Lin adds: Today its more comprehensive. in the planting and harvesting. Ascend makes a point of
Of the seasonal dishes at Hero, the one that really mentioning the two foreign chefs so much appreciated
catches Ascends attention is one made with local by Hsiao Tsunyuan: the Frenchman Michel Bras and the
prawn, Yunlin white asparagus, wild mullet roe, and Japanese Eiji Taniguchi, head chef at Lvo in Toyama, Ja-
pan. Taniguchi started out from French cuisine, but com-
Hero Restaurant bined it with local ingredients from Toyama and worked
Hero Restaurant head chef Lin Kai-wei. with local handicraft artists, to create refined local dishes.
15
2.0Hero Restaurant

Hero Restaurant

Hero Restaurant yamTcha

The Hero Restaurants local prawn with white
asparagus, wild mullet roe and lily pure.

Hero
Restaurant

510
l

Hsiao Tsun-yuans natural style

and Lin Kai-weis traditional
foundation complement one
another, making for a great team.
Version 2.0 of the Hero Restaurant has felt its way cuisine is gradually taking shape. In these best and worst
through the initial teething troubles that any new business of times, some chefs are focusing their attention on in-
faces, and has passed the test of several large dining events. jecting Taiwanese flavor into haute cuisine, while others
With the upgrade in its resources, things have moved much are pursuing the role of shortterm guest chefs. But culi-
closer to the ideal that is in Hsiao Tsunyuans mind. For nary professionals should look inward and realize: only
example, the dessert on the day of our visit was ice cream with true motivation for doing this can you go far. After
topped with Musann Blanc grapes. These are wine grapes waiting through this transitional period, everyone will be
from the Weightstone vineyard and winery, which is also clearer about what they are doing and what they want to
based in central Taiwan. We later heard that they came do, says Ascend.
from the last bunch of this years harvest. In addition, Hero In this stage when things are still evolving, the main
uses ceramics made by Nantou ceramicist Lin Yongsheng. challenges for Taiwan chefs today are how to blend the
What about the core dishes? Ascend gives the follow- strong points of Chinese and Western cuisines, give form
ing evaluation: Compared to the past, the flavors are to their own style, and incorporate their own stories into
much more rounded. He also points especially to the last their food.
item on the menu: minced pork on rice. In the past they This is a period when it is worth pondering what we
had starches like Italian pasta and risotto as main courses, are doing. When this period passes, there will be something
but now they serve the rice last, in order to place more amazing, something that transcends Western cuisine. Five
emphasis on the fish and meat ingredients. This is more or ten years from now, what heights will this group of Tai-
like the Japanese format. wanese chefs have reached? We wait with bated breath. l
Anticipating a culinary peak in five years (Lynn Su/photos by Chuang Kung-ju/
The climate for contemporary downhome Taiwanese tr. by Phil Newell)
17
COVER STORY
location courtesy of Dancing Elephant Wine Shop

Man and Nature Hand in Hand

200211WTO
O n January 1 of 2002, on Taiwans accession to the

World Trade Organization, the government offi-
cially legalized private-sector production of beers, wines
and spirits. This was a milestone for Taiwans alcoholic
beverages industry. Responding to the trend toward glo-
balization, many first-generation producers made their
entre through Western-style wines and spirits. With
products that are so able to capture the essence of a local-
ity, they took on the challenges of making wine from new
grape varieties, and of finding ways to take advantage of
our hot and humid climate, seeking opportunities for suc-
cess based on the unique characteristics of this island.
19
20143

Father and son Hong Jibei and Hong Liangjie of the
Shu-Sheng Domaine. The elder Mr. Hong takes care
1957 of the vineyards, while his son looks after the winery.
5

50 1927

70

N i a g a r a
5

7
21996

1999


In March of 2014, the Golden Muscat fortified white cently returned from studying in France, and gladly took
wine made by Shu-Sheng Leisure Domaine took home on this challenging mission. Winemaking in Taiwan
a gold medal from the Vinalies Internationales Compe- was a lost art, he says. From 1927, when the Japanese
tition in Paris, stunning the foreign and domestic wine colonial government instituted an alcohol and tobacco
worlds. This farm-based winery, which can be traced monopoly, Taiwan had no private wineries for over 70
back to 1957, saw its fortunes transformed. Today if you years. Given the very different climate and grape variet-
want to buy a bottle of Golden Muscat White, youll ies from those in continental Europe, Chen had no prec-
have to wait at least five years. Having gone from being edent to follow. He was sure of only one thing: the core
a grape farmer to operating a winery, owner Hong Ji- principle of adapting to local conditions. He opened up
bei says Ive been growing grapes for over 50 years! a map of the world and searched for a wine-producing
He leads us into the vineyard behind the winery, where region at a similar latitude to Taiwan; he found it in the
thick-trunked Golden Muscat vines stand imposingly Madeira Islands, Portugal.
on the slope, their branches winding out along the trel- Taking advantage of a hot, wet climate
lises, writing a footnote to the varied history of wine- Taiwans hot and humid climate poses serious ob-
making in Taiwan over the last 50 years. stacles to winemakers. The quality of the grapes is
Recovering a lost art especially critical for making wine, but Taiwans climate
In 1999 the government launched an agricultural
revitalization plan, including guidance for Taiwans top

ten wineries. It was in this context that Hong Jibei first Prizewinning red and white fortified wines from the Shu-
met winemaking expert Chen Chien-hao. Chen had re- Sheng Leisure Domaine winery in Taichung.
21

40
foxy flavor3
5

Dr. Jim Swan
1000
9
The Kavalan Distillery produces 10 million
bottles per year, making it the ninth largest
whisky distillery in the world.

does not favor the growth of grape vines, which origi-

nated in temperate climes. Thus it is very hard to make
Ian Chang, the Kavalan Distillerys master blender, says that
a bottle of good wine in Taiwan. Moreover the summers Kavalan whiskies have overturned many misconceptions among
consumers about age, provenance, and climate.
often bring typhoons, forcing farmers to hurry to har-
vest their grapes at a time when they have just started
to change color but are not yet fully ripe, leaving them in a high-temperature environment. After five years,
clearly inadequate in terms of both sweetness and aroma. the high acidity in the grapes gives the wine a well-
The two main wine grape varieties currently grown in rounded body. What ultimately remain are passionate
Taiwan, Golden Muscat and Black Queen, are hybrid flavors of tropical fruit, candied fruit, and berries.
varieties. They have been cultivated for half a century in Redefining the age of whisky
Taiwan, but although they have the heat tolerance and The stalwart efforts of winemakers have revealed
disease resistance of hybrids, giving them great vigor, in that a hot climate can be helpful for making fortified
terms of flavor they have always left much to be desired. wine. But this success also pointed the way to a bright
Chen Chien-hao chose a different path. The forti- future for Taiwans whisky industry.
fied wine produced in large volume in the Madeira Whisky, which originated in Scotland and Ireland,
Islands provided great scope for the imagination. Chen currently has five major producer regions, including
decided to copy the special winemaking techniques of Scotland, the US and Canada, and Japan. All are located
the Madeiras, first heat-aging the fermented wine and in temperate climate zones. But Taiwanese whisky, led
then storing it in a southwest-facing metal-roofed store- by King Cars Kavalan whisky, along with the Nantou
house. The high-strength new wines can successfully Winery, which is following King Cars example, is caus-
stand the tempering of summer temperatures of over ing Taiwan to rise up into the ranks of new whisky-pro-
40 C. And the foxy flavor that people often criticize ducing regions.
in Golden Muscat grapes dissipates after three months More than a decade ago, when King Car chairman
23
Omar Whiskies from the Nantou Winerys Omar range.

5 20093
Musann Blanc

56
20
30


Lee Tien-tsai proposed his dream of making a whisky and passion for grapes and the land, and wanting to
that Taiwan could call its own, many experts, including give something back to the land and to farmers, he
some from Scotland and Japan, were not optimistic. But founded the Weightstone Vineyard Estate & Winery.
fortunately King Car was able to work with the Scottish Vivian Yang, now the operations manager at Weight-
whisky expert Dr. Jim Swan. In particular, in subtropical stone, grew up overseas from early childhood, but
regions, the most challenging part of the overall whisky was called back to Taiwan by her father to take on this
making process is when the newly distilled alcohol is onerous duty. Following the team brought over from
matured in oak casks. California, and starting from a demonstration farm in
The results were far different from what many people Puli, she learned practical skills, from cultivation to fer-
had expected. Taiwans hot, humid climate reduced the mentation to scientific principles, and she also learned
aging time to about one fifth of that required by most to listen to the information nature was giving out and to
whisky distilleries. This has become a unique feature of go with the flow. The main difference between Weight-
Taiwanese whisky. Kavalan broke down the miscon- stone and other wineries is their dedication to environ-
ceptions consumers had about the age of whisky, says mental sustainability. From slopeland water control and
Ian Chang, master blender at the Kavalan Distillery. In soil retention to soil and canopy management, pruning,
international competitions, Taiwan whisky that has been and harvesting techniques, they took the concepts they
aged only five to six years has often been mistaken for had learned and taught them to the farmers who were
whisky made in Scotland and aged 2030 years. Add to growing grapes for them under contract, achieving the
this the number of awards and prizes won by Kavalan, goal of giving something back to farmers.
and the liquor world has had to sit up and take notice. Weightstones careful cultivation has enabled the
Sustainability as giving back sugar content at harvest of its Musann Blanc grapes to
It has never been easy to produce good wine in Tai- rise from 15.5 Brix in 2013 to 20 this year. The steady
wan. However, in 2009 the Taichung District Agricul-
tural Research and Extension Station bred a new variety
of wine grape, Taichung No. 3, later named Musann

Blanc. This opened the way for the winemaking dream
Kavalans unique cask firing technique activates the oak casks to
of agribusinessman Ben Yang. Relying on his instincts bring out the flavors that the distillers want to emphasize.
25

7 Weightstones operations manager Vivian Yang, who returned
home to Taiwan to make wine, works in the vineyards herself,
20 saying, Now I know why my father loved Taiwan so much.

2013 year-by-year improvement surpassed the sweetness
15.520 levels of most wine grapes, which hover around 1415.
This promising new variety can be made into a still dry
1415 wine that has surprised many people.
Another area in which Weightstone has tried its hand
is in using the high acidity of Golden Muscat and Black

Queen grapes to make sparkling wine, which needs ex-

tra acidity. Although the traditional method of making

sparkling wine is not easy, and the towering reputation
of French champagne sets a high bar, fortunately the
resulting product won over many sommeliers, allowing
Weightstone to become one of the few Taiwanese wines
to be found in high-end restaurants.
Vivian Yang says: Besides climate and the land, peo-
ple are also very important. In the Weightstone Winery

we see not only the possibilities for Taiwanese wine-

making, but also a classic example of man and nature
l
working hand in hand.
(Lynn Su/photos by Chuang Kung-ju/
l tr. by Phil Newell)

27
COVER STORY
Dining Rituals of a Hillside Community

119
1
2

L eaving behind the din of the Gongguan

traffic circle and turning into Lane
119 off Section 4 of Roosevelt Road, the
noise of the city instantly fades and the
sweltering heat drops by one or two de-
grees. The single-story houses of the Toad
Hill community are nestled in close rows
against the hillside. In summer, this area
on the southern outskirts of the Taipei Ba-
sin is alive with the sounds of insects and
birds. On spring evenings, fireflies flicker,
old folk chat on benches, and the clatter
of stir-fry cooking fills the air. A village
landscape comes to life complete with

29

On Toad Hill, Taiwanese of different backgrounds blend into
a single community when they enjoy meals together.
10


communal melon trellises and vegetable gardens, Taiwan after 1945. Mung bean porridge has a cooling
and the leafy shade of the hillsidea world apart effect on the body according to the precepts of tradi-
from the nearby bustle of the city. tional Chinese medicine, and in the summer it is often
served cold. Beef broth is sometimes added to enhance
On this summer evening, residents have agreed to the flavor, and children like to add spoonfuls of sugar
contribute home-cooked dishes for a communal ban- and enjoy it as a sweet delicacy. The pan-fried milkfish,
quet. One by one, they emerge from their kitchens as on the other hand, hails from Mrs. Wangs hometown of
if in a ceremonial procession, gingerly carrying their Tainan, where a meal is incomplete without fish.
best family recipes, lovingly prepared, and teetering up Food reflects personal histories, and Wang family
and down the narrow stairs. They gather at a long table recipes indicate the familys background. Marriages
outside the Wang family residence, and suddenly the like the Wangsbetween waishengren men and Tai-
whole table overflows with delicacies. wanese womenare a common phenomenon in Toad
A feast of communal memories Hill communities. Mrs. Tong, for example, a member
The dishes contributed by the Wang family that day of the Amis indigenous tribe from Hualiens Shoufeng
include stewed beef, mung bean porridge, and fried Township, learned the culinary techniques of north-
milkfish. The stewed beef recipe comes from the beef eastern China after she took a husband from Chinas
noodle shop set up by the senior Mr. Wang after he was Heilongjiang Province. Similarly Mrs. Ye, a Hakka from
discharged from the army. As Wang grew old and lost Beipu Township in Hsinchu, became just as proficient at
his teeth, his son began to use tender beef tendon slowly
simmered in water, but preserved the flavors of the
family recipes. The mung bean porridge prepared by a
neighbor named Ah-Mei also reflects the culinary tastes
Though men in Taiwan traditionally left the cooking to
of waishengrenthe mainland Chinese who arrived in women, this situation has changed greatly in recent years.
31

303
1928

39
6070
10
630

Tamil Nadu
Prasannan4,000

Prasannan2


making the kind of noodles common in mainland China community welcomed people from all over. No matter
as she was at making traditional Hakka rice cakes, after how different their backgrounds, the residents shared
she married a man from Jiangsu Province. the common dream of making a good life. Plus the
After the chaos of the war years, it was not easy to humble architecture of the structures meant that sounds
find common ground in marriages between different carried between houses, creating a friendly atmosphere
communities. When two people had entirely different rarely seen in the big city.
backgrounds, would they also discover that their di- Mrs. Ye learned to make her delicious traditional
etary habits provided another source of conflict? In the Chinese-chive-and-egg pastries from her neighbor Mr.
past we were all so poor and had little to eat. It didnt Chen. Mr. and Mrs. Wang, who hail from Chinas Jiangsu
really matter as long as there was food! says a smiling Province, once operated a restaurant in Shanghai, and at
Mrs. Ye. The problem sorted itself out. each Chinese New Year Mrs. Wang prepares traditional
Good cooking makes for good neighbors Shanghai New Years dishes for her neighbors.
Che Lin, the founder of Good Toad Studio and a Indian scholars and wild herbs
ten-year resident of Toad Hill, showed me an old pic- Because of its proximity to National Taiwan University
ture taken in 1928. At that time, the Japanese colonial of Science and Technology, this inclusive community has
government had set up agricultural facilities such as a also welcomed a succession of science and engineering
research station and a sericulture unit near Toad Hill.
Dormitories for their workers were located at the
foot of the hill along Fanglan Road and were
the communitys earliest buildings.
In the postwar years, the mili-
tary constructed Huanmin New
Village for soldiers and their
families, and in the 1960s
and 70s migrant workers
from other parts of Tai-

wan built themselves Mustard seed and Indian
new homes through black gram Fenugreek
their own hard work.
Through these
phases of building,
the community took
shape. The tolerant

Cardamom and
Cumin Turmeric
ginger
A n j a r a
box
Fennel Black pepper
An anjara spice box is essential
for Indian households, and classic
flavors are created by blending a
few basic spices.
33
Prasannan

2015

A banana leaf overflows with curry, naan,
and long-grain rice. Friends dine with their 5
hands, seated on the floor.

Prasannan Prasannan

Prasannan30

3040
Prasannan

l

students and researchers from southern India. About a Festival, sponsored by Taipower, and local residents
decade ago, these students began to take up residence had the opportunity to comb through their family
in the area and others followed as word spread between recipes and share the rich layers of culinary history
them. Presently there are 30 students in six households, with the public. Feng Tien, a documentary filmmaker
and they form a unique part of this community. who lived in Toad Hill for five years, was able to take
Like Taiwans Aboriginal peoples and Taiwans older cooking lessons with local residents and film the pro-
generations who understand herbal medicine, A.K. cess. Artist Tseng Yun-chieh applied her knowledge of
Prasannan, a postdoctoral researcher from Tamil Nadu, plant-dyeing techniques, gathering Indian almond and
and his friends from southern India, know how to paper mulberry leaves on the slopes of Toad Hill and
listen to the body and treat it with health-giving plants boiling them into pigments that she used to illustrate
foraged in the wilds that they use in their cooking. local cuisine. She used these illustrations to make a cal-
Prasannan has identified more than 30 medicinal endar that she distributed to local residents.
plants on Toad Hill that also grow near his home in For me, Toad Hill is an enormous gift. Its nearly
India. He and his friends have also planted paper mul- impossible to find this kind of place in the city, and it
berry, moringa, banana trees, curry trees, lemon grass has preserved precious traces and clues to life 30 to 40
and other plants on uncultivated parts of the hilltop. years ago, Feng says.
Where I come from, almost every family grows paper In this rapidly changing metropolis that prizes ef-
mulberry, curry trees, and bananas, Prasannan says. ficiency, the Toad Hill community, situated in a hilly
Twice weekly Prasannan and his friends gather for backwater of the city, is like a last harbor, welcoming
cooking parties and use leaves from their banana trees strangers with completely different life stories, allow-
to serve curry dishes simmered with myriad spices. ing them to become intimate neighbors, to nurture each
Indian dance music enlivens the parties, helping to rec- other, and to carry on with their peaceful lives. l
reate the atmosphere of home and celebrate the spirit of (Lynn Su/photos by Lin Min-hsuan/
life in an adopted place. tr. by Robert Green)
A timeless hillside community
Dietary customs are often acquired unconsciously
through the habits of daily life. In 2015 the community
was included in the Wen Luo Ting Community Arts
35
COVER STORY
Sweet Footnotes to Hard Times

L ike countless Southeast-Asian immi-

grants who have put down roots in
Taiwan, Sun Lian and Li Aizhen, who came
from Thailand and Indonesia as the brides of
Taiwanese men, have had all kinds of trials
in life. They have transitioned from suffering
discrimination as foreign brides to regain-
ing their status and identity, becoming new
residents of Taiwan. Over time a strange
land has become their own, and the flavors of
their native regions, once viewed with suspi-
cion, have become dishes on the family din-
ner table, some even being in high demand.

37

47
burburchacha
24

9 Sun Lian has an excellent relationship with her son and
daughter, Sun Yongyan and Sun Yongshan. On the weekend
they accompanied their mom to help out at a Thai language
camp.
2

1

40


Both adults and children love Southeast-Asian des-

serts, which are the best footnote to these womens
Tapioca pudding has evolved different flavors
struggles after living in Taiwan for so many years. in the countries of Southeast Asia. In Thai-style
tapioca pudding, for example, pumpkin is one of
the most frequently used ingredients.
It is nearing noon on a summer weekend, and Tao
yuans Tong An Elementary School is abuzz with
activity. Gathered here are more than 40 children of
new residents, who on this day are attending a Thai who didnt speak a word of Chinese, began working
language experience camp. Sun Lian and a group of parttime as she studied Chinese in a supplementary
women from Thailand and Taiwan are preparing snacks school. How did she get together with her current hus
for the kids, making them a Thaistyle dessert of pump band? He kept on pestering me! With a smile, she ex
kin and tapioca pudding. Sun Lian laughs as she says plains that they were introduced by a friend, and after
that tapioca pudding is just bur burcha cha, the easiest they knew each other for more than a year, she thought,
dessert to make, and Its the childrens favorite! What the heck, anyway he loves me so much, and she
Once looked down on, now teaching to cook married him. They have two children, a boy and a girl.
Sun Lian comes from Thailand. At age 24, having In her first decade or so in Taiwan, Sun lived a very
graduated from a technical college, she came to Taiwan isolated life. She did whatever her family said, either
to stay with relatives. She originally intended to go to staying at home to take care of family members or work
university here. I even brought along a big English dic ing in a factory to make money. Living her life between
tionary! She assumed she could get by easily just with these two places, she had no personal life and very few
English, but things didnt turn out that way. So Sun, friends. It was only nine years ago that things began
39

VIPT

The Taoyuan City
Department of Labor
recently held a Wedding
Cultural Exhibition of
Vietnam, Indonesia,
the Philippines and
Thailand. Li Aizhen
(center) wore traditional
Indonesian attire.
(courtesy of Li Aizhen)

80100

42
17
17
This stone mortar that Li Aizhen brought across the ocean to
Taiwan from Indonesia 17 years ago is now put to good use

helping her make Indonesian cuisine. (courtesy of Li Aizhen)

23

3
3

3

8


to change, after she came into contact with Zhao Peiyu her mother tongue, Thai, but they have had a change of
of the Lixin Community Development Association in heart in recent years. This is because the government has
Zhongli, Taoyuan, who had set up a support group for been promoting mothertongue education in schools,
immigrant women named Hui Zhi Lan Xin. Sun started and the kids realized that being able to speak another
to take part in the groups activities and to meet more language was an advantage. He son studied tourism at
people. She even won second place in a Chinese speech university, gaining an even stronger sense of the impor
contest, greatly boosting her confidence. Sun says that tance of languages. Sun says with a laugh that her son
Zhao taught her a great deal: My life should not just be is now very open: He himself says he is a mixedblood
silently spent on my family so that I lose myself. child! Now her two kids clamor to study Thai, and take
She realized that she could look after her family and the initiative to speak Thai with her at home. In fact,
still do things that she liked. She began taking a lot of both kids came to help out at the camp activity.
classes, and, with a strong interest in making people Sun Lian states that in her life in Taiwan, she
more attractive with cosmetics, she ignored the objec has gone from being discriminated against, to being
tions of her family and started selling cosmetics. She grudgingly accepted, to now winning respect. She
laughs, My rebellious period didnt start until I was
40! She has a lot of positive things to say about the cos
metics company. They give new people training, and
I got a lot of awards and made a decent income. It was
only then that my family sat up and took notice.
With economic independence, she also won the right

to have a say in her childrens education. Sun says that
Children at the Thai language camp experience Thai culture
when they were small her children had no interest in through games, food, and singing.
41
now considers herself a part of Taiwan, and feels very
contented.
She makes Thai food at home, and says with a smile
that her family love her Thai basil pork, her green curry,
and tapioca pudding for dessert. Looking back over the
past, she says: I feel that now people no longer look at
me differently. When I say Im Thai, Taiwanese happily

accept me. Sometimes they even ask me to teach them
how to cook, which is a huge turnaround from the past!
Indonesian spices come into their own
Fortytwoyear old Li Ai zhen, originally from In
donesia, is also a member of the Hui Zhi Lan Xin im
migrant support group. She is Catholic, while her hus

band is a follower of the Yiguandao religion, and it was
purely by chance that she married and came to Taiwan
17 years ago. At that time she was renting a room in Ja

karta, and through the introduction of a friend, met her
husband, who was there to proselytize.
At the time she was doing counseling work in a
middle school, and she wonders: Id graduated from
university and had a stable job, so why did I marry
someone from Taiwan? Li is a Hakka ethnic Chinese,
and at that time there was very strong antiChinese
sentiment in Indonesia. Although her mother cried and

was clearly unwilling to let her go, her father thought
it was a good opportunity. He earnestly entreated his
prospective soninlaw to take good care of her, and so
it was that she married and came to Taiwan.
Indonesia is a spice empire, and spices are used in
many dishes. Li loves to cook, so she brought a good
many spices with her in her luggage when she first
came to Taiwan, including lemon grass, turmeric, and
pepper. She also brought along a heavy stone mortar

to grind spices and dip ingredients in. She made an
Indonesian meal, but the food wasnt to the familys
taste. Taiwanese food is very simple. You cut things
up on the cutting board, and thats it. She decided to
fit in with the local ways, so she joined the family in
wrapping up dumplings, and making Hakka vegetar
ian zongzi (filled rice dumplings) and mochi (sticky rice
balls). She says with a laugh: Eventually I was cooking

completely like a Taiwanese. The flavors of her home
land were temporarily consigned to memory.
c e n d o l Longing to have more contacts outside her home,
Li eventually came into contact with Hui Zhi Lan Xin.
l Seven years ago, Zhao Peiyu, the groups director, asked

her: Do you want to learn Mandarin? She started to
join in many activities organized by Hui Zhi Lan Xin,
Cendol is a sweet treat known to every household in
including going to primary schools as a volunteer to Indonesia. The green noodles are made by mixing together
teach Indonesian. (Although Li can speak Hakka, she pandan leaf and mung bean powder.
was educated in Indonesian and considers it to be her

mother tongue.) I taught them Indonesian, and they
acted as my little teachers and taught me Mandarin. and they especially love to eat her Padang beef and In
Returning to a school environment greatly boosted her donesian curry. She says happily, In the past I would
confidence. She began teaching Indonesian at other ven eat these dishes all by myself, which made me feel very
ues too, and currently teaches it at Zhongli Community lonely. But now, strangely enough, everybody wants to
College. Her son, who hadnt spoken the language in a dig in and eat! My husbands stomach is like a garbage
long time, has begun to speak Indonesian with her. canhell eat anything!
Her active participation in Hui Zhi Lan Xin activities In the summer she makes desserts for the family to
soon threw up opportunities for her to revive her skills eat. Cendol is a famous sweet treat from Indonesia, and
in Indonesian cuisine. She began to teach Indonesian is simple to make. She also makes cendol in Taiwan,
cooking in exchange activities, and her longneglected laughing as she says: Children all love it! l
stone mortar came back into service. Her family also (Jojo Hsu/photos by Lin Min-hsuan/
gradually came to accept the tastes of her homeland, tr. by Phil Newell)
43
Move your body. Music your life.

Jack Lang2001

Klaus Wowereit2003
Potsdamer
P l a t z
U n t e r d e n L i n d e n
20159

Z o o l o g i s c h e r
Gar ten
B un de st ag

400 352

K Z
S a c h s e n h a u s e n
K a r l- M a r x-A l l e e
S o n y C e n t e r

Philharmonie
H e l m u t K o h l
G e r h a r d S c h r d e r
Joschka Fischer

47

O K
S p r e e

visitBerlin Wolfgang Scholvien

A n g e l a M e r k e l

340 320

49


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320 288

53


55
PHOTO ESSAY

Capturing the Moment: Gymnastics

57

30-90
2000
E xcellent athletes from around the world competed on the same stage at the
2017 Universiade in Taipei. They fought to win or lose, but even more to
surpass themselves.
Artistic gymnastics includes the pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars,
horizontal bar, balance beam, uneven bars, and floor exercise. Competitors must
complete a routine within 3090 seconds, and then are scored on their performance
by the judges.
Gymnastics is also one of the sports that demonstrate how people can push their
bodies to their extreme limits. Using shutter speeds of 1/2000 of a second, we lifted
our cameras and captured instants of action, moments too brief for the naked eye to
grasp, to reproduce them in classical form.
Sweat dripping, muscles straining, chalk dust billowingall are moments in which
athletes transcend themselves, causing us to cheer them on. l
(photos and text by Chuang Kung-ju/tr. by Phil Newell)
59

An athlete on the pommel horse moves his body

with great concentration, hoping to win a high
score from the judges. (photo above by Jimmy Lin)
61

The parallel bars and the balance beam are two

disciplines that can best exhibit the contours of the human
body. (facing page photo by Jimmy Lin)
63

The gymnasts arms support the weight of their bodies,

defying gravity. Every move makes onlookers hold their breath.

65
OLD RESIDENCES

Chien Mus Last Class:

The Cultured Elegance of Su Shu House


79
27
1895-1990
I n 1990, when the author and educator Chien Mu

moved from Su Shu House in Waishuangxi, where
he had long lived, his friends and former students wor-
ried that such a major change would prove challeng-
ing. Yet Chien himself seemed unbothered. He remained
cheerful, happily observing the changing times. Only
three months after the move to Hangzhou South Road,
however, Chien unexpectedly passed away. After-
wards, Su Shu House became a museum dedicated to
his life and work. For 27 years, a steady stream of ad-
mirers from Taiwan and abroad have come to visit the
house and walk through the elegant garden as younger
scholars lecture on The Analects of Confucius or on
the work of Chien Mu himself, recapturing the spirit of
a leading cultural light of his generation.
Chien Mu (18951990), an important scholar of con-

temporary history, hoped from a young age to pursue an
academic career, but circumstances cut short his formal
education. Although merely a secondary-school grad-
uate, diligent self-study would earn him honorary doc-
torates from the University of Hong Kong and Yale, and
membership of Taiwans Academia Sinica. His works
run to more than 17 million Chinese characters, and the
full stack of his publications tops 190 centimeters.
67

No matter how busy with
other matters, Chien would
get right down to work with
his writing and studies
when he returned home.
An experienced meditator,
he could quickly regain his
energy and focus no matter
what he had been doing.
(courtesy of the Su-Shu-Lou
Cultural and Educational
Foundation)
189577

The second-floor study is the
focal point of Su Shu House.
It is just about the size of the
downstairs living and dining
rooms put together.
53
16

During the span of 77 years from when he was 18 to Origins of Su Shu House
95 years old, his career as an educator brought him to Chin Chao-fen, executive director of the Su-Shu-Lou
posts at Peking University and National Southwest As- Cultural and Educational Foundation, notes that the
sociated University. Later he would move to what was line Strong grass cannot be felled by the wind truly
then the British colony of Hong Kong, where he founded captures the essence of Chien Mus life. From the Xinhai
New Asia College at the Chinese University of Hong Revolution that ended the Qing Dynasty, through the
Kong and educated many prominent scholars, including War of Resistance Against Japan and the Second Chinese
Yan Gengwang of the Academia Sinica and Yu Ying-shih, Civil War, to the madness of the Cultural Revolution,
who would have a distinguished career in the United which engulfed mainland China and impacted Hong
States. In his later years, Chien Mu lived at Su Shu House Kong when Chien was based there, and on up to the sev-
in Taipeis Waishuangxi, where he continued to lecture ering of ROCUS diplomatic relations, which occurred
and write. The compound became a spiritual stronghold, after he had moved to Taiwan, Chien determinedly
attracting those with a deep interest in Chinese culture. forged ahead with his scholarship, completing his
69

Chien Mus desk, made from precious rosewood, is said to be
a gift from Chiang Kai-shek, explains Chin Chao-fen, executive
director of the Su-Shu-Lou Cultural and Educational Foundation.

57


massive academic project A New Study of Zhu Xi as well recommended the Su Shu House location, which is in a
as ambitious cultural works such as Examining Chinese small basin surrounded by hills at Waishuangxi in Shilin,
People and Culture Through Chinese History and The Global a northern suburb of Taipei City. At high points the site
Situation and Chinese Culture. These books are highly ac- offers views of the National Palace Museum halfway up
cessible introductions to Chinese culture that cultivate a the opposite slope. Babbling Waishuangxi Creek, which
sense of cultural self-confidence and self-respect. runs all four seasons of the year, can be found down the
In 1964, Chien stepped down from his post as presi- hill. The scenery is beautiful. Zoned for cemeteries, the
dent of New Asia College, after 16 years in Hong Kong land was cheap, which was important for an academic
working as an educational administrator. He was then who hadnt accumulated substantial savings. A friend
invited to teach at the University of Malaya. He had asked: Does it violate any fengshui taboos? But after
expected to settle down and live in Kuala Lumpur long coming from Hong Kong to visit the site, a smiling Chien
term, but he couldnt get used to the hot and humid said he wasnt worried about the fengshui. The immediate
climate and had frequent serious stomach problems. He neighborhood had an elementary school, so in fengshui
was left with no choice but to return to Hong Kong. At terms it could be described as a focal point for cultural
that time mainland China was caught in the grip of the energy. He thus decided to build his home here.
Cultural Revolution, and the resulting turmoil spilled Courtesies extended to a scholar
over into Hong Kong. So once again he had to search for Changing the zoning to residential took more than a
a new place to live. year, during which time Chien once again moved back
Eventually, Chien Mu and his wife decided to move to Hong Kong. The basic designs for Su Shu House were
to Taiwan and came first to scout out land to build on. A drawn up by Chiens wife, based on the style of their
good friend who knew he was looking for a building site house in the Sha Tin neighborhood of Hong Kong. When
ROC president Chiang Kai-shek learned of Chiens
plans to move to Waishuangxi, he had the Yangming-
shan Administration Bureau take over responsibility for
constructing the home.
Once Chien was actually living at Su Shu House, Chi-
nese Culture University founder Chang Chi-yun invited
him to teach graduate students in history at the univer-
sity, and Chien had the students come to his house two
hours a week for class. At the invitation of National Pal-
ace Museum director Jiang Fucong, Chien also received
a special appointment as a researcher at the museum.
When Mrs. Chien would do yardwork, notes Chin
Chao-fen, her husband might come out, sit on a stone
bench and muse: Let me look around. That would be
a good spot for a pine. They personally planted all the
trees, flowers and other plants in this garden.
Holistic humanism
People tend to describe Chien Mu as an historian,
and he himself described history as an essential means
to understand both the past and the future. He firmly
believed that the Chinese conception of harmony be-
tween man and nature could be of tremendous benefit

When reading, Chien Mu would always take notes in a to mankind. Traditional Chinese values help to supple-
notebook, which he would then refer to when writing. He would
cross out the observations that he used in his writings, to ment places where Western thought comes up short,
prevent duplication. (courtesy of the Su-Shu-Lou Cultural and
Educational Foundation) such as when considering the meaning of happiness.
71

Chien Mu watches his wife Hu Mei-chi paint a pair of cranes
amid pine trees. Thanks to his wifes attentive care, Chien could
devote his later years even more fully to peacefully reading,
writing and teaching. (courtesy of the Su-Shu-Lou Cultural and
Educational Foundation)

7569

l

Chien Mu was aware that despite the appearance High School, he would go there with the Confucian
of developmental diversity in todays world, in truth scholar Hsin Yi-yuen, who was then teaching at Jian-
Western commercial and material culture dominates. guo and had introduced Wu to the study of Chinese
Because that dominant culture lacks a basic and es- classical culture. He brought a sense of reverence on
sential cultural understanding of human values, it his journeys to lectures at Su Shu House.
offers a future of narrowed horizons. Chien Mu announced that June 9, 1986 would be
One doesnt read Chinese cultural classics simply the date of his last lecture before his retirement from
as an academic exercise, but rather to understand Chinese Culture University. Luminaries such as Pro-
how their content can be integrated into peoples ac- fessor Lu Yao dong, General Kong Lingsheng, and
tual lives and be disseminated to the world through politician James Soong were eager to avail themselves
peoples hearts and minds. Otherwise, that content of a last opportunity to study under the great educa-
will exist only as stale words on the pages of dusty tor, and they all attended the lecture at Su Shu House.
old books. Today the furniture he used while he lived there is
Unending last class still in place, as are his complete written works. The
Every fall, I would ascend the steps through the garden still features his beloved pines and bamboo.
flaming maple trees, up to Su Shu House, where I As one sees these markers of his life and cultural
would listen to Chien Mus lectures, says Wu Zhan- spirit, it almost seems as if the departed master of the
liang, a professor of history at National Taiwan Uni- house remains as well, still giving his last class. l
versity. It almost felt as if I were making a pilgrim- (Sanya Huang/photos by Jimmy Lin/
age. When Wu was a student at Tai peis Jian guo tr. by Jonathan Barnard)
73
EDUCATION

Revitalizing Siraya Culture:

Fearless Campaigners on the Path to Recognition

T he Green Valley Siraya Park, at Jiucengling in

the Xinhua District of Tainan City, is home to
Cheng -hiong Ta la van, founder of the Si raya Cul-
ture Association. It is also the main base of the

movement for the Siraya to be officially recognized
as one of Taiwans indigenous peoples. The park
is nestled between mountains and water. Over the
pond there is a simple floating bridge constructed
out of water pipes and bamboo. The pond is quite
deep, and as soon as you step on the bridge, it sinks
by several centimeters, adding a sense of danger.

We ask the Talavan family if we can take their
picture on the bridge, and Cheng-hiong immediately
agrees. Then the whole family step cautiously onto
the bridge, with daughter Uma Talavan leading the
way and grandchildren following grandparents as
they all hold hands for a beautiful family portrait.
On the pathway to revitalizing Sirayan culture,
three generations of the Talavan family are working

hand in hand, just like in the picture, for the same

goals. Cheng -hiong Ta la van has spent his entire life
encouraging the descendants of Pingpu Aborigines
75 (who include the Siraya) to awaken to a sense of their
identity. His daughter Uma Talavan and her husband
Edgar Ma ca pili have devoted themselves to Si ra yan
language and culture. His grandchildren Euphony
and Lici Ta la van, together with other young people
from the tribe, sent a letter to President Tsai Ing-wen

17 appealing for recognition of the Siraya name and iden-
tity. The three generations are working together to re-
vitalize Sirayan culture.
75

Cheng-hiong Talavan has been working all his life to awaken
the descendants of the Pingpu Aborigines to awareness of
their own identity.

Uma Talavan

UNESCO
extinct

Waking up to identity and human rights love of her homeland and her awakening to her identity
Now aged 75, Cheng -hiong Ta la van recalls being caused her to realize that her memories of childhood
called a savage as a child. He didnt understand what represented the life she wanted. So if theres anything
this term meant, and he asked about it repeatedly, until that feels awkward to me, or something that clashes,
finally his uncle whispered in his ear, Savages means it makes me want to plunge right in and challenge it.
the Pingpu! Only after asking even more questions did Thus does Uma describe her inspiration for and involve-
Cheng-hiong learn that the Pingpu were Formosan Ab- ment in human rights and cultural movements.
original peoples. Another happy turn of fate was that on a trip to
The Siraya are one of the Pingpu peoples. When the study music in the Philippines, she not only brought
Dutch came to Taiwan in the 17th century, the Si raya back a husband who would later become a key figure in
were the first people they encountered. But under a suc- the revitalization of the Sirayan language, but also dis-
cession of foreign ruling powers, the Siraya were forcibly covered that the school hosted talented people from all
Sinicized, losing their traditional customs and language, over the world, which allowed her to see the beauty of
until their very identity became obscured. multiculturalism. From there she reflected: What about
Cheng-hiong says there is no sense in indigenous peo- me? What can the Siraya show other people?
ple accepting discrimination against them. Instead they This caused Uma to proactively explore the treasures
should proudly be who they are. That is why at every of Si ra yan culture after returning home. I hoped I
gathering or occasion, he has long seized the opportunity would become a person who not only unearths Sirayan
to say to everyone, We are savages, reclaiming the term. culture, but also polishes it to a shine.
One person lobbying and trying to wake up his tribes- A miraculous linguistic renaissance
people to their identity can only have a weak influence. In going from feeling bewildered at being called a
Cheng-hiong therefore also devoted great efforts to form- savage by Han Chinese to discovering his identity as
ing the Siraya Culture Association, drawing on collective an indigenous person, Cheng-hiong Talavan also found
power to revitalize Sirayan culture. out that he knew nothing at all about his culture.
Cheng-hiongs daughter Uma Talavan is currently Even today, the S ira yan language is listed on the
chairwoman of the Siraya Culture Association. She was UNESCO website as an extinct tongue which has
born and raised in the tribal community, so it was only been gone for over 200 years, never being heard or spo-
after growing up and leaving the community that she ken in that whole period of time.
discovered that her group was considered different. Her However, from historical evidence we know that

The childhoods of the
Talavan sisters Lici (left)
and Euphony have been
interwoven with the Sirayan
cultural rebirth.
77

Partners in a transnational
marriage, Uma Talavan and Edgar
L. Macapili have become important
promoters of the revival of the
Sirayan language.
17

17

2016

sa-satru-hatu-rua-pat12
34


when the Dutch arrived in Taiwan in the 17th century, family relationship. Whats more, Sirayan is purer, hav-
they wrote out Sirayan using the Latin alphabet. Siraya ing not been impacted by too many foreign terms.
people continued to use and pass down this Romanized Originally a musician, Macapili turned himself into
writing system. For example, they used it to draw up a linguistics scholar. He compared texts in Dutch, En-
land contracts and trading contracts with Han Chinese. glish, Sirayan, and Bisayan word by word and phrase by
These are the well-known Sinckan manuscripts. phrase. The main difficulty is that when the Dutch wrote
In their quest to recover Si raya linguistic culture, down the Sirayan language in the 17th century, their own
Cheng-hiong and Uma Talavan searched everywhere spelling system had not yet been standardized, so they
to collect words and phrases in Sirayan from elders. were unable to accurately record the Sirayan pronuncia-
But the results were very meager. The dramatic turning tion. It took Macapili more than seven years, burning the
point came after they obtained a Sirayan translation of midnight oil on countless occasions, to complete his Si
the Gospel of St. Matthew, made by early Dutch mission- raya Glossary: Based on the Gospel of St. Matthew in Formosan
aries. After Cheng-hiong had invested so much effort in (Sinkan Dialect), a Preliminary Survey, which contains more
the hope of opening the door to the Sirayan language, than 3000 Sirayan vocabulary items. Only later, with this
amazingly the key to unlocking its secrets turned out to as a starting point, could there be textbooks, illustrated
be his Filipino son-in-law, Edgar Macapili. books, pocket books, audiobooks, the training of teachers,
Macapili is a member of the Bisaya indigenous peo- and finally the introduction of Sirayan language classes
ple of the Philippines. Like Sirayan, Bisayan is a branch into the formal educational curriculum in 2016.
of the Austronesian language group, and when he A different youth
opened up the Sirayan Gospel of St. Matthew that it had The third generation of the Talavan family, sisters Eu-
taken Cheng-hiong Talavan so long to find, Ma capili phony and Lici Talavan, learned Taiwanese and Sirayan
found he could read most of the content. He recalls his side by side from early childhood. They grew up very dif-
impression of Sirayan: This language is like the mother ferently from most children. From ages three or four they
or older sister of the Bi sa yan languagethey have a travelled around with Onini, a Sirayan-language music
79

Onini
1992
O n i n i

The Siraya people look forward to the day when their
appeal for formal recognition succeeds, restoring
their status and enabling Sirayan culture to survive in
Taiwan. (courtesy of the Siraya Culture Association)

Uma

2016519

l

future she can help write teaching materials and lesson
plans to assist more teachers of the language. Lici says,
I have known my future goal from early childhood: to
work to revitalize Sirayan culture. Even in choosing
her university major, she considered what would be of
most value to the Siraya in the future.
Fearlessly moving forward
Today, the Sirayas campaign for official recognition
as one of Taiwans indigenous peoples is still ongoing.
To this end, members of the Si raya community have
several times brought administrative lawsuits before
the Taipei High Administrative Court, demanding that
the central government formally recognize their histori-
cal status and identity.
On May 19 of 2016, judgment was about to be ren-
dered in an administrative lawsuit over the Siraya peo-
ples status. As Uma Talavan waited for the announce-
ment at the Taipei High Administrative Court, Cheng-
hiong Talavan was in Xin hua in Tai nan with some
fellow tribespeople, preparing tangyuan (boiled balls of
glutinous rice flour) to celebrate success in the lawsuit.
But a few minutes later Uma, her eyes red with tears,
stepped out of the court and announced to the media
that the lawsuit had failed. As she did so, she repeated
group that instructs people in the basics of Sirayan cul- the exhortation that Cheng-hiong had given her previ-
ture. When other kids were in class or playing, they of- ously: If the judgement goes against us, we have also
ten took time off to perform or protest. Says Lici Talavan won, because there is no reason for us to lose.
frankly, My whole life has been a social movement. When Cheng-hiong got the news back in Xinhua, he
As we interviewed and followed around elder sister still tried to fire up his fellow tribespeople, saying that
Euphony, we often saw her discussing questions of Sira- they should go ahead and eat the tangyuan to celebrate
yan sentence structure with her father Edgar Macapili, victory in the future.
or conducting the Onini group in singing practice ses- Having not admitted defeat for more than 20 years,
sions, fully exemplifying the role of the oldest daughter. Cheng-hiong is pledged to the revitalization of Sirayan
And her comments reveal a different logic and under- culture, and has continually advanced toward this goal.
standing from her own generation: Having one more He has always believed that the Siraya will eventually
identity allows me to experience things in a different be formally recognized as an indigenous group.
way, to maintain a tolerant attitude toward other cul- The transition to a new generation is inevitable, and
tures, and to understand and discuss controversial so- the seeds that have been planted in the minds of the
cial issues with empathy. newest generation have broken out of the darkness of
The words and deeds of the older generations of the the soil and into the sunlight. The children and grand-
clan are imprinted indelibly on the childrens hearts. children of the Siraya believe that, like that family
Euphony wants to go back to school and study for a portrait, hand in hand they will continue to fearlessly
degree in linguistics, and she is very interested in the advance on the path to a Siraya renaissance. l
analysis of sentence structure. She is also considering (Cathy Teng/photos by Lin Min-hsuan/
researching the Sirayan language herself, so that in the tr. by Phil Newell)
81
EDUCATION

Lets Learn Sirayan!
Taiwans First Siraya Elementary School


1636
A ccording to historical records, in 1636 the Dutch
set up Taiwans first school in Sinckan, a com-
munity of the Siraya indigenous people, using the
201681
Latin alphabet to write the Sirayan language. On
August 1 of 2016, Koupi Elementary School in Tai

nan Citys Xinhua District became the first Sirayan
primary school in modernday Taiwan, featuring
ecology and the Si ra yan language as its special
characteristics. Each week every student must at-
tend a compulsory class in the Sirayan language.
2017
During summer vacation of 2017, on the campus of
akakul
Koupi Elementary School, children stand in front of
halibangbangaturaturaw
the teaching wall, clearly in high spirits, pointing to
the words akakul (crested serpent eagle), halibangbang
(butterfly) and aturaturaw (owl) as they vie to show
off their Sirayan language skills, and are unintimidated

no matter how long or difficult the words. This is the
192097 result of one academic year of promoting the Sirayan
language.
The transformation of Koupi Elementary
3
Koupi Elementary School was founded almost a cen-
tury ago, in 1920. Several years back, for a time it was in
danger of being absorbed into another school because

there were too few children. When Wang Chao-tse took
over as principal at Koupi three years ago, there were
only 30 or so students. The people in the community
were deeply concerned and had a sense of crisis, be-
cause they wanted the school to be preserved. Thus
83

An important starting point for the
renaissance of the Sirayan language is
this Gospel of St. Matthew, written in
Sirayan using the Latin alphabet. It was
only after Edgar Macapili researched it
as the basis for a Sirayan glossary that
textbooks, illustrated books, and pocket
books were produced in this language.

1017
17

2009514

Tabe

Mariyang wagiLalulug

Mahanlu
haar

Wang was faced with the challenge of giving the school the SCA is making the revival of Sirayan more compre-
some special character that would attract students. hensive and systematic, and also making it easier for the
Tainan City was the first local government to recognize written form of the language to become established. This
the status of the Siraya indigenous people. The city gov- will broaden the impact of efforts to promote Sirayan.
ernment felt that this recognition should also be reflected Starting a language at age 50
on the educational front. May 14 of 2009 was my Siraya birthday, says Sira-
The Siraya are a very special group in Taiwan, says yan language teacher Haar Tavali happily. When looking
Wang Chao-tse. In the 17th century, during the Age of over some household registrations of her family from the
Discovery, they were the first people to have contact with Japanese era (18951945), she saw the term juku (referring
outsiders, and they were the first window on the interna- to assimilated indigenous people) in the data, and she be-
tional scene for Taiwan, having the deepest interactions came sure of her identity as a member of the Siraya tribe.
with the outside world. Having been posted to Koupi Haar Tavali laughs somewhat bashfully when admit-
Elementary by the Tainan City Bureau of Education, Wang ting that she only began studying Sirayan herself after
set about promoting a transformation of the school. But in age 50. When she was younger the purpose of studying
fact, a few years earlier Koupi had already begun teaching languages was to score higher grades, but right from the
the Sirayan language, in the form of an after-school club start her study of Sirayan was about embracing her iden-
with students divided into two mixed-age groups. tity. She discovered, somewhat to her surprise, that many
We were determined to make Sirayan a formal class words that she was familiar with as a child still survived in
for two reasons, explains Wang. The first was to give a the daily conversation of Siraya people. Its just that most
positive response to activists who had long been working
to revive Sirayan culture. The second was to make the Si-
rayan curriculum part of the school system, because only
with systemization can language education be compre-
hensively planned, from instructional goals and curric-
ulum design to curriculum evaluation. Only in this way
could the revival of the Sirayan language develop and
flourish. This is why, after communicating with parents
and the community, he arranged for one compulsory class
in Sirayan each week. Teaching the class using Romaniza-
tionthat is, writing Sirayan with the Latin alphabet
has the side benefit of reducing the sense of strangeness
students will later feel when they begin studying English.
Students are still a little unclear about recognition of
their indigenous identity, but through games their inter-
est can be sparked and cultural seeds planted. On cam-
pus, Wang Chao-tse will occasionally interact with the
students using Sirayan words like tabe (how are you),
mariyangwagi (have a good day), lalulug (thank you),
and mahanlu (goodbye), so that learning and using the
language becomes a natural part of daily life.
Teachers of Sirayan in Tainan City are mostly trained
by the Siraya Culture Association (SCA). There are
currently about ten language instructors working in 17
primary and middle schools across Tainan. Wang Chao-
tse is dedicated to working with the SCA. He believes
The Sirayan language is to be found everywhere you look on the
that education is a driver of cultural revival, and that campus of Koupi Elementary School, integrated into daily life.
85

1965

Onini

2006 23
29
Daki Domok

20

l
50
Haar Tavali (above) only began studying

Sirayan in her fifties, while Wagi Talavan
(wearing glasses) and Daki Domok have
been around the language since childhood.
But all three are committed teachers who
have devoted themselves to transmitting
Sirayan to younger generations.

Wang Chao-tse hopes to use lively teaching approaches to spark childrens interest in learning the
Sirayan language and to plant some cultural seeds.
Siraya thought these were Taiwanese dialect words, and Twenty-three-year-old Wagi Ta la van says he feels
this experience gave her an even greater sense of purpose. fortunate to be living in an era when Sirayan is going
Ily, born in 1965, is another teacher of Sirayan. She from being an endangered language to a renaissance.
only discovered her identity as a Pingpu (plains) Aborig- Twenty-nine-year-old Daki Domok has just completed
ine after leaving school and entering the world of work. his first full year as a Sirayan language teacher, and he
Reading family genealogies, Ily discovered that both teaches at schools that include Koupi Elementary and
her parents were of Sirayan blood. She laughs as she Jheng Sin Elementary. The two of them share similari-
says she is completely assimilated, not just halfway or ties in how they grew up, both being in contact with the
even most of the way. Sirayan language for 20 years. Today they use the same
When the SCA began promoting a language revival methods through which they learned Sirayan as chil-
back in 2006, Ily started studying Sirayan from scratch. dren, teaching the younger generation through songs
She says modestly that she has not learned much, and and dance, because this process gives them a greater
so can teach even less, but in her first class she always sense of belonging in the Sirayan cultural world, and
begins by outlining Sirayan culture to the children. makes them all the more willing to take on responsibil-
What is her motivation for becoming a Sirayan lan- ity for the young.
guage teacher? If you want to pass a language along, On the campus of Koupi Elementary School, a group
you have to have someone to teach it. If no one speaks of children are singing the Si ra yan Song of Sowing
it, then it really will be dead and buried, she says. Seeds. Twisting their behinds, they accompany the
The younger generation takes the baton music by stretching their arms upwards as if to climb.
SCA chairwoman Uma Talavan says, Whats inter- It is reminiscent of the ritual in the Japanese cartoon My
esting is that in the past indigenous languages were Neighbor Totoro in which the characters pray for their
mostly kept alive by the elderly, but we have quite a seedlings to grow quickly. The lyrics say: Sow one
few young people getting involved. seed, sow two seeds, one drop of rain falls, two drops
Members of the younger generation including Daki of rain fall, then one flower can bloom, two flowers can
Domok, Wagi Talavan, Oni Talavan, and Euphony Tala- bloom. Let us hope that the revival of the Sirayan lan-
van came into contact with the Sirayan language as chil- guage is like the words of this songafter the seeds are
dren through songs, and when they got to high school sown, with sunlight and the moisture of rain they can
they studied Sirayan grammar and sentence structure in gradually produce a robust rebirth. l
depth, so that today they are in the front line of teachers (Cathy Teng/photos by Lin Minhsuan/
and assistants promoting the revival of Sirayan. tr. by Phil Newell)
87
EDUCATION

Alex Wangs
Dream:
Grassroots
Flipped Education


T he car wends its way along a winding mountain road, flanked by ver-
dant forests and bathed in warm sunlight. Our destination comes into
view as we cross Longcao Bridge in Zhongliao Township, Nantou County. We
are headed to Shuang Wen Junior High School, where grassroots flipped edu-
cation is taking root in Taiwan.
89
921

2017

A Level24%
17.9%6.1%
T
2.6
4
6.97

Nantou Countys Shuang Wen Junior High School
acquired lovely new facilities when it was rebuilt af-
ter 1999s Jiji Earthquake, but the performance of its
students since then has been even more impressive.
Shuang Wen contends with the usual challenges of a
rural Nantou schoolthe outbound migration of the
areas population, a relative paucity of teachers and an
often disadvantaged student bodyand yet in 2017
24% of the schools students earned A or better on
the Chinese-language portion of the Comprehensive
Assessment Program for Junior High School Students,
well above the national average of 17.9%.
On average, the schools freshmen outperformed the
national average for their grade by 2.6 points, and the
Nantou County average by four points. This achieve-
ment is made all the more impressive by the fact that
Shuang Wens freshmen begin junior high school below
the national average. To learn how the school has man-
aged this turnaround, we take a look into the classroom
of Alex Wang, director of academic affairs at the school.
Tying education to experience
At the start of the summer session, Wang adjusts his
new students seat assignments based on their interac-
tions and level of participation. He also gives careful
consideration to the seating layout, putting the students
together into groups of four or five, and dividing the
whole class into five of these groups. The groups on the
left and right side of the room are each arranged in an
L shape, while the group in the center forms a U,
ensuring that all the students can see him. Todays les-
son is a modern poem entitled Time Follows (Suiyue
Genzhe), written by the poet Xiang Yang.
Wang begins class by giving the students a 40-ques-
tion test to see which Chinese characters they recognize
and know how to pronounce. Many of the students get
L only five or six answers wrong, and the homework he
assigns the class is simply to write out the characters

Wang has his students sit in L-shaped groups on the sides of the
classroom, and in a U-shaped group in the middle, to ensure that they got wrong. His approach is much more targeted
everyone can see him.
than the traditional one, which would have had all the
students learning the same things in class and doing the
same homework, regardless of their individual needs.
Wang then asks the kids warmup questions that as-
sess how much they have learned at home, help them
4-55 anticipate the content of the upcoming lesson, and en-
L courage them to make connections between their own
experience and the subject of the lesson.
91

405-6

Guided by their lesson preparations, class discussion, and the
teachers questions, students form images in their minds of what
they are reading, which they then transform into mind maps.

S c a ff o l d i n g
InstructionAsking
Questions

6

Seeking to start an educational conversation, he
asks them: Does modern poetry require that verses Small whiteboards are useful tools during group discussions.
have meter? What period in a persons life does this

poem depict? Which lines in the first stanza describe
childhood? The kids tell him: It goes from childhood students through the reading of a written work. Their
to maturity, old age, and death. It mentions horses purpose is to help make students aware of the writers
hooves because children love to jump around. Be- point of view and the evidence marshaled to support
cause the second hand of a clock moves fast, which re- it. Foundation questions lead to challenge questions:
flects the quickness and liveliness of children. Wang How would you describe children? If we were
then poses follow-up questions based on their an- facing death, what might we do to keep our memory
swers. He guides the students as they respond, using alive? The resulting discussions help the students
the small whiteboards on the desks as mediums for in- connect with the material, appreciate the joy of read-
teraction and to lead them to the underlying questions ing, and learn more about life.
raised by the poem. Flipping motivation and learning
Wangs method uses foundation questions to guide The transition from elementary school to junior
93

Mind Mapping
Presentation


921

Nantou Countys
Shuang Wen Junior
High School acquired
lovely new facilities
when it was rebuilt
after the 1999 Jiji
Earthquake.
high school focuses on changing external behaviors The foundation questions target aspects of a piece
using external incentives such as points, tokens and such as its topic, its structure, and the information it
awards to guide learningwhile also gradually intro- presents, whereas challenge questions, such as, What
ducing students to the joy of learning. In the second do you want to be remembered for when you pass
year of junior high, posing questions becomes more away? Why do you want to be remembered for
important. A teacher can ask about a poems sense of that? help students to develop their own perspectives
rhythm, its use of allusion and metaphor, and the au- as readers. They then use their responses to create
thors reasons for choosing particular words, because mind maps, and share the results of their self-study
students have now progressed to the point of enjoying and group-study through presentations.
learning for its own sake, and enjoyment has become Creating a good atmosphere
their biggest motivator. Wang runs his classes at a rapid clip and in an open
One of the key ideas of flipping the classroom is manner. He sees a teachers job as creating a learning
that students first study by themselves using materials environment in which students feel safe and confident,
their teachers have uploaded or otherwise made avail- and seeks to establish a conversational forum that is
able via a learning platform. In class, the teacher ad- relaxed, comfortable, and educational. Within this
dresses any problems the students encountered during setting, the teacher encourages students to think and
their self-study, and facilitates discussion. The process express their thoughts with confidence, while provid-
is almost the inverse of the traditional sequence of lec- ing them with guidance and reminders that help keep
ture-oriented class followed by homework. them on track.
Wang advocates scaffolding instruction and asking Wang says that while he personally may come
questions: guided by their lesson preparations, class dis- across as a little rough around the edges, he pays
cussion and their teachers questions, differently abled attention to everyones needs and thoughts, and is
students form images in their minds of what they are willing to go the extra mile to help out when things
reading. But identifying just the right moment to push go wrong. I do it because I feel like those external
students towards a deeper understanding of a topic re- problems end up coming back to haunt me. Helping
quires a great deal of pedagogical skill and experience. resolve them enables me to do my job better.
95
20

223

SUPERPOWER

2
10

l
2N
Some 20,000 teachers from around Taiwan have participated in
Alex Wangs professional development workshops.
(courtesy of dream.k12cc.tw)

Change through education students in Wangs Chinese class today commute from
Although Wang likes to take it easy outside of his Tai chung every day. Twenty years ago, who would
working hours, he is active in the classroom, learning have thought that students from Tai chung would be
and sharing along with his students. To him, grass- willing to attend a rural school?
roots means enabling students in areas that lack A winner of three national teaching awards, Wang
educational resources to recognize that the process has in recent years also organized a professional
of exploring questions and finding answers leads to growth workshop for educators that has been attended
knowledge, skills and personal cultivation. by 20,000 teachers from around Taiwan. In addition,
Graduates of Shuang Wen Junior High School have more than 1,000 teachers from abroad have observed
formed a volunteer group numbering more than 100 his classes, and nearly 100,000 people participate in
young people who come back every winter and sum- the online educational community he created. A self-
mer vacation to help students currently enrolled at the study tidal wave of historic proportions is now sweep-
school. Someday, these returnees will be the nucleus ing through Taiwanese education, powered by Wangs
of their communitys transformation. Their periodic grassroots flipping. l
returns have already led to the establishment of new (Ivan Chen/
local businesses, and greater numbers are coming photos by Chuang Kung-ju/
back to stay. Still more exciting is that three of the 22 tr. by Scott Williams)
97
CULTURAL TRENDS
Inspired by Music,
Pursuing Beauty:
Paul Chiang,
High Priest of Art


W hile president of the Landis Tai pei

Hotel, Stanley C. Yen, now chairman
of the Alliance Cultural Foundation, met
artist Paul Chiang, and described him thus:
If we take the cherry blossom as a meta-
phor for the potential of a life, Paul Chiang
has accumulated a lifetime of abilities,
refining experiences, aesthetic cultivation,
and consummate skilla life of dogged pur-
suit, all for a single flowering of aesthetic
perfection.
Paul Chiangs spirit is captured in his
abstract paintings, and for more than 50
years his determination to follow the art-
ists path has never wavered.
99

2008


Deeply moved by the

tranquility and sacred
atmosphere of the cathedral,
Paul Chiang was inspired to
paint his masterpiece Notre
Dame de Paris.
(courtesy of Paul Chiang)
visits by macaques, flowers bloom along garden paths, and

they are surrounded by the endless azure of the ocean.
Little by little, it has changed Chiangs work. In the past, he

Faint rays of light emerge from layers of somber hues relied mostly on moody hues in black, white, blue and grey.
and thickly textured paint in The Hundred Year Temple.
(courtesy of Paul Chiang) But now he is also employing reds, yellows, and greens.
His wife is always the first to see his new paintings, and
she was quite amazed by his use of brighter colors. Friends
familiar with his paintings tease him that in old age he has
finally discovered flowers. The surprise of others is shared
by Chiang himself. In my whole career I never thought
At Jinzun on the eastern coast of Taitung County, Pa- such colors would appear in my paintings, he says.
cific waves crash against the shore, the horizon welds the What explains such a change? In recent years, Chiangs
sea to a cloudless sky, and Green Island (Ldao) is faintly disposition and bearing have become more carefree and
visible in the distance. On this early summer morning, relaxed, and his own explanation is quite simple. Im in
light is already pouring into Paul Chiangs studio. a completely different environment, Ive reached a certain
His lean frame clad in his favorite blue-and-white age, and the time had come, he says with a smile.
checked shirt, Chiang enters his studio as strains of classi- Expression in abstraction
cal music mix with the splashing of an aerator in a nearby In 2006 Chiang designed artworks for a public art pro-
fishpond. On a giant canvas, colors flow from the strokes gram organized by Chunghwa Telecom and the Ministry
of his brush. of Transportation and Communications. The brochure for
Sunlight, nature, colorthese elements rarely appeared the program included the following passage on Chiang:
in his past half-century of painting, but recently they have Paul Chiangs paintings invariable employ the ab-
become indispensable in his artistic creations. stract vocabulary of contour and color to create myste-
In 2008, he and his wife, Fan Xianglan, came to Jinzun rious and infinitely varied tableaux, through which he
and set up a studio quite different in character from those depicts the connection between the profundity of the
in other places he has lived, such as Paris and New York. abstract world and the soul of the artist.
Occasionally they discover the silent traces of unexpected Chiang explains that the sense of solitude present in
101
2006

White oil paint streaks across an azure background in Paul
Chiangs Silver Lake, evoking a sense of serene tranquility.

Ivan Karp


Paint-dappled trousers and shoes
bear silent witness to Paul Chiangs
unrestrained style.
Paul Chiang, a lover of classical music, was inspired by Mendelssohns On Wings of Song to
create a rich painting of the same title.
abstract painting reflects aspects of his own personality. Taiwan Normal University), Chiang traveled abroad, con-
A work of art is the manifestation of the artist and his stantly searching for the essence of art. However, he felt
life, he says. that his brush failed to express the artistic essence that he
Chiang, who was born in Taichung, lost his mother at pursued. Before he painted Notre Dame de Paris, Chiang
an early age, and his father was often away on business. felt that he could not realize his own artistic ideal. His life
Sensitive by nature, he lacked the youthful sociability of in those days was full of hardship and doubt, and he of-
other youngsters. The temptations of the outside world ten felt the loneliness of failure.
held little fascination for him, and he devoted his ener- After Chiang moved to New York, his painting style be-
gies to exploring his inner self. gan to show minimalist influences. Yet after rising interest
When adult relatives caught him daydreaming, the during the 1960s and 70s, enthusiasm for minimalism was
called him a fool. Little did they know that thoughts of already waning in the American art market. At the time
the taciturn youth before them were soaring toward lofty his agent, Ivan Karp, looked at his work and didnt mince
realms of abstraction well beyond pedestrian realities. words when he warned that Chiangs artworks werent
What, after all, is the essence of the abstract? Chiang painted in a style that the public would readily appreciate,
finds an answer in the classical music that he is so fond of. admire, or collect. But hearing this pointed criticism didnt
When listening to Debussys Claire de Lune, or Mahlers cause Chiang to waver in his stylistic choices.
Ninth Symphony, words are superfluous: you can feel the Like a religious seeker for truth in art, Chiang persisted
spirit of the artist through the music itself, he says. along his arduous artistic path. But in his more than 50
After graduating from the Department of Fine Arts at years as an artist, Chiang has found moments of satisfac-
Taiwan Provincial Teachers College (todays National tion. The painting of the first artworks that lived up to
103

Although Paul Chiang employs bright, bold colors in Pisilian,
the painting still expresses the essence of his artistic vision.
(courtesy of Paul Chiang)

1965 2016

10

1982


his ideals, his Notre Dame de Paris series, was one such Music has been my close companion even longer than
moment. In 1965 he traveled to France in pursuit of his my wife, Chiang said in 2016 in a short introductory
artistic dreams, and in several subsequent visits he dis- video presentation after being invited to exhibit at Asia
covered that churches could be seen everywhere. These University Museum of Modern Art in Taichung.
became the places where Chiang most loved to linger. While living in Paris and New York, Chiang preferred
Whenever he entered a church, he was moved by the the strains of Bach and Mahler, but after moving to Tai-
way the light filtered in and the sacred, serene atmo- tung he found that the brisk, cheerful music of Felix Men-
sphere. In 1982, he rented a loft in the Latin Quarter, delssohn better suited his more carefree temperament.
covered the windows and worked in the sealed-off space. Music, that boon companion, had been percolating in
There Chiang painted Notre Dame de Paris, one of his his mind for many years, and more recently it has become
proudest accomplishments, and initiated his unusual cre- a more prominent theme in his art. Three years after mov-
ative habit of painting in cloistered rooms. ing to Taitung, Chiang was inspired by Mendelssohns On
Soaring on the strains of music Wings of Song to paint a work of the same title. He created
The isolation of his workspace was reflective of his own the painting by pressing the caps of paint tubes to apply
relationship with the outside world. Later, while living in various colors in layers of circles both large and small.
New York, Chiang intentionally cut himself off from other Aside from On Wings of Song, Chiang has created
people, save his wife, and lived a life of solitude. other paintings inspired by classical music, including Sa-
The sole thing that Chiang allowed into his world of lute to Bach (2011) and Debussy (2013).
lonely creation was classical music, a companion that had Artistic perfection on the Taitung coast
kept him company through the high and low points of his From Notre Dame de Paris, his first truly representative
life from his youth and continues to do so to the present. work, to The Hundred Year Temple (1995), Silver Lake (2007),
Like a religious seeker, Paul Chiang searches for essential truths through his paintings.
105

3 19952007

2014

1995

The splendid Pisilian is representative of the art Paul Chiang has

created since moving to Taitung. (courtesy of Paul Chiang)

2

l

the curling incense smoke that filled the building. This scene
Paul Chiang strolls in the sunlight of the Taitung coast. Over

became his inspiration for the painting. The temples dragon
decades his quest for artistic perfection has never wavered. columns, flickering candles, and burning incense were rep-
resented in their tranquil opaque radiance in the painting.
After a career spanning more than a half-century,
and Pisilian, a series painted while he lived in Taitung, Chiang, now in his seventies, is still busily pursuing his art.
Chiang has produced a new series of paintings every Working from dawn until dusk, he is still attempting to re-
five or six years. alize his artistic vision.
Without being told, Chiang can sense when he has Chiang is planning to expand his studio at Jinzun to
become too familiar with an environment and a set of make a park covering nearly five acres. It will include a
techniques. Thus he has continued to relocate his studio gallery to display his artwork and a garden gallery that
throughout his career and to leave behind surroundings that will provide a home for his sculptures.
have become too familiar, in order to have new experiences. As we stand on the roof of his studio, the Pacific breeze
Relying on familiar techniques is not a good thing for an dispels the heat of a summer afternoon. Chiangs artistic
artist, Chiang says. dreams have come full circle from Paris back to Taiwan
For example, The Hundred Year Temple, which Chiang and found a permanent home on the Taitung coast. Still
considers an important work, was inspired by a visit to Tai- slender after all these years, Chiang gazes into the dis-
peis Longshan Temple after Chiang returned to Taiwan in tance, a smile floating gently across his face. l
1995 to visit his ailing father. While burning incense at the (Liu Yingfeng/photos by Jimmy Lin/
temple, he became fascinated by the devout worshipers and tr. by Robert Green)
107
CULTURAL TRENDS

The City Is My
Canvas:
Graffiti Artist
BOUNCE Mixes New
and Old Cultures


109
B o u n c e
BOUNCE
At the invitation of the General Association of Chinese Culture,
Bounce painted a graffiti mural on the wall of their premises on
Bounce Taipeis Chongqing South Road. (courtesy of BOUNCE)

Bounce

NBA
Bounce


U nder cover of a dark, windy night, he finds a
slab of wall and begins his work. Halfway
through, the sound of police sirens lets him know
traditional Taiwanese Opera costume adorned with Hakka
floral patterns, to symbolize cultures old and new combin-
ing and clashing. On the side of a well-known sportswear
hes been sprung, his piece half-finished. Such is a brands location in Ximending, Taipei, he used an abstract,
typical night for graffiti artist Bounce, or rather it deconstructed, cubist style to depict classic elements as-
used to be. Today, his works can be found hanging sociated with NBA stars and merchandise. In Dongshi,
both in galleries and high above the streets. Taichung, he referenced the local culture, painting tung
flowers, persimmons, and a mythical dragon horse on
Behind every successful product nowadays is a story, the wall of a restaurant. Massive graffiti on the outsides of
and who doesnt love a good story? This one is about vents from the Taipei Metro and images that inject new life
the birth of a dark rabbit. Not your traditional cutesy, into old communities have also come to life from his mind.
cuddly bunny, this rabbit is missing both front paws, his Painting outdoors is more of a challenge than doing it
eyes empty, with huge, long ears with speakers built into indoors, with all kinds of variables that can test the adapt-
them. In pursuit of his dreams, he hops from the forest to ability of any artist, from searing sunshine and heavy
the city, drawn to the sound and music of the streets. pedestrian and vehicular traffic to setting up the site,
Wherever he appears, the atmosphere is filled with working with the available angles, and dealing with time
a feeling of flow, a rich rhythm of bold, rough images, constraints. It seems difficult before painting, but after its
intense colors, and complex, layered lines. Coupled with done it seems much easier. Laughing, Bounce remarks
the trademark bunny-turned-sound-system symbol, the that given how often he does graffiti high up on the sides
work absorbs audiences for seconds, seemingly blasting of buildings, hes even had to get himself a cherry picker
them with booming music from right off the wall. operating license.
Injecting local life International graffiti
The creator of this coney is Bounce, whose story starts Graffiti has given Bounce opportunities to experience
as a teen who loved skateboarding. A graduate of Fu-Hsin a life unlike most, meeting unusual people and visiting all
Trade and Arts School, he was well trained in classical corners of the globe. For example, when Tom Cruise came to
artistic techniques, but after he was introduced to graffiti Taiwan to promote a new film, Bounce was commissioned
art and traded his brushes for a spray can, he found he no to do a graffiti poster for the event. The Taiwanese cartoon-
longer had to draft his works ahead of time. Images leapt ist Duncan, a good friend of Bounces, showed the poster to
out from his mind fully formed, coming to life unbidden Cruise, who not only signed it, but was effusive in his praise
when given the right place and time. I never do drafts. At for it. Bounce also took part in the Tongchuan International
most, I write down a few keywords or simple elements,
he says. When I get to the site, the surroundings tell me
what to paint, what will fit in best. If its a commercial col-
laboration, I might go there ahead of time and take a few
photos for reference, then go back later and paint.
For example, at the invitation of the General Association
of Chinese Culture, at their premises in Taipeis Zhong-
zheng District Bounce painted an image of a young boy
wearing a fashionable cap and mirror shades paired with a
BounceMichael
Jordan
This outlet for a well-known sportswear brand, near to
Ximendings Red House, boasts a cool, vibrant mural in which
Bounce made use of bold colors and geometric shapes to create
a tribute to Michael Jordan.
111

Bounce

Bounce12

Bounce Bounce
Bounce created a trademark bunny character, complete with its

own backstory.

Bounce

12Bounce

Bounce

D u n c a n

Underground


Graffiti Invitational in Shaanxi, China, creating a unique in my work and dont let anyone dictate every last detail
piece that combined characters from Star Wars with the to me. Jokingly, he comments that graffiti is a parasitic
famous terracotta warriors, while also getting to see the art, relying on walls, clothing, events and the like as hosts.
wealth of resources local governments in China invest into Im like a graffiti mole, sneaking myself into worlds that
graffiti art. His artwork has also earned attention from fur- the underground artists cant get into.
ther afield, seeing him travel to France and immerse him- From American hip-hop style to Japanese ukiyo-e, graf-
self in the natural and cultural environment there, inspiring fiti art comes in many flavors. Even the streets of Cairo in
works unlike those he has produced in Taiwan. the wake of the Arab Spring featured protest graffiti that
The thing that has inspired him to stick at his art for 12 imitated ancient murals. So what makes for iconic graffiti
years so far, he says, is a desire to show Taiwanese society in multicultural Taiwan? Right now, theres still no real
the positive side of graffiti art, and that it can be more than common denominator. Culture is the sum of human life-
just a diversion for idle youth. He leaps at every opportu- styles, and Bounce says that with Taiwans absorption of a
nity that presents itself, because the more of his works are variety of different cultures, no truly symbolic visual style
out on the streets, the more visible they are, and the more has yet emerged in the graffiti world, so its hard to accu-
visible they are, the more visible he is. rately define what makes Taiwanese graffiti Taiwanese.
And by incorporating elements of local culture, even if The essence of creation
only symbolically, Bounce is able to make his works feel Bounce draws inspiration for his creations from every-
more familiar even to audiences who dont get graffiti thing around him, but while current affairs and issues can
normally, and through that help them better understand draw attention and resonate with audiences, he ultimately
the form. had to give up such political work. Everyone has their
A mole from the graffiti world
Over the past 12 years, Bounce has worked to create a
brand for himself and earn recognition as an artist. While
he could simply work on specifically laid out commercial BOUNCE
BOUNCE
demands, though, he remains insistent that I do what This massive mural brings together Bounces creative style with
I do to get people to come to me because they like my the local culture of Dongshi, including iconic tung blossoms, a
mystical dragon-horse, and locally grown persimmons.
work, so I always have a strong sense of my own brand (courtesy of BOUNCE)
113

B o u n c e

Bounce

Bounce

2005B o u n c e
12

B o u n c e l

own perspective on things and nothing is purely one-sided. in the graffiti world complain that Taiwan lacks cultural
I dont want to have too much influence on how people literacy and doesnt care about graffiti art, but many
interpret my graffiti, because then ideas start taking pre- miss that to earn the respect of others, you have to first
cedence over the images themselves. He adds: I prefer respect others, respect their environments, and respect
to inject some of myself into pieces and to put the focus on the hard work theyve invested in their pieces.
the visual side. Because Ive studied art history and been Back in 2005, as he started out on his artistic career,
more heavily influenced by traditional art, when I create I Bounce would head out at midnight with friends and
try to give expression to my soul in the most authentic and have fun drawing and making graffiti, enjoying the city
pure way, just as artists like Da Vinci and Van Gogh did. by night and catching the first bus back home in the
To assert their identities and existence, some graffiti morning to sleep. All these years later, his dreams are
artists will take to soaring spots above busy streets to tag unchanged, and he still wants to show off his work to
towering buildings, while others will cover dilapidated as many people as he can. Like that bunny rabbit that
buildings with spray paint, and still others will paint started all of this, Bounce continues to push forward,
over works by previous artists. Bounces works have following his own tune and cultivating that same energy
not avoided such treatment. As a veteran graffiti artist, that always drove him on. Hopefully that bunny will
Bounce fully understands the drive for expression in other keep inspiring others to find their own voices too! l
artists; it doesnt matter whether its beautiful or ugly, the (Wu Ching-wen/photos by Chuang Kung-ju/
most important thing is to show respect. A lot of people tr. by Geof Aberhart)
115
SOUTHEAST ASIAN FOCUS

The Taste of Home:
Savor a Spoonful of Southeast Asian Spices

O ver the past decade or so, names of exotic spices
such as Thai holy basil, turmeric, tamarind and
lemongrass have begun to pop up in Taiwans culi-
nary lingo. These aromatic plants are the oft-yearned-
for homeland flavors of Southeast Asian people who

have come to live and settle in Taiwan. They not only
enrich our food culture, they also represent an intrigu-
ing medium through which to acquaint ourselves with
mainland and maritime Southeast Asia.
20177
From July to October, the National Taiwan Museum
is hosting a special exhibition, The Taste of Hometown:
Southeast Asian Flavors. Through common plants and
spices of Southeast Asia, it introduces the unique origins of

spicesand tales of immigrantsfrom countries through-
out the region. Thus visitors are not only given a chance to
savor a street full of Southeast Asian delicacies and learn
to recognize the hot and tart flavors that may be combined
within a single mouthful, they are also able to experience a
taste of immigrants nostalgia for their homelands.
Flavors of home
People familiar with Taiwans history know that it

1992
has always been a multicultural place, and our diverse
diet demonstrates this. Since 1992, with the influx of peo-

ple from Southeast Asia, cuisine with a Southeast Asian
flavor has also set foot in Taiwan and become a part of
our food culture, says the director of the National Tai-
2014 wan Museum, Hung Shih-yu. So the museum, which
focuses on cultural diversity and has long followed issues
117
2015

722

4
7

5

10
6

Spices appeal to more than just our sense of taste: the exhibition
serves up ten of them for appreciation by our noses.

Outside the exhibition, a seedbed is planted with aromatic plants
to allow visitors to smell their fragrance and identify them based
on shape. From left to right: sawtooth coriander, Vietnamese
coriander and perilla.
rect some mistaken impressions about Southeast-Asian

cuisine. For instance, the Chinese term dapao used in the
context of Thai cooking refers to holy basil leaves, and
not the action of hurling something, as the characters
used to write the word suggest; and curry signifies
mixed seasonings, and thus the recipe for curry in each
household in Southeast Asia is unique to that family.
Varied, complex Southeast Asian flavors
For this exhibition, we interviewed immigrants from
four countries, and presented spices and dishes from
seven countries in Southeast Asia, says curator Emily
Hsu-wen Yuan.
There are many kinds of Southeast Asian spices, and
this results in a rich, multi-layered cuisine. On display are
ten containers of spices including pepper, cloves, tama-
rind, cinnamon, coriander seeds, cardamom, cumin and
candlenuts. And those are just the basics! she says.
Yuan emphasizes that a more authoritative list would
also have to include the herbal plants displayed on the
National Taiwan Museums exhibition The Taste of Hometown: walls, such as mint, lemongrass, Vietnamese coriander,
Southeast Asian Flavors brings the saga of the regions spices
to visitors.
pandan leaves, makrut lime, sawtooth coriander, turmeric,
and Thai holy basil leaves.
At times the information she gathered about the regions
surrounding immigrants, this year organized its Taste of aromatic plants approached explosive proportions. Prior to
Hometown exhibition. conducting interviews, Yuan prepared background materi-
On its opening day, July 22, following docent Chen als on ten plants per country, and notified her interviewees
Hsin-chun around the exhibition we quickly understood of the content of their talk. But some enthusiastic respon-
that climate and environment determine how spices are dents added another 30. We actually use this many spices
employed in Southeast Asia. The peoples of mainland back home, they said, leaving her almost overwhelmed.
Southeast Asia generally add fresh spices directly to their Ester Kartika Condro, who is from Indonesia, brought
dishes, while island residents, due to less abundant nat- sand ginger, her favorite, to the interview. When peeled it
ural resources, tend to dry fruits and seeds, grind them, is white, and if you taste it, it is not as hot as Taiwan ginger,
and mix them to serve as a preserved seasoning base. which can make you choke, but it does possess a refreshing
As Chen conducted the tour, he didnt neglect to cor- mint oil fragrance. Sand ginger is not only edible, she said,
119
10

10

30


it also has medicinal properties. Her mother grinds it into a

Indonesian spice vendors at a traditional market.
paste that she applies to the abdomen to reduce flatulence.
Spices enrich Southeast Asian cuisine with Feng Chun-yan, from Myanmar, revealed that her father
multiple layers of taste and a riot of color too.
(photo by Jimmy Lin) adores lemongrass. After boiling it to make soup he likes to
chew on it, and cant bring himself to just throw it away.
The exhibition doesnt just bring to light little-known
usages for seasonings; nostalgia for the immigrants home-

lands is also revealed. When they recount their memories
about spices, their eyes often turn red, or they seem to
revert to their teenage years, as if they were young girls
again at their mothers side, describes Yuan. She admires
the courage that brought these female immigrants to Tai-

wan on their own, and their strength and perseverance in

facing the challenges of their new lives.

The enthusiastic women immigrants often went on at
length, describing the delicious flavors of their hometown
dishes. During the interviews, when I didnt feel like I
was starving, then I was so moved I thought Id cry my
eyes dry, says Yuan.
Cross-cultural dialogue
Crossing cultures is an intriguing but complex affair,

says Yuan, and it leads you to reflection on blind spots

in your own culture. For instance, the Taiwanese use rice
wine to remove a fishy smell, but ingesting alcohol is for-
bidden in Islam, so Muslims accomplish this by grinding
turmeric into a mash, adding spices and then rubbing the
mixture on the fish. In Taiwan, water spinach is cut into
short lengths and stir-fried with garlic, but in Vietnam, the
raw leaves of water spinach are picked off the stem, sliced

121
into strips and served as an appetizer similar to salad.
Many of these innumerable differences in approach were
revealed in the course of the interviews for the exhibition.
The most memorable differences are in how spices are

handled. The Taiwanese like to saut using spring onions,
ginger and garlic, which are often crushed or chopped

and then tossed into the wok. But in Southeast Asia, vir-
tually every family owns a mortar and pestle for pound-
ing spices. Spices are crushed and ground manually and
then added to dishes.
The question, Cant you use a juicer to do that? eli-
cits an expression of disbelief from Southeast Asians. You
wont get the same effect, they reply in concert. You
must pound and mash them by hand, otherwise its not

l the real McCoy.
Leaving the museum behind
Beyond the exhibition, on weekends the museum
also arranges guided tours, led by immigrants, of the
Burmese, Indonesian and Filipino quarters of Greater
After visiting the exhibition, why not sketch the Southeast
Asian dishes you now knowyouve taken a big step Taipei, where the guides can tell their own stories. Back
forward in your knowledge about the countries in the region. at the museum, tours of the exhibition are also given by
immigrant ambassadors at various times on weekdays.
Dressed in the traditional garb of their homeland, they
provide explanations based on first-hand knowledge.
After the exhibition closes in Taipei, it will tour all
over Taiwan in order to enrich the cultural resources of
remote areas and outlying islands, and ensure that more
locals can experience and better understand the cultures
of Southeast Asia, says Hung Shih-yu.
Spices originated in ancient India and spread through-
out Southeast Asia. As they did, they were adapted to
the conditions and customs of each country, creating the
brilliant and diverse cuisines of mainland and maritime
Southeast Asia. Later, these seasonings were brought to
Taiwan by the women immigrants who have settled here,
helping to assuage their nostalgia for their homelands,
while adding new flavors to Taiwans spice palette.
These women who crossed the seas for a new life here
have gradually integrated themselves into Taiwan culture,
and become indispensable members of society. The people
of Taiwan should also endeavor to learn about and be-
friend these Southeast Asian newcomers, and appreciate
the wonderful cultures and diversity they bring with them.
Because once you take root, you are family. l
(Cathy Teng/photos by Lin Min-hsuan/
tr. by Bruce Humes)

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10610 42 10

Vol. 42 No. 10 October 2017

Ethnic Harmony on the EDITORS NOTE

Tips of Our Tongues

M emories of tastes are unforgettable.

these vivid impressions for anything. memories of his exemplary approach to

Southeast Asia, are increasing the diversity dragonhorse on a restaurant wall.

Southeast Asian Focus

A s a multi-ethnic society with diverse resources,

8 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

Taiwanese Chefs Create Downhome Cuisine

I n recent years a number of young chefs

10 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

12 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

Latelier de Jol Robuchon

Western cuisine emphasizes separate preparation of foods.

14 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

16 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

Hsiao Tsun-yuans natural style

location courtesy of Dancing Elephant Wine Shop

18 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

Man and Nature Hand in Hand

O n January 1 of 2002, on Taiwans accession to the

20 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

22 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

does not favor the growth of grape vines, which origi-

24 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

26 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

Dining Rituals of a Hillside Community

L eaving behind the din of the Gongguan

28 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

30 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

32 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

34 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

Sweet Footnotes to Hard Times

L ike countless Southeast-Asian immi-

36 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

38 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

40 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

past, she says: I feel that now people no longer look at

me differently. When I say Im Thai, Taiwanese happily

purely by chance that she married and came to Taiwan

17 years ago. At that time she was renting a room in Ja

and at that time there was very strong antiChinese

sentiment in Indonesia. Although her mother cried and

many spices with her in her luggage when she first

came to Taiwan, including lemon grass, turmeric, and

pepper. She also brought along a heavy stone mortar

ian zongzi (filled rice dumplings) and mochi (sticky rice

balls). She says with a laugh: Eventually I was cooking

42 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

was educated in Indonesian and considers it to be her

48 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

50 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

52 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

54 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

56 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

Capturing the Moment: Gymnastics

An athlete on the pommel horse moves his body

The parallel bars and the balance beam are two

The gymnasts arms support the weight of their bodies,

64 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

66 Taiwan Panorama 2017/10

I n 1990, when the author and educator Chien Mu