The Relativity of Time

Huang’s article talks about the traditional ways the Amis tell time. I thought this article was incredibly interesting and it really kept my attention throughout the whole thing. I really like how Huang described the four different ways of time keeping in the Amis village of Iwan. I had no idea that there were several different influences on the way they keep time within the indigenous communities, so this was really interesting to read.

I found it fascinating the way the Amis differentiate between night and day, and the way they figure out the time based on nature. They know when to wake up, eat and work based on the movements of the sun. Time can also be deduced based on the movements of shadows. On rainy or overcast days, the Amis can estimate the time based on how hungry they feel (p.323). To me this is so neat because the Amis have such a strict, everyday routine that they know basically what time of day it is based on the sun, or based on how hungry they are. I just find this really intriguing!

I think it is a shame that the Japanese decided to implement clocks and watches as timekeeping devices on the Amis. It was forced onto them when they did not want it. They invented new words to coincide with what the Japanese wanted from them in terms of timekeeping and punctuality (p. 326). Out of the four imposed ways of keeping time, I think the Japanese imposing clocks and “modern” time upon the Amis is the most upsetting. It completely changed how they went about their days. Children were forced to go to school. Adults were forced into labour, especially as construction workers. They generally worked without payment or for half of the ordinary pay (p. 326-327). This implementation of time even made it more convenient for the KMT rule (p. 328), which of course greatly impacted the indigenous communities.

One of the major things I thought while reading this article was how much simpler life must be without being so worried about time. Nowadays, all we do is worry about time. We have to be places on time. We do not have much time left to live our lives. We spend too much time on the computer and not enough time outside. Everything we do is based on time. I feel like everything could be so much easier if we worried less about time. Time is relative. It is a human invention used to keep order. But the Amis did not keep time like we do now and they had order in their villages. Based on Huang’s article, it seems to me that the Amis in Iwan and a good working social order and were very able to keep up with their agricultural practices. I do not think it will ever happen, but it might be nice one day if we all decided to abandon our “modern” sense of time and start using the sun and the stars to guide us through our daily activities.

Reference:

Huang, Shiun-wey. 2004. “’Times and Images of Others in an Amis Village, Taiwan.” Time & Society 13 (2/3): 321-337.

Indigenous Rights in Taiwan

Ku’s article discusses minority and indigenous rights within Taiwan. The difference between these two groups of people is important. The minority groups include Mongolian and Tibetan immigrants. The indigenous peoples are those who were living on the island before the Chinese arrived. They receive different rights because of this difference.

One thing I found very interesting, as well as very important, is that the Alliance of Taiwan Aborigines (ATA) decided to use the term ‘aborigine’ to describe themselves. They chose this term because of its implication of being the first inhabitants of the island. This gave the movement for indigenous rights a much stronger voice because it holds these peoples as being the original masters of Taiwan (2005, p. 103). The fact that they chose their own term to describe themselves is very important. It means that these peoples care about how they are being treated and demand respect from others. Choosing how they identify is a sign of assertiveness on the part of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. It is also extremely important that the ATA created a Manifesto of Taiwanese Aboriginal Rights in 1988 to form a common destiny among the aborigines (p. 104). They knew how they were being discriminated against and wanted to change that. They knew some of their human rights were being violated and wanted to gain rights and respect from the Han people. However this statement received little public attention, which is a shame since I am sure that it was a well thought out manifesto that should have been respected. These people deserve to have the same human rights as everyone else.

I also found it interesting that within the DPP, pro-independence advocates believe that the indigenous peoples who are most qualified to declare independence since they have always been on the island and therefore there is no problem of unification for them. However, most aborigines are against independence (p. 106). I find it interesting that the pro-independence advocates believe there would not be a problem of unification amongst the indigenous peoples. Historically speaking, these different groups of people have fought against each other and have practiced head hunting expeditions against each other. Surely things are different now, but there could possibly still be some tension amongst the different aborigines groups. They may not want to unite with other groups to try and fight for independence because of their history with one another.

I feel like it is also relevant to mention that aboriginal politicians spoke up about the manifesto created by the ATA, demanding the right to practice regional autonomy in the areas where aboriginal peoples have traditionally lived. They also demanded an upgrade in the level of administrative authority aboriginal politicians have in the central government (p. 111). These demands are extremely crucial in the movement for indigenous rights. If Taiwan’s aborigines want more rights, they have to fight hard to get them. Which is, I will admit, completely unfair to them since they should already have these rights.

Reference:
Ku, Kun-hui. 2005. “Rights to Recognition: Minority/Indigenous Politics in the Emerging Taiwanese Nationalism.” Social Analysis 49 (2): 99-121.

Cop Culture in Taiwan

Martin’s text really encapsulates the struggles that police officers face in Taiwan. Police in Taiwan have to balance maintaining the law and maintaining the socio-economics of their beats. Martin describes how police are liable for any criminal activity that happens within their beats. They are penalized for their failure to have detected and reported any criminal activity (p. 668). The way it is set up for 119 (Taiwan’s 911) calls leaves a paper trail that leads directly to the officer on duty. When a citizen calls 119, the system automatically routes the call to the county police station. Here it becomes a matter of formal record. Then it is relayed to the appropriate substation, who then radios the policeman on duty. This leaves a paper trail identifying that officer personally as legally accountable for the management of the situation (p. 691). I suppose this could be a good way to make sure that the police are doing their jobs and doing them correctly. But at the same time it feels like they are not trusted by their superiors and by the rest of the legal system.

However the officers do not always uphold the law, especially when it comes to the restaurant stalls and shops that are illegally set up on the sidewalks. Guo, one of the officers that Martin spent a lot of time with, tells Martin that he does not write a lot of tickets for these people. He also helps them out legally. When he takes pictures of their stalls, he makes sure to let them know when he is coming so that they set up later. This way, he takes a picture of an empty space to use as the “after” picture and once they set up their stall, he takes a picture of that to use as the “before” picture (p. 669). To his superiors, it looks like he told them to clean up the stalls when in reality he is helping to keep the socio-economic order of the area in place. These people need these stalls to make money for their families. For most, it is their only income.

I do not personally think it is fair for these policemen to be held legally responsible for any crime they fail to notice. It is not their fault that they did not detect that brothel or chop shop in their beat. They should not be penalized for it. Their job is to respond to crimes reported to them and to crimes they detect. I do not know how it works to become a police officer in Taiwan, but to me it feels like they do not have enough policemen on the streets, and that may be something that should change. One officer is responsible for 200-400 households on his own and is then held personally responsible for anything that happens in that beat. With more police officers, more crimes might be detected and the law could be upheld much easier. I am also unaware how it works to legally have a stall set up on the sidewalk, but perhaps it should be made easier to get the proper permits so these families can provide for themselves without having to do so illegally and risk getting ticketed.

Reference:

Martin, Jeffery. 2007. “A Reasonable Balance of Law and Sentiment: Social Order in Democratic Taiwan from the Policeman’s Point of View.” Law & Society Review 41 (3): 665-697.

The Cult of Wang Yulan

Chi’s article about Wang Yulan, a deified female ghost from the state of Jinmen, explores different aspects of nationalism and the Chinese folk religion. The cult dedicated to this ghost links the global to the local. The state promoted her worship at Qingqi, where her body was found. She is now the symbol of resistance to communism and of chastity, since she had allegedly been killed by PLA soldiers after resisting them (2009, p. 671).

In the official discourse, her ghost cult was transformed into the cult of a goddess (p. 672). However ghosts are metaphors for the socially marginal and worshipping them is not encouraged. But the cult of Wang Yulan allowed the state to link anti-communist hegemony with folk religion, a way to disseminate nationalism (p. 673).

One of the things I found interesting about her cult, was the way her temple was built. The location of her temple outside of the village indicates her marginality in the celestial hierarchy. She is not a full-fledged goddess. Architecturally, the temple is also evidence to her ghostly status. It does not have a door. However the layout inside is evidence of her deification. The centrepiece of the temple is an altar flanked with side altars. A statue of Wan Yulan sits in the middle of the central altar. She is dressed in the traditional gown for female deities. This arrangement is identical to that in shrines for unambiguously full-fledged deities in Jinmen (p. 675-676). The outside and the inside seem to contradict each other a little bit.

There was also something I found interesting about the myth surrounding Wang Yulan’s death. She is seen by most to be a chaste female martyr. Chastity is a traditional value which fits in with what the state wanted to preserve as something to counteract the communist revolution of the PRC. The military therefore emphasized her chastity. Her resistance to the PLA soldiers is seen as a statement of her rejection of communism (p. 678). I can understand why the Jinmen people would think this, as they did not want PRC nationalism to take over their traditional values and practices. A lot of religions and spiritualities have that person that died for something they believe in. That person tends to become more of a myth and stories get altered when they are being told, thus are not always true. Not to be the feminist killjoy again, but I think the reason why Wang Yulan resisted the soldiers was not because she was rejecting communism. I feel like it was more because she did not want to get raped and/or killed by them. Most women in that position would probably also resist, regardless of who was attacking them.

 I also found it interesting that the villagers do not refer to the communist soldiers as such, but as “some people”. And it was not Wang Yulan as a martyr and victim of communism that motivated them to worship her. Rather, they worship her because she instructed them to (p.682). I found this interesting because there seems to be an emphasis placed on her resistance to the PLA soldiers in the story of her martyrdom, yet it has nothing to do with why she is worshipped.

Reference:

Chi, Chan-hui. 2009. “The Death of a Virgin: the Cult of Wang Yulan and Nationalism in Jinmen, Taiwan.” Anthropological Quarterly 82 (3): 669-690.

Nationalism

I found Benedict Anderson’s article “Western Nationalism and Eastern Nationalism: Is There a Difference That Matters?” to be very fitting today, as we closed the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games earlier this afternoon. The Olympic Games always brings out the nationalism in people as they cheer on the Olympians from their country. However there are many different ways to express or create nationalism, as Anderson reveals in this article. He goes through different types of nationalism, such as creole nationalism, official nationalism and linguistic nationalism. These types of nationalism can all be disputed as being “real” nationalism and can vary from nation to nation.

I found the way Anderson compared different nations’ nationalisms to be very interesting. He finds similarities in nationalisms from nations most would think to be completely opposite from one another. Yet to Anderson, Cuban nationalism is very similar to Philippine nationalism in its origins and in its looks. Morphologically, Indian nationalism is analogous to Irish and Egyptian nationalism. These comparisons put the world into perspective and make you think about nationalism in a different way. If these nations that, on the outside, appear to be very different from each other, what is it that is making their citizens act the same way nationalistically?

I am very happy that Anderson addressed the East-West dichotomy in this article. He makes it clear that he does not compare nationalisms along these lines and notes that what is considered the East and the West continues to vary over time. This whole dichotomy has always made me quite uncomfortable. I never feel comfortable referring to places in Europe and North American as the “West” and places in Asia and in Africa as the “East”. To me, these terms are synonymous with “First World” and “Third World”. They invoke a certain image and a certain meaning to people. The “West” is “developed” and “advanced” technologically. The “East” is “primitive” and “under-developed”. At least this is what I feel these terms have come to mean. Even using the more appropriate terms of “developing” and “developed” countries makes me uncomfortable because they make it seem that the “developed” countries will not continue to develop. Which I think is false as all countries are constantly developing and evolving and will continue to do so.

I also want to address the Past and Future dichotomy discussed by Anderson, using Taiwan as an example. The minority groups, like the aborigines, are considered to be part of the Past whereas the Han people are considered to be the Future. In this discourse, the older the Past, the nationalism should be stronger. However, this seems contradictory to me as the aborigines’ identities are not considered the national identity of Taiwan and the Han identity is. The aborigines traditions date back farther than the Han traditions, therefore their national identity should be more significant than it is. These identities are belittled and are considered minorities when compared to the Han people.

Reference:
Anderson, Benedict. 2001. “Western Nationalism and Eastern Nationalism.” New Left Review 9: 31-423

Experiences of Being a “Native”: Observing Anthropology

In a parallel to Canada’s own residential schools, Keelung Hong (1994) was also forced into a Chinese-run residential school in Taiwan. He was not permitted to use his mother tongue and was punished if ever heard using his native language. The Chinese renamed them in their own language, and it was a rather degrading term. In order to stray from the oppression of the Chinese oligarchy, Hong studied in the US in order to better his chances.

While he was in America, he decided to learn about the history of Taiwan since that subject had been banned during his schooling. He was shocked to see that the ethnographies written about Taiwan talked about a “traditional Chinese culture”.  This was the same culture the Chinese were actively trying to destroy.  He was especially upset about the works of Margery Wolf, an American anthropologist and first wife of Arthur Wolf. She had a very ethnocentric tone in her writings. She romanized a lot of her language, but it is very unclear whether or not she is romanizing the English or the Chinese. Though Hong knew that much of what she wrote was not quite how things worked, he asked a simple favour of her to send him the Chinese characters of some of the words she used. She never replied to his letter.

Hong was also quite distraught over the fact that Wolf completely erased her (Taiwanese) research assistant’s name from her works. There is no mention of her helping Wolf to write her published work. And as someone who is seen as a pioneer for feminist anthropology, Wolf seems to erase a lot about women, especially their names. The erasure of the female names is quite the opposite of feminist anthropology. This does not give women the place they deserve in anthropological texts. This is frustrating to me as a feminist and an anthropology major because she completely misrepresents 1) women and 2) that come from a different society than her own. It seems as though she didn’t even try to make an effort on getting the full names of women or learn the native language of the village she was studying. Hong even visited a cemetery near the village Wolf studied to see if full female names were on the tombstones. Unsurprisingly, they all had full names.

This article was very frustrating to read because even though there is no possible way for me to identify with what Hong feels about ethnographic representations of his society, I still empathize with him. His society is completely misrepresented because anthropologists were too busy looking for the “traditional Chinese culture” in a society that was not completely Chinese. Yes there has been a great Chinese influence on the culture, but there are still many aspects that are uniquely Taiwanese. The native languages are one of the most important cultural aspects of Taiwan and they were almost ignored because they were not “Chinese”.

Hong says it best at the end of his article: “They [anthropologists] will continue to decide what is interesting about my native culture/society and whether insights of those properly initiated into the mysteries of representation theories should be used to make statements about villages, industrializing nations, China, humankind – or perhaps even Taiwan, the generally unthinkable level of analysis” (p. 8).

Reference

Hong, Keelung. 1994. “Experience of Being a ‘Native’: Observing Anthropology.” Anthropology Today 10 (3): 6-9.

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale

I had the great privilege to see the film Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale last night. This was an incredible film that depicted the Wushe Incident, which occurred in Taiwan while it was under Japanese rule in the 1930s. The film follows Mona Rudao, chief of the Mahebu clan and his warriors in a fight against the Japanese. This film completely opened up my eyes to the way the Seediq people were treated by the Japanese. They were forced to learn Japanese and study Japanese history and were beaten by the Japanese officers. Though Seediq could also become Japanese officers, they were never treated as equal. I never realized that the Rebellion the Seediq people started against the Japanese had been such a violent one. The film shows a lot of violence against the Japanese and against the Seediq people. You see almost every single character die. Most of the Seediq deaths are suicides, including every female death. This leads me to believe that committing suicide is a much more honourable death than being killed by the Japanese. This just goes to show how important the Seediq customs, traditions and culture is. Even under Japanese rule, they would still practice their rituals. This was such an incredible film and definitely worth a watch. It was incredibly well made and the actors were incredible. They really gave a sense of what these people went through during the rebellion. I highly recommend this film to anyone who is interested in Taiwanese history, however if you are unable to handle blood and violence, I would stay away from this film.

Economics and Gender

As someone who is not well versed in the language of economics, I found that Gates’ and Greenhalgh’s articles were very easy to understand. They didn’t overcomplicate anything by using a lot of barely understandable economic jargon. This made reading the articles much easier and a lot more interesting.

As unimpressed I am with the older generation of sinological anthropologists who studied the Chinese family firms in Taiwan, I am glad Greenhalgh decided to take another look at this type work. The Orientalist perspective creates a lot of problems and holes in its view of the Chinese family firm. It does not recognize gender or generation disparities within the firm, especially in terms of reward distribution. Greenhalgh notes that not only are there huge disparities between genders, but one gender can actually subsidize the other (1994, p. 750). I think that it is really important to return and think critically about how the Chinese family firms were portrayed through the Orientalist perspective. It is necessary in order to better understand them today. It is extremely important to understand how the gender and generation disparities come about and that they do in fact exist. In order to get a real sense of this type of firm, the pros and the cons of this type of work need to be studied. If only the pros are being studied, then the family firm is not being properly assessed. A good anthropologist will take note of the good, the bad and the ugly. Or at the very least, return to their works later and realize that they should have told the story from all points of view, not just through the point of view of the family/firm head.

In Gates’ article, I do really like how she focuses on class and ethnicity in regards to income equality in Taiwan. These are two very important factors when discussing income, since they are two of the major factors that will influence your income in most capitalist societies. She really focuses on the five social classes of Taiwan and how each social class has a certain relationship to a particular means of production. In other words, the grand bourgeoisie is comprised of mostly government officials, whereas the proletariat has skills that do not necessarily require education (1979, p. 389-391). However Gates never mentions how gender and/or age affect income. These too are important factors that influence how much money somebody makes. I think they should also be considered when discussing income (in)equality in capitalist societies.

References

Gates, Hill. 1979. “Dependency and the Part-time Proletariat in Taiwan.” Modern China 5 (3): 381-408.

Greenhalgh, Susan. 1994. “De-Orientalizing the Chinese Family Firm.” American Ethnologist 21 (4): 746-775.

Ghost Marriages: the Struggle of a Feminist Anthropology Student

In villages of the Taipei Basin, ghosts and ancestors are viewed differently depending on the point of view of a particular person. I have found that the roles of ghosts in these villages are really quite interesting. I want to really focus on the ghosts of unmarried girls for they play an important role in other couples’ marriages.

Girls are not viewed as part of the family but as someone to be given away to another family. They are viewed as outsiders. Because of this, unmarried girls who die are denied the right to a place on her father’s ancestral altar (Wolf, 1974, p. 148). In order to rectify this, at least in “the old days”, a girl’s parents could trap a husband for her, thus ridding themselves of the responsibility of her soul. The parents would write their daughter’s name and horoscope down on a piece of red paper and would conceal it in a purse. The purse was then left beside the road. The first man to pick it up would be considered as fate for him to marry her, usually in exchange for a dowry. The girl’s soul then becomes the man’s first wife and his children are obligated to worship her (p. 150).

Though trapping husbands is no longer practiced, it is still interesting to note that there are still ghost marriages being performed. Some men have a “two-wife fate”, meaning their first wife would die. Since a ghost marriage places the ghost as a man’s first wife, in order to stall the death of the living wife a man would marry the ghost of an unmarried girl. These ghost marriages also give these women children to worship them (p. 150).

As an anthropology student, I find that these practices are really fascinating and it would be refreshing to learn more about the ghost marriages and the role of unmarried daughters. Since this is something that is completely unheard of in the society I grew up in, learning more about this type of marriage is something I would like to do. However, as a feminist, there is always a voice in the back of my mind whenever I read about other societies and the roles of their women. As an anthropology student I know that cultural relativism is one of the most important things that must be practiced when considering other societies, but the feminist part of me is always anxious about young girls and women who are seen as objects and not as people. I felt a bit uncomfortable reading about the ghost marriages because I know that these young girls were not seen as real people by their fathers. They were seen as something to give to another family. And when they died there was nobody who really cared about them, unless they could come in and help another man. I know I should not be judging other societies and how they treat others in their society. These are their practices and this is their worldview and it has been that way for a long time. It just puts me in a difficult place as a feminist anthropology student because I want these girls and women to have voices and be considered people, but I also do not want to impede on the cultural practices of a society I know almost nothing about.

Reference

Wolf, Arthur. 1974. “Gods, Ghosts and Ancestors.” In Arthur Wolf (ed.). Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 131-182.

This week I really want to focus on Mabuchi’s article Sphere of Geographical Knowledge and Socio-Political Organization Among the Mountain Peoples of Formosa (1974) because I found the way he describes the Formosan aborigines and their knowledge of geography to be very interestingly put. He divides the geographical knowledge of the Formosan aborigines into three categories: the geographical knowledge of the “Life Sphere”, the “Observation and Hearsay Sphere” and the “Legend Sphere”.

The geographical knowledge of the “Life Sphere” refers to the geography that the Formosan aborigines are aware of due to the many activities that they practice. For example farming, hunting and fishing are all done in different areas; therefore the aborigines are able to expand their geographical knowledge of their lands. Because these activities are related to their daily lives, they form the “Life Sphere”.

The geographical knowledge of the “Observation and Hearsay Sphere” refers to the geography observed by the Formosan aborigines, as well as the geography that is based indirectly on hearsay from outsiders. Headhunting expeditions, trade relations and endogamous marriage contribute to the observation part of the sphere. Outsiders are those who are not part of the “closedness” of a certain tribe. These are the people who contribute to the hearsay part of the sphere.

Finally, the geographical knowledge of the “Legend Sphere” refers to the geography that is preserved through the oral tradition. This geographical knowledge is still present in legends, but is not necessarily known through the “Life Sphere” or the “Observation and Hearsay Sphere”.

This is a very interesting and new way to approach the knowledge of the Formosan aborigines. I have never seen other researchers present the diversity of knowledge in this fashion.  It’s interesting because it is also true. Daily life activities will contribute to the knowledge of a specific geographic area, especially for peoples who are sedentary. The same areas will always be used each for farming, hunting and fishing and the geographical knowledge will not expand too far from that. However, other activities that do not occur daily, such as marriage and headhunting expeditions, contribute to a different knowledge of geography based on observations made by the people involved. This geography is known, but does not factor into the life sphere for the activities are not daily or repetitive but based on observation. People from different tribes can also provide geographic information to the Formosan aborigines. Lastly, unseen geographical knowledge is left in the hands of oral tradition and legend. This knowledge has not been seen but the aborigines know that it exists because their legends tell them thus.

Mabuchi presents five different ethnic groups from Formosa and explains their geographical knowledge based on the three spheres. It is interesting how even within one ethnic group different tribes have different geographical knowledge about their surroundings based on the types of activities they practice and their oral tradition. Those who do not practice headhunting have a different geographical knowledge than those who do practice. Some ethnic groups come from a place located in the “legend sphere” whereas others don’t, again creating a difference between geographical knowledge. I find it interesting how Mabuchi presents the Formosan people this way. It changes how we view the aborigines and their practices. It shows us how different aspects of daily life can contribute to different types of knowledge.

Reference

Mabuchi, Toichi. 1974. "Sphere of Geographical Knowledge and Socio-Political Organization Among the Mountain Peoples of Formosa". Ethnology of the Southwestern Pacific: the Ryukyus-Taiwan-Insular Southeast Asia. Taipei: Chinese Association for Folklore. pp. 175-220