ThelatetwentiethcenturywitnessedrapidchangesnotonlyinTaiwan’seconomy,butalsoinitsidentity.BotheconomicaswellasideologicalrestructuringhavebeenbasicelementsinthetransformationofpostwarTaiwan,asrapiddemocratizationopenedaPandora’sBox,andstirredawhirlwindofsocialdiscord.ThisvolumeconsiderssuchimportantquestionsaswhethertheoldTaiwaneseworkethicisarelicofthepast,andwhetherTaiwanislikelytobecomeabattlegroundofideologicalwars.
ThebookaddressesTaiwanesenostalgiaforChineseculture;theriseandfallofpostwarTaiwaneseagrarianculture;thetransformationoffarmers’socialconsciousnessintheperiod1950–1970;theplaceofConfucianisminpostwarTaiwan;andtheawakeningofthe“self”andthedevelopmentofaTaiwanesenationalidentityinthepost–WorldWarIIperiod.Finally,itconsiderswhether“mutualhistoricalunderstanding”maybethebasisforTaiwan-Mainlandrelationsinthetwentyfirstcentury.ThissecondeditionincludestwonewchaptersonthehistoryofTaiwanafterWorldWarII,incorporatingadditionaldevelopmentsinTaiwaninthepastdecade.
InsightsextrapolatedfromanunderstandingofhistoryareessentialforgraspingandsolvingthebasicproblemsTaiwannowfacesand,aboveall,theconflictedrelationshipbetweenTaiwanandMainlandChina.Thebook’sthematicundercurrentisthequestionofTaiwanandMainlandChina:HowdowedealwiththetensionbetweenculturalChinaandpoliticalChina?
