A Brief History of the Literary Relationship between Taiwan and the Mainland

Author: Yang Ruoping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: In the past decade or so, with the rise of local consciousness in Taiwan's literary circles, there has been a highly active attitude towards publishing collections of works by local Taiwanese writers, and significant human and financial resources have been invested in research. In addition to holding various academic seminars, more than one university has established "Taiwan Literature Departments" or "Institutes of Taiwan Literature," with an increasing number of master's and doctoral theses focusing on related themes. It is estimated that there are nearly four hundred such theses, not to mention numerous single articles published in various newspapers and magazines. "Taiwan Literature Studies" has become a prominent field of study in Taiwan. Although Taiwan has been mentioned in Chinese historical records as early as the Three Kingdoms period, it only became a land inhabited by part of the Chinese people starting with Zheng Chenggong, and was formally incorporated into the Chinese political system during the Qing colonial period. Zheng Chenggong and his followers, as well as later Qing officials who served in Taiwan, brought people, wealth, and order to this relatively "barren" land, along with politics and culture, including literature. Of course, the original inhabitants of Taiwan had their own culture long before, naturally including art, and even literature, but that was undoubtedly in a primitive form, quite rough, and could not be compared to the highly developed Han culture and Han literature. Today, when we discuss Taiwanese literature, we primarily refer to Han literature, which undoubtedly originates from the mainland. Early mainland writers who came to Taiwan (or served in Taiwan) were not only the pioneers of Taiwanese literature but also its disseminators and educators. They not only traced the initial trajectory of early Taiwanese literature with their own works but, more importantly, through their efforts across generations, they eventually made Taiwan a literary haven. On this land, it has finally produced its own literary figures, so a branch of the great banyan tree of Chinese literature has crossed the strait and firmly taken root in Taiwan's fertile soil.