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One of my favourite artefacts from martial law-era Taiwan is this textbook of spoken Taiwanese (Hokkien). It says so much about the complex intersection of religion, identity, and language of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The fact that it exists at all is something of a surprise. The KMT was hostile to the teaching of local languages, and imposed heavy restrictions on written materials. It's not dated, but based on clues in the book it was almost certainly published between 1968 and 1975.
In that era publishing anything like this was difficult. This textbook was probably only possible because of two factors: it is heavily laden with ROC nationalism, and it was aimed primarily at foreign missionaries.
Christianity existed under something of a protected status during martial law, both because Chiang Kai-shek and Soong May-ling were Methodists, and because of the role of the Christian-majority United States as the ROC's security guarantor.
Still, there were red lines for churches and missionaries, and the introduction to the book contains plenty of rendering unto Caesar. There is a whole section grafted on the front of the book full of political genuflection.
There's also the choice of nomenclature. The language, commonly called simply "Taiwanese" by its speakers, is called the "Amoy Vernacular" here in English, and 閩南語 (Bân-lâm-ōe/Mǐnnányǔ) in Taiwanese and Mandarin. Both terms emphasise the roots of the language in Fujian.
There are four versions of the introduction: first in Chinese characters, then in English, next in Pe̍h-ōe-jī (romanized Taiwanese), and finally in in romanized Mandarin, using the now-obsolete Yale system (shown in the image here).
Part of the nationalism evident in the book is short biographical sketches of Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen, and a rendering of the "Chinese National Anthem".
Once we get past this initial section, however, the tone changes. The language is then called "Taiwanese" throughout, both in English and in the language itself (Tâi-oân-ōe).
What must have happened is that the main part of the book was not allowed to be reproduced until it had been made politically acceptable, hence the addition of all the ROC-heavy front matter.
The book also has some nice period photos of everyday life, coupled with some pretty backwards sentiments in the captions.
Chinese Dialogues in the Amoy Vernacular is a fascinating time capsule, and as a bonus there's the opportunity to pick up some Taiwanese as you go.
Chinese Dialogues in the Amoy Vernacular is a fascinating time capsule, and as a bonus there's the opportunity to pick up some Taiwanese as you go.
If you'd like to check out the whole thing it exists here as individual page scans (click 下1頁 to advance to the next page).
http://ip194097.ntcu.edu.tw/memory/TGB/thak.asp?id=617&page=1
http://ip194097.ntcu.edu.tw/memory/TGB/thak.asp?id=617&page=1
