This book brings together a group of experts on Taiwan who attempt to analyse change on this dynamic island during the whole of the twentieth century. Thus in contrast to many works on Taiwan, this book shows just how important the Japanese colonial antecedents were to the formation of today's Taiwan and help us to understand the complexity of the problems this island will face in the twenty-first century.

This book is the first in English to consider women's movements and feminist discourses in twentieth-century Taiwan. Doris T. Chang examines the way in which Taiwanese women in the twentieth century selectively appropriated Western feminist theories to meet their needs in a modernizing Confucian culture. She illustrates the rise and fall of women's movements against the historical backdrop of the island's contested national identities, first vis-à-vis imperial Japan (1895-1945) and later with postwar China (1945-2000). In particular, during periods of soft authoritarianism in the Japanese colonial era and late twentieth century, autonomous women's movements emerged and operated within the political perimeters set by the authoritarian regimes. Women strove to replace the "Good Wife, Wise Mother" ideal with an individualist feminism that meshed social, political, and economic gender equity with the prevailing Confucian family ideology. However, during periods of hard authoritarianism from the 1930s to the 1960s, the autonomous movements collapsed. The particular brand of Taiwanese feminism developed from numerous outside influences, including interactions among an East Asian sociopolitical milieu, various strands of Western feminism, and even Marxist-Leninist women's liberation programs in Soviet Russia. Chinese communism appears not to have played a significant role, due to the Chinese Nationalists' restriction of communication with the mainland during their rule on post-World War II Taiwan. Notably, this study compares the perspectives of Madame Chiang Kai-shek, whose husband led as the president of the Republic of China on Taiwan from 1949 to 1975, and Hsiu-lien Annette Lu, Taiwan's vice president from 2000 to 2008. Delving into period sources such as the highly influential feminist monthly magazine Awakening as well as interviews with feminist leaders, Chang provides a comprehensive historical and cross-cultural analysis of the struggle for gender equality in Taiwan.

This text is an introductory study to the emergence of Taiwan as an independent state within the Chinese nation.

Coincided with China’s economic reform and her rapid ascendance to a great power status, the relations between Taiwan and Chinese mainland since 1979 have also seen some encouraging development. However, the rapprochement is nothing but a smooth ride. Taiwan Strait has always been full of tensions and hostility since the communist took over the mainland over sixty years ago.The periodical tensions in the cross-Strait relations have from time to time threatened to derail the peace talks between the two sides, and poised to jeopardize the region’s peace and stability. This book studies the past, present and future relations across the Taiwan Strait and examines many important questions such as internal and external factors contributing to the Taiwan’s shift in her mainland policy, impacts of Taiwan democratization on the cross-Strait relations, the development of Taiwanese identity and rise of Taiwanese nationalism, the possibility of expanding Taiwan’s international space under the shadow of China, the prospect of reunification between Taiwan and China, and the roles of the third parties, such as U.S., NGOs and Taiwan businessmen, in the changing relationship between the two sides. Taiwan and the Rise of China will certainly help readers, especially those who lack of historical perspective of the political division of the two political adversaries, to grasp the complexity and nature of the cross-Strait relations and faster a real understanding of the significance of this relationship to peace in the region as well as the world in the 21st century.

The late twentieth century witnessed rapid changes not only in Taiwan's economy, but also in its identity. Both economic as well as ideological restructuring have been basic elements in the transformation of postwar Taiwan, as rapid democratization opened a Pandora's Box, and stirred a whirlwind of social discord. This volume considers such important questions as whether the old Taiwanese work ethic is a relic of the past, and whether Taiwan is likely to become a battleground of ideological wars.The book addresses Taiwanese nostalgia for Chinese culture; the rise and fall of postwar Taiwanese agrarian culture; the transformation of farmers' social consciousness in the period 1950–1970; the place of Confucianism in postwar Taiwan; and the awakening of the self and the development of a Taiwanese national identity in the post–World War II period. Finally, it considers whether mutual historical understanding may be the basis for Taiwan-Mainland relations in the twenty-first century. This second edition includes a new chapter on the history of Taiwan after World War II, incorporating additional developments in Taiwan in the past decade.Insights extrapolated from an understanding of history are essential for grasping and solving the basic problems Taiwan now faces and, above all, the conflicted relationship between Taiwan and Mainland China. The book's thematic undercurrent is the question of Taiwan and Mainland China: How do we deal with the tension between cultural China and political China?