Here's an English TRANSLATION of what Su Beng said in a video clip from 8/31/14
It was the day of Su Beng-史明粉絲頁's book release and signing event for the newly revised version of his seminal book THE TAIWANESE PEOPLE'S 400 YEARS OF HISTORY (台彎人四百年史). This is an English translation of what he said that day:
Today there are many people here who haven’t gathered together before. I feel very touched. In the past when one talked about TAIWAN’s 400 YEARS OF HISTORY it was mostly discussed amongst people who knew each other. But today, of all the people here, there aren’t that many I recognize. I’m happy and touched to see this. If you tell me to only talk for 5 minutes, well I could talk for 50 minutes. 50 minutes still wouldn't be enough time for me to talk.
I only have 5 minutes, so first let me talk about this book and the reason why I wrote it. The history of Taiwan has been written from the perspective of outside ruling regimes. During the Dutch occupation it was written from the perspective of the Dutch. During the Ching dynasty it was written from the perspective of the Chinese. During the Japanese era, it was written from the perspective of the Japanese. And then when Chiang Kai-shek came, it was from the Chiang regime’s perspective.
I thought that this wasn’t right. It was as if the Taiwanese were nonexistent. They were ruled by others, oppressed and the natural resources of Taiwan were pillaged. Their (the Taiwanese people’s) history has been lost. So the main point of my book Taiwan’s 400 Years of History, was to write it from the perspective of an invaded colony. That’s how it all started.
I only have 5 minutes. Another thing, now people are saying that the Taiwanese and Chinese are not the same; people have recently voiced this. During the occupation of the Legislative Yuan people said this and it’s good. It took the Taiwanese about 100 years to be able to say that Taiwanese and Chinese are not the same. This is a good thing. Previously people couldn’t voice this, but now they have. However, how are the Taiwanese and Chinese different? Not everyone knows. If you don’t know why, when you discuss independence, you will end up retreating to your previous stance. Now the point is, how are the Taiwanese and Chinese not the same? Where/how did they diverge and become different?
Simply put, about 200 years ago during the Ching dynasty, it was not the elites of the Ching dynasty that came to Taiwan.
It was the Han from Fukien and Canton, who came and served as administrators. They couldn’t feed themselves in Fukien or Canton, so they immigrated from there (to Taiwan). They were the Han Chinese from Fukien and Canton. So one group of Han (the Ching elites) ruled, oppressed and pillaged Taiwan. The other (those sho immigrated) worked to the bone to make a living.
You all have been educated by the Kuomintang’s education and books, which don’t explain any of this. Back then, there was already a distinction made between the local Taiwanese and Chinese. The ones who had (immigrated to Taiwan and) come to toil and clear and develop the land; they were called local Taiwanese. Those (Ching elites) who came for 3-5 years and went back (to China), they were called Chinese. At the time the locals resisted the Chinese and there was a saying, “Every three years an uprising, every five years a rebellion.” Every year there was some sort of an uprising, why? To stand up for themselves, to reach for the sky and be the masters of their own fate. That the Taiwanese don’t know this is such a shame.
Now, everyone knows that Taiwan and China are not the same. How are they different? You need to now how they are different. This knowing should not just be based on feelings or emotions. Knowing the difference should come from the society and theory.
With Taiwan independence and Taiwan nationalism, people should not just approach them based on emotions. To understand them you have to have theory. If you don’t do that, realizing independence for Taiwan will become more out of reach.
Taiwan will most definitely be independent, why? In our 400 years of history we have had a tradition of opposing foreign regimes. The (worldwide) trend is toward democracy, and the elimination of colonies. The only people who now have a foreign ruler are the Taiwanese. Only the 23 million people of Taiwanese are still being ruled by a foreign regime. Can everyone really just sit by and take it? I plead with you all to work even harder. Otherwise, even though we can achieve independence, the time to attain independence will grow even longer. I think I’ve spoken about 10 minutes already. This is what I have to say first. Later we can be at ease and talk about other things.
SPECIAL THANKS to Nicolas Jian for posting this video and for helping me with the English translation.
殖民流亡政權要崩潰了。
台灣人四百年史的閱讀者越多，再多的微調教綱也擋不住獨立建國的！ — 與 Su Beng 。
