Kuomintang, Japan, and Love (no, not me) in Taiwan

April 15th, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine

Song of the Day: Lip Gloss by Lil Mama

Mood: Satisfied

Built to not last

The two main political forces in 20th century China, the Communists and the Kuomintang, fought a long civil war in the 1930s and 1940s. They made a loose alliance to fight the Japanese forces during World War II, but when Japan was defeated, the civil war resumed and the Communists were victorious. By the end of 1949, over two million Kuomintang supporters fled from China to Taiwan to escape.

They assumed that their exodus would be temporary and that China would soon be theirs again. This perspective permeated the culture and they didn't feel that Taiwan would be their true home. As a result, a lot of the buildings were constructed to last only a short time. They eagerly awaited the end of their exile. It's interesting as I can't think of other capital cities that were controlled by a flood of immigrants who expected to only stay for a short time.

Taiwan is still a place for Chinese dissent. These Falun Gong
protesters demonstrate outside the National Museum to
raise awareness of civil rights issues in China, where Falun
Gong has been labeled a "heretical organization"

National museum

When the Communists were taking over, the Kuomintang looted the national museum in Beijing and took all the treasures with them. They thought they would guarding them for safekeeping for just a few years and would return victorious. History was not on their side and Taipei now holds the best artifacts of ancient Chinese history.

These treasures are housed in the national museum:

It was hard for me to deeply connect with the cool pieces of jade, but I'm glad I went to the National Museum. I especially liked the carvings on pieces of ivory. Pictures were not allowed inside.

The Indefinite Immigrant organized a Yalie trip to the museum 

Normally, we would think that China would demand the artifacts back, but it's awkward because if the pieces were in Beijing, they would have been destroyed by Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution. If it hadn't been for the looting of the Kuomintang, there would be nothing left.

Adapting my pose to fit the local culture. The thing I'm standing by
is in many places in China and Taiwan and typically symbolizes stability 

Love

I met a new friend at the museum and he had just attended a rally in Taipei to protest nuclear energy in the area. When I asked him why, he could name good reasons why nuclear power shouldn't be allowed (e.g., it's a small island and waste disposal is a problem). However, it didn't justify spending hours outside chanting. As presumed, I eventually discovered there was a beautiful girl there. Man will do anything for a woman he is interested in.

In addition, my friend received some free swag

Note: The protest was about nuclear energy, NOT nuclear weapons.
The nuance was lost on the T-shirt designer 

Japanese love and occupation

Taiwan is one of the most pro-Japanese areas in Asia. I had no idea, but Taiwan was controlled by Japan from 1895 to 1945. Taiwan was Japan's first foreign colony and the Japanese invested heavily in the island. People are thankful that Japan helped modernize the country. This feeling is magnified by the fact that when the Kuomintang immigrated to Taiwan, they were less effective governors. This made Japanese rule seem like the "good old days".

There is a lot of pro-Japan sentiment in Taiwan, but there are few ostensible signs of Japanese culture (at least to my Western eyes). However, I did find this toilet at Din Tai Fung. The Japanese toilets are electrified and you can heat the seat, or have water shoot up in different directions.

Although I've been in Japan twice, I'm still too scared to push the buttons. 

Thanks to Wikipedia for the historical facts.