Taiwan: A Piece of Literature, A Conversation, and A Paper

<眼> 一對相戀的魚 A pair of fish that are in love 尾巴要在四十歲以後才出現 Their fishtails appear after forty 中間隔著一道鼻梁 There is a brige in between. 有如我和我的家人 It's just like my family and me 中間隔著一道海峽 being separated by a channel 這一輩子是無法相見的了 not able to see each other in the rest of our lives偶爾 On rare也會混在一起 they mix together只在夢中的他們的淚 Only their tears in the dreams

Dear Jenna, Thank you! I had a great vacation! Our new semester starts on 2/26. (It's tomorrow!)I am happy to be your partner. Let me introduce myself first. My Chinese name is Tung, Yin-chun. I live in a city called Taipei, which is in the North part of Taiwan. Our family lives in a condo. I have a younger brother. I am now a junior in Chun Shan Girls High. There are lots of students in my school. We have 3 different grades. Each grade has 24 classes. Each class has about 40students. It's really crowded. Volleyball is a popular sport in my school. My interests are playing volleyball and read. I like to read every kind of books. I like to try English novels too but it takes me a long time. There are two pictures down there. One is Taipei. Another is me when I went to Punahou last summer. Next time I would like to share the origin of Dragon Boat Festival. It's one of the biggest festival Chinese people celebrate every year. It's a story about a poet named Chi Yuan. Hope you'll like it. Ingrid

Hi Ingrid, I am glad that you and your family had a great time on your vacation! Thanks for introducing yourself, here is a little about me. My name is Jenna. There are four members in my family, my dad, my mom, my brother, me. I also have a bunny. My brother lives and works in California. I am in the twelfth grade, so this is my last year at Punahou, next year I will be headed to collage. My grade has about 430 students and that makes up only 1/4 of the academy, grades 9-12. I participate in track and field, where I compete in the triple jump. It's really fun. I love to watch sporting events especially University of Hawaii football games, and have been watching them since I was 10 years old. My family and I go on vacations pretty much every summer. So I have attached some of the pictures from when we went to California. Although I have never been out of the country, except for Canada. -Jenna

Hey Ingrid! I was just wishing you a happy second semester and hope that you are not working too hard. Some of the other people in my class have partners that are taking exams right now, are you too? Anyway, it is great being your partner for this dialogue project so far. I cannot wait to see the pieces of Taiwan literature that you have to show me. Thanks, Jenna P.S.-I forgot to ask you in my last email...in the pictures that you sent me, are you the girl on the right or on the left?

Dear Jenna, I am really sorry that I haven't contacted with you for a long time. If that makes you feel bad, I am here to apologize to you. Last week our school dean suddenly ask me to hand in a report that will be shown in front of all the 10th graders. It's a big task for me because it's due on next Friday. I am so sorry if you were not able to hand in your report. Would you wait for me? I'll send you the article right away. Please forgive me. I've been considering what literature I can share with you that represents Taiwan. You know, it's because the origin of Dragon Boat Festival is kind of like Chinese culture story, not "pure" Taiwanese. (Though Chinese culture has a great influence on Taiwanese I chose a few interesting poets. Those poems were written by a man named Shang Chin(商禽). He was born in 1930in Szechwan, China. When he was little, he was home-schooled and he didn't graduate from both primary school and middle school. In 1945 he joined the army. That was about the time when China was having civil war. And then as The Republic of China transferred to Taiwan, He also went to Taiwan with the government. (So that's why in The Eyes he wrote, " It's just like my family and me being separated by a channel “ because he's never going to see them in China again.) (Well, I think the situation is better from that now, we can visit China whenever we want!) In Taiwan, he had been a vendor. A gardener and editor. In 1969 he was invited to the University of Iowa to attend "International Writing Program" and came back in 1971. But what really stimulated him went into writing was when he was in the army. He was captive in a room full of books. When he traveled around the army, he collected local songs. Although he's been writing for years, he only has 2 books of pomes. They are transferred into different languages and they are quite popular. P.S. I was the girl on the left. The girl on the right was our "dorm mom"

Hi Jenna, Sorry for not keeping in contact with you for so long. I just had our first exam yesterday. Now I have a 4-day vacation. In the last e-mail you asked how I feel about those poems. Well... For I think the poet is really good at using metaphor. He is so full of imagination that he sees the curves of the eyebrows as the wings of the bird. This is the thing that I'll never think of. For When I read it, it gives me a sense of sorrow. As if we can see an old man with wrinkles on his face and stands by the seashore missing his family. It also helps me to understand a little about the war though I'll never really understand the sadness of being separated from the ones we love and leaving miles away from our home. For The poet made witty remarks in this poem. He tells us the most important thing is to eat. Also in the last sentence he makes me wonder how many people he has kissed but actually he just likes to drink. I think those 3 poems he wrote are really easy to read and understand. He didn't use very difficult vocabulary like some other poets' works which always makes me confused about what they really mean. The words he used to describe our face are interesting. Sometimes I smile from my heart when I see them. Ingrid

Ingrid's Thoughts on the Poem

For The Eyebrows I think the poet is really good at using metaphor. He is so full of imagination that he sees the curves of the eyebrows as the wings of the bird. This is the thing that I'll never think of. For The Eyes When I read it, it gives me a sense of sorrow. As if we can see an old man with wrinkles on his face and stands by the sea shore missing his family. It also helps me to understand a little about the war though I'll never really understand the sadness of being separated from the ones we love and leaving miles away from our home. For The Mouth The poet made witty remarks in this poem. He tells us the most important thing is to eat. Also in the last sentence he makes me wonder how many people he has kissed but actually he just likes to drink. I think those 3 poems he wrote are really easy to read and understand. He didn't use very diffucult vocabulary like some other poets' works which always makes me confused about what they really mean. The words he used to discribe our face are interesting. Sometimes I smile from my heart when I see them.

Reflection

I really enjoyed doing this project because I had a chance to meet and talk with someone in a different country. This was a really neat experience seeing as I have never been to Taiwan and got to understand the culture there through my partner, Ingrid. The literature she shared with me, I felt did a really good job in giving me an idea of the life in Taiwan, and how it really is different from China. Even though China and Taiwan are very close geographically. I hope to keep in touch with my partner.

Facial Descriptions

Taiwan is a very unique place that has a culture that is very different from Mainland China. During the years of the Civil War, the differences between Mainland China and Taiwan dominated the news and appeared in much of the literature in Taiwan, including the piece that my partner sent to me. For example, in the poem, Facial Description, written by Shang Chin, there are references to the political situation between China and Taiwan, as well as an implication that even thought China and Taiwan are very close geographically, there are really many ways in which they differ from one another.

Shang Chin joined the army in 1945, around the time of the Civil War was taking place, during this time The Republic of China had to transfer to Taiwan, forcing Shang Chin to leave Taiwan as well. For this reason, in the second stanza of his poem, when describing the eyes, Shang Chin wrote, “There is a bridge between. It’s just like my family and me being separated by a channel not able to see each other in the rest of our lives.” It was interesting that once he went to Taiwan with the army, he believed that he would not be able to see his family who lived in China for the rest of their lives. In Taiwan, the Republic of China military administration was unable to get the property that they needed to set up the government monopolies and industries that they thought were necessary. Therefore this problem led to severe clashes between Mainland China and Taiwan, which involved a lot of terror and caused many deaths. During this time period, the people from Taiwan were not welcomed into China, and the people from China were not welcomed into Taiwan. Although, since this time the relationship between China and Taiwan has gotten much better, both sides are now openly welcomed into each other’s country.

As well as giving a political view, this poem also brings into mind a personal view. This view being that everyone is different in their own unique way. Through, this poem, I believe that Shang Chin is also trying to convey that Taiwan is an individual island that is perfectly capable of standing alone on its own two feet, and how it is actually very different from the way that Mainland China is run. For example, each person’s facial descriptions: eyebrows, eyes, and mouth are never the same from person to person, there are eyebrows with high arches and those with low arches, big eyes and little eyes, and those who talk a lot and have loud voices and those who are more reserved and do not talk as much. Taiwan is an island that is filled with unique sounds, tastes, and colors. The culture of Taiwan is not destined from Mainland China. Therefore, in a way, the Taiwanese really tried to separate themselves from Mainland China, even though geographically they are located right across the channel. The Taiwanese culture is actually based on the Austronesian cultures of the original inhabitants of the island.

In conclusion, in the poem, Facial Description, I believe that by mentioning the various facial features of a person, Shang Chin created several interesting metaphors relating to how Taiwan is its own country and how it is different from Mainland China. There will never be a time when the whole world looks the same and each person looks the same. Therefore, Taiwan will always be considered to be a different country from China. Through Facial Description, Shang Chin shows how these are what make individuals, individual, and Shang Chin uses this metaphor as a way to show that Taiwan has so many adventures and experiences that are so different from any other country and that are really special to Taiwan. Taiwan as a country, really tries to be original, providing a diverse cultural environment. The people that live in Taiwan continue to learn new things about their culture to this day.

Taiwan: A Piece of Literature, A Conversation, and A Paper

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Literature From Taiwan: Facial Description 作者商禽 Written by Shang Chin

A Conversation With A Taiwanese Student

Ingrid's Thoughts on the Poem

World Literature: Taiwan homepage.

Meet my awsome World Literature dialogue partner!!

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Facial Descriptions