Chapter 8 : Education, Academic Development, and Society
Under the Japanese

 

Outline

        Under Japanese rule, education and academic research served colonial interests. Education in those days was mainly primary and vocational education. Academic research was primarily in tropical medicine and area studies.

        During this period, there was a sharp increase in population and there was radical change in society. Customs changed significantly. For example, generally speaking, women¡¦s feet were no longer bound, and men no longer wore the queue. New concepts, like being punctual, law-abiding, and hygienic, were introduced. Starting from the 1920s, young intellectuals initiated social movements, continuing for more than a decade. They devoted themselves to educating the public, demanding political reform and improving conditions for farmers and workers.

 

8-1 Educational and Academic Development

Public schools: A Japanese Language Orientation

        During the Japanese period, the colonial government established a new western-style educational system as a means of achieving its colonial aims. The system was based on the principles of preferential treatment and segregation. There were three school tracks: Japanese children went to ¡§elementary schools¡¨; Taiwanese children went to ¡§public schools¡¨; indigenous children went to ¡§tribal public schools.¡¨ Public schools greatly outnumbered the other two kinds of schools.

Students were in public schools for six years. The curriculum focused on the Japanese language. The number of public schools increased steadily and so did the rate of enrollment. By 1940, the rate of enrollment for children of school age was close to 60%. In 1943, obligatory education was implemented. By 1945, the rate of enrollment had reached 80%.

From the beginning of the Japanese colonization, the colonial government vigorously promoted Japanese through children and adult education. Starting from the 1930s, Japanese Institutes were set up all around the island. People who did not have the chance to go to school could learn everyday Japanese there. According to official statistics, by the end of the Japanese colonization, more than 75% of the population could understand Japanese.

Although the Taiwan spoke Japanese in schools and public places, they still used their mother tongues in daily life. In other words, Taiwan became a ¡§bilingual¡¨ society with Japanese as a second language. People in Taiwan were not assimilated to Japanese culture. Instead, they acquired knowledge from the Japanese essential to modernizing Taiwanese society.

 

Middle and Higher Education: A Vocational and Applied Discipline Focus

In terms of middle education, at first the colonial government merely set up vocational institutes, which offered six-month to two-year courses in basic technical skills. After 1919, high schools were established in many places, but the government still emphasized vocational education, particularly by establishing numerous two-year vocational programs. In this way, Taiwan came to have a domestic supply of skilled workers and no longer had to rely exclusively on experts from Japan.

Initially, Taiwanese students were not encouraged to study the humanities. Instead, the colonial government promoted teacher¡¦s colleges and medical colleges for Taiwanese students. At that time, teachers and doctors enjoyed high social status, and better income, so there was always fierce competition to enter these two kinds of college.

Concerning higher education, in addition to medical colleges, there were also colleges of farming, forestry, engineering and business. Also, the Taipei Imperial University (now the National Taiwan University) was established in 1928. However, this university was mainly for Japanese students. The restrictions on higher education in Taiwan pushed many Taiwanese students to study in Japan. Up to 1945, about 200,000 students had studied in Japan, and more than 60,000 had graduated from colleges or universities. Most students studied medicine, followed by law, business, and economics. Overseas study greatly compensated for the insufficiency of higher education in Taiwan.

 

Academic research serving colonial policies

The colonial government intended to know Taiwan better from the very beginning in order to govern and develop Taiwan more effectively. It recruited many scholars and experts to conduct scientific investigations into Taiwan¡¦s natural environment and society. Later on, it established the Kyukan Chosakai¡Xthe Traditional Customs Investigation Association¡Xas well as research institutes to survey the traditional social system, folk culture, medical conditions, and industry. After it was founded in 1928, the Taipei Imperial University gradually became the center of academic research in Taiwan.

In this period, academic research had to conform to colonial policy. Nevertheless, these research projects produced fruitful results. They laid a foundation for modern research in the humanities, natural sciences, and applied sciences. Take medical science for example: researchers not only studied on the pathogens that cause plague, malaria, cholera, and typhoid, but also developed methods for prevention and treatment. Their achievements made Taiwan an important center for Asian tropical medical research. As for area studies, early research focused on Taiwan, while later research extended to include southern China and Southeast Asia.

 

8-2 Social Change

Population Jump

During Japanese colonization, the government effectively prevented tropical infectious diseases and improved public health, traffic, industry and education. Taiwan maintained a high birth rate, while the death rate dropped significantly. As a result, the population grew continuously. In 1896, the population was about 2.6 million, but by 1943 had increased to 6.6 million, a figure that included Japanese living in Taiwan. This is an over 150% increase. Taiwan had the highest rate of population increase in the world at this time.

 

No More Footbinding or Queues

Early in the Japanese colonization, the colonial government decided to eradicate three main undesirable customs: foot-binding, wearing the queue, and smoking opium. Opium-smoking was forbidden in stages. For the other two customs, the policy was educating the people through schools and print media¡Xnewspapers and magazines.

In 1900, Huang Yujie founded the ¡§Taipei Natural Foot Association.¡¨ Later on, many associations, like ¡§Unbound Foot Association,¡¨ ¡§Queue Cutting Association¡¨ and ¡§Custom Improvement Association,¡¨ were established. Over the following decade or so, the people gradually complied with these policies. The colonial government also took the advantage of the Bao-Jia system to wipe out these customs. Under police surveillance, Bao Heads and Jia Heads went door-to-door to ensure that people were no longer practicing foot-binding or wearing the queue. The government set a deadline for slow compliers. The government also held group ceremonies in which women cut their bindings and men snipped off their queues. In the end tiny feet and the queue became a part of history.

Ending foot binding greatly enhanced women¡¦s productivity and was thus beneficial to economic development. It also helped change attitudes and create the modern woman. There were new fashion trends. Many women began changing traditional dress for Western style clothing. The garment industry prospered. Foot-binding was no longer considered beautiful.

 

Punctuality

The colonial government introduced the seven-day week to Taiwan as well as standardized time based on the 24 hour day. All the government institutions, schools, and factories had to draw up time tables. Employees and students had to arrange their work, study and rest time accordingly. Bells indicated the start and end of the work day. Workers had to synchronize their watches and sign in and out on time. In schools, students were taught to be punctual. Arriving late or leaving early was not acceptable. There were also time tables for trains and buses. The Japanese made the buses and trains run on time.

Starting in 1921, June 10^th was named ¡§Time Day¡¨ after the Japanese practice. Through government agencies and other groups, speeches, parades and concerts were held. Posters and flyers were distributed to promote punctuality. The government hoped that the people around the island would put the new conception of time into practice in their daily life.

 

Obeying the Law

Through the police and the Bao-Jia security system, the colonial government effectively prevented crime and maintained order. The people were generally law-abiding.

At the same time, schools and public education taught people to respect the modern concept of law-and-order. People were told that beyond the Bao-Jia and the police, the judicial system would ensure justice and fairness. In other words, the people were told to have faith in the justice system. These efforts were largely successful in convincing the public to obey the law and maintain order and discipline.

 

Modern Hygiene

From the beginning of the Japanese colonization, the government began establishing modern systems of public health and medicine. Water pipelines were built to provide citizens with clean drinking water. Sewers systems were constructed in cities to dispose of sewage. According to the rules, all families had to have a container in front of their houses to dispose of garbage. The Bao-Jia system was mobilized for cleanliness and sanitation. In addition, the government enforced epidemic prevention measures like inoculation, quarantine, decontamination, rat-extermination, compulsory blood-tests, and distribution of medicine.

As a result, epidemic diseases like the plague, malaria, cholera, and typhoid were effectively controlled. Taiwanese people¡¦s concept of medicine and public health changed. Their practices of daily life also altered. They now paid more attention to ventilation and lighting when building houses. New houses all had indoor lavatories. People received inoculations according to regulations. They also acquired the habits of taking a bath and washing their hands after using the toilet. Spitting and littering became less common, and regular household and community cleaning became the norm.

 

8-1    Social Campaigns

Demands for political reform

Following the failure of armed resistance in early colonial rule, Taiwanese intellectuals resorted to legal means in the 1920s. They formed organizations to promote change through assemblies, speeches, petitions, and protests. The most important goal was to reform colonial rule.

From 1921 to 1934, under the leadership of Lin Siantang and others, fifteen citizen petitions were submitted demanding the establishment of an autonomous ¡§Taiwanese Representative Assembly¡¨ and the right to elect representatives. However, the government failed to respond to any of the petitions.

Other political groups¡Xlike the Taiwan People¡¦s Party led by Jiang Weishuei and the Taiwan Local Autonomy Alliance founded by Cai Peihou and Yang Jhaojia¡Xasked for full local self-governance and proposed that local leaders and representatives should be elected by general election. After years of persistent petitioning by Taiwanese reformers, the colonial government finally made conciliatory reforms to the local political system in 1935. Originally local assembly representatives were all appointed by the government, but now half of them were elected by the people, though only qualified males got the vote and the right to stand for election. These reform efforts enlightened the populace about basic concepts of democratic politics, such as autonomy, general election and the right of political participation.

 

The Cultural Enlightenment of the 1920s

In 1921, intellectuals led by Lin Siantang established the Taiwan Cultural Association. The association published the newspaper Taiwan Minpao. It initiated various activities to raise cultural standards. It sought to improve public knowledge, to raise ethnic consciousness, and to promote social responsibility. The main activities of Taiwanese Cultural Association are listed below:

1. Establishing newspaper reading centers, providing newspapers for ordinary people;

2. Holding lecture courses to spread modern knowledge in such fields as history, culture, law, medicine, and public health;

3. Setting up summer schools to provide courses on constitutional law, science, public health, and philosophy;

4. Organizing cultural lecture tours to spread new knowledge, criticize colonialism, and attack inappropriate customs.

The Taiwanese Cultural Association also held performances of modern dramas around the island. Movies were shown and concerts were held. Local folks attended these activities enthusiastically and consequently many who had not attended schools gained access to modern knowledge.

 

Better treatment for farmers and workers

In the mid 1920s, farmers and workers also organized groups to stand up to the colonial government, landlords, and employers. Through petition, negotiation, nonpayment of rent and lawsuits, the farmer organizations protested against low prices for sugar cane set by cane sugar companies,[1] requested that the land tax be lowered, and demanded that landlords refrain from raising rent or taking cultivatable lands back without reason. The worker organizations, on the other hand, held strikes, work slowdowns and negotiations to demand higher wages, better working conditions and job protection.

These activities placed great pressure on the colonial government. However, these farmer and worker organizations did not coordinate their efforts and so limited results were achieved.