The "one China" policy officially supported by the People's Republic of China, the United States, and other countries asserts that there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of it. The debate over whether the people of Taiwan are Chinese or independently Taiwanese is, Melissa J. Brown argues, a matter of identity: Han ethnic identity, Chinese national identity, and the relationship of both of these to the new Taiwanese identity forged in the 1990s. In a unique comparison of ethnographic and historical case studies drawn from both Taiwan and China, Brown's book shows how identity is shaped by social experience-not culture and ancestry, as is commonly claimed in political rhetoric. Illustrations: 19 b/w photographs, 3 maps, 17 tables
Author(s): Melissa J. Brown
Edition: 1
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 349
Illustrations......Page 10
Preface......Page 12
1. What’s in a Name? Culture, Identity, and the “Taiwan Problem”......Page 20
2. Where Did the Aborigines Go? Reinstating Plains Aborigines in Taiwan’s History......Page 54
3. “We Savages Didn’t Bind Feet”: Culture, Colonial Intervention, and Long-Route Identity Change......Page 85
4. “Having a Wife Is Better than Having a God”: Ancestry, Governmental Power, and Short-Route Identity Change......Page 153
5. “They Came with Their Hands Tied behind Their Backs”: Forced Migrations, Identity Changes, and State Classification in Hubei......Page 185
6. Theory and the Politics of Reunification: Understanding Past Choices and Future Options......Page 230
Notes......Page 270
References......Page 298
Character List......Page 322
Index......Page 328
