People & Language. ROC (Taiwan) Yearbook 2011 Ch02 people language

Bundled up against the cold, young urbanites pose before Taipei 101, ready to ring in the new year.

02四校(indexed) 2.indd 26 2011/10/17 11:53:06 PM

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At a Glance

Over 95 percent of Taiwan’s population is of Han Chinese an-cestry, with the remainder composed of indigenous Austro-nesian peoples and recent immigrants. Han Taiwanese are the descendants of immigrants that arrived in two main

waves—first, in the 17th century after the Manchu invasion of the main-land, and later, in 1949, when the ROC government relocated to the is-land. Austronesian peoples, meanwhile, have inhabited the island for millennia. Since the late 1990s, an increased number of marriages be-tween ROC citizens and foreign nationals has further diversified the na-tion’s ethnic makeup.

Mandarin, the official language, is almost universally spoken and un-derstood, while large segments of the population also speak Holo and Hakka. In addition, Taiwan’s indigenous groups have their own Austro-nesian languages while immigrants speak a variety of tongues.

Longer lifespans combined with one of the lowest birth rates in the world have made Taiwan a rapidly aging society. People over 65 now exceed 10 percent of the population, while each woman on average gives birth to one child during her lifetime. Policies have been enacted at the national and local levels to create a supportive child-rearing en-vironment, improve preventative health care and provide a comprehen-sive social security net for the graying population.

• FusionofHan,Austronesianandimmigrantcultures

• Customsofindigenouspeoples

• Fallingbirthratesandagingpopulation

2 People and Language


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2People and Language

PeopleHan Peoples

Seeking refuge from upheavals dur-ing the transition between the Ming 明

and Qing 清 dynasties, the ancestors ofTaiwan’sHan漢peoplesbeganmigratingfrom China’s southeastern provinces totheislandinsizeablenumbersinthe17thcentury.The majority of these early im-migrants were Holo 河洛人, mostly fromareas in southern Fujian Province 福建

省 (e.g., Zhangzhou 漳州 and Quanzhou泉州) aswell asHakka客家人 fromeast-ern Guangdong Province 廣東省 (mainlyHuizhou惠州,Chaozhou 潮州andwhatisknowntodayasMeizhou梅州).

Immigrants from Quanzhou settledincoastalregionsandthosefromZhang-zhou tended to gather on inland plains,while Hakka immigrants inhabited hillyareas. Clashes between these groupsover resources led to the relocation ofsomecommunities,and,as timepassed,varyingdegreesofintermarriageandas-similationtookplace.

HoloThe Holo people are the largest

Han group in Taiwan, accounting for

approximately70percentofthepopula-tion. During the Qing dynasty, a largenumber of Holo men from mainlandChina married women of indigenousAustronesian groups. Hence, manyin Taiwan who consider themselvesHan have indigenous ancestry as well.With Austronesian as well as Japaneseinfluences—the latter as the result ofthe half-century of Japanese colonialrule from 1895 to 1945—Holo cultureinTaiwanisquitedifferentfromthatinmainlandChina.

A traditional Holo residence typi-cally featured red-brick walls and ared-tile roof. The most basic structureconsistedofarectangularbuildingwithamainlivingroomsandwichedbetweentwootherrooms.Dependingonafami-ly’swealthandsize,wingswereadded,creating a four-sided, enclosed com-pound or three-sided, semi-enclosedcompound with a central courtyard.HousesintheKinmenFolkCultureVil-lage 金門民俗文化村 best represent suchtraditional dwellings, whereas the LinAn-taiHistoricalHome林安泰古厝istheoldest and best-preserved example oftraditionalHolo residentialarchitectureinTaipeiCity臺北市.

The Lin An-tai Historical Home, with a traditional courtyard and elegant decorations, is the best-preserved example of a Holo residence in Taipei City. (Zheng Han-yin, courtesy of the Tourism Bureau)


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HakkaTheHakka,whomakeupaboutone-

fifthoftheHanpopulationinTaiwan,havea long history of periodic migration—hence the name Hakka, which literallymeans“guestpeople.”Traditionally, theirresidencesweremadewithblack-brickorwhite-plasteredbrickwallsandblack-tileroofs.Somepre-modernHakkaresidenceswere built with red bricks and red tiles,indicatingaHoloinfluence.

TheHakkawere alsoknown for theircommunal spirit, as exemplified by theirmultistory weilongwu 圍龍屋 apartment-styledwellings,whichcouldaccommodatehundredsofpeople.Thefortress-likestruc-tureofsuchbuildings—withnowindowson the ground level—and concentrationof so many people provided collectivesecurity in earlier times when govern-ment was weak and local communitieshad to look after themselves. ExamplesofweilongwuarchitecturecanbeseeninTaichungCity’s臺中市DongshiDistrict東勢區andPingtungCounty’s屏東縣 NeipuTownship內埔鄉.

Hakka traditions include tea-farmingopera, folk songs (seeChapter17, “Cul-ture”) and worship of the Lords of theThree Mountains 三山國王 and yimin 義

民,ancestorswhosacrificedtheirlivestoprotecttheircommunities.

Immigrants Arriving in 1949The ROC government’s relocation to

Taiwanin1949occasionedaninfluxof1.3millionpeoplefromtheChinesemainlandtotheisland.Themajorityweresoldiers,civil servants or teachers. Unlike earlierimmigrants, these people came from allover themainlandand includednotonlyHanChinesebutalsoethnicgroupsfromMongolia,TibetandsouthwesternChina.Theculturalinfluenceofthiswaveofim-migrantscanbeseen,forexample,inthefact that all major regional Chinese cui-sinesmaybefoundinTaiwan.

Indigenous PeoplesIndigenousMalayo-Polynesianpeoples

have lived on the island for millennia,with archeological evidence confirmingtheir presence dating back 12,000 to15,000 years. Their languages belong totheAustronesian linguistic family, whosespeakers are known for their migratoryhistory and inhabit an area of the globethat stretches from Madagascar Island inthe west to Easter Island in the east andfromTaiwaninthenorthtoNewZealandinthesouth.

Though distinct from each other inmanyways,thevariousindigenousgroupsinTaiwansharecertaincustomswithoneanother and with Austronesian peoplesinotherpartsoftheworld.Theseincludebuilding elevated houses, weaving withbambooandrattan,tattooingandchewingbetelnuts.Thesegroupsalsohavesimilarobservances, such as coming-of-age cer-emoniesandharvestfestivals.

Over the centuries, while the moreremote indigenous groups have tendedtomaintaindistinctivecommunities,oth-ers have blended in with Han society.With today’s society-wide appreciationof ethnic diversity and affirmation ofethnic equality, however, many who stillrememberandtreasuretheir Austronesianheritage—including descendants of theSiraya西拉雅, Luilang 雷朗 and Pazeh 巴則海 peoples—are pushing to receive of-ficialrecognitionasindigenes.

As is the trend the world over, theculturesand lifestylesofTaiwan’s indig-enous peoples have changed radically inthe course of modernization. No longeraretheirlivelihoodsbasedonhuntingandgathering or slash-and-burn agriculture,whilemanyliveandworkinurbanareas.SucceedinggenerationsarelosingfluencyintheirancestraltongueasMandarinhasbecomethestandard.Muchoftraditionalindigenousculture,therefore,isindangerofdisappearing.


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To preserve and rejuvenate the cul-tural heritage of Taiwan’s aborigines,the Cabinet-level Council of IndigenousPeoples (CIP) 行政院原住民族委員會 wasestablishedin1996.TheCIPisinchargeof formulatingpoliciesandplanningandimplementing programs to improve thelivesofindigenousgroupsintheareasofeducationandculture,healthandwelfare,employmentandlandmanagement.

Asof the endof 2010, the collectivepopulationofthe14officiallyrecognizedindigenousgroupsstoodatapproximately512,700 (including about 23,000 peoplewho did not identify themselves as be-longing to any one group), or about 2percentofthetotalpopulationofTaiwan.Their communities spread over 16,000squarekilometers,orabout45percentofTaiwan’stotallandarea.Thethreelargestgroups—the Amis 阿美, the Paiwan 排灣andtheAtayal泰雅—accountedfornearly70percentoftheindigenouspopulation.

AmisNumbering about 187,700 and resid-

ingmainlyinthevalleysandcoastalareasofeasternTaiwan, theAmisareTaiwan’slargestindigenousgroup.Theyaredividedinto the Nanshi 南勢, Xiuguluan 秀姑巒,Coastal 海岸,Taitung 臺東 and Hengchun

恆春tribes.Eachtribehasitsowndialect,set of customs and style of dress. Thegroup’s most important festival is theannualIlisin harvestfestival,whichisheldvariouslyfromonetosevendaysbetweenJuly and September. It includes ritualsforcelebratingthetransformationofboysintomenandiswellknownforthevibrantsinginganddancingofparticipants.

Formerly, theAmis had a matrilinealclan structure and system of inheritance.Decisions on family affairs including fi-nance and property holdings were madeby the femaleheadofhousehold.Publicaffairs involving tribal politics, consen-sual laws and religion were dealt with

byamaleleadershipgroupthat includedmembersofdifferentagegroups.Thoughthese practices are no longer prevalent,their influenceover theAmiscanstillbeseentoday.

Atayal There are about 81,500 Atayal,

whosehomeland is innorthernTaiwan’scentral mountainous region. In bygonetimes, importantaffairsweredecidedbya council of elders, and social interac-tion was regulated by the ancient gagasystem of rules and beliefs, violation ofwhich, theAtayalbelieved,would resultinpunishmentbyspirits.Ancestralspiritveneration is still an important groupritualamongtheAtayal.

TheAtayal have developed sophisti-cated weaving skills featuring intricatepatterns anddesigns,which, in thepast,coulddetermineawoman’ssocialstatus.InAtayaltradition,redisafavoredcolorfor clothing, as it symbolizes blood andthevitalityof life, and is believed tobeimbuedwiththepowertodispelevil.V-shaped facial tattooing was once a partof Atayal coming-of-age ceremonies,in recognition of courage among youngmen and embroidery mastership amongyoungwomen.

Bunun Numbering over 52,500, the Bunun

布農 areconcentrated inTaiwan’scentralandsoutheasternmountainous regionsofanaveragealtitudeof1,000to2,000me-ters.MilletisreveredbytheBunun,whotraditionally based their concept of timeon the biorhythm of millet and believedthatmilletplantshavesoulsandfeelings.Bununsocietyused tohaveapatriarchalstructure,withsinglehouseholdstypicallyconsisting of multifamily clans number-ingupto60members.

Major Bunun festivals include the“milletceremony”atharvesttimeaswell


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as the millet-planting festival held be-tween November and December, wheretheirfamedeight-partharmonyPasibutbutissungtothegodsforabountifulharvest.Thepre-hunt“ear-shootingceremony,”orMalahtangia, is a ritual in which arrowsare shot at animals’ ears in the belief, inearliertimes,thatthiswouldensureasuc-cessful hunt. These days, it only marksBununboys’passageintoadulthood.

Kavalan The Kavalan噶瑪蘭, with 1,250 mem-

bers,areoneoftheeasterncoastalpeoples,most of whom have been assimilatedthrough marriage into the dominant Hanpopulation since the latter’s arrival in theplainsofHualien花蓮andTaitungcounties.Nevertheless, people of Kavalan ancestryarestrivingtorevivetheirculturalheritage,including language, myths and shamanistpractices, with Xinshe新社 community inHualienCounty’sFengbinTownship豐濱鄉servingastheirculturalhub.

Believing that every living creaturehas its own spirit, the Kavalan have de-veloped unique rituals, including theKisaiiz group healing ceremony to dis-pel evil spirits. They traditionally havea matrilineal clan structure and systemof inheritance, but clan chiefs—who areelected—canbemaleorfemale.

Paiwan The Paiwan are about 90,200 strong

and comprise two major subgroups insouthern Taiwan: the Ravar 拉瓦爾亞 andtheButsul布曹爾亞. Inbygonedays, thisgroup had a social hierarchy consistingof chieftains, nobles, warriors and com-moners,withindividuals’placeinsocietyeasily identified by their clothes anddecorativeapparel.Commonerstilledthelandbutcouldbeelevated to thewarriorclass through marriage or by achieve-ments inwarfare,huntingorsculpturing.Today, the clothing designs that were

onceexclusivelywornbychieftainsmaybe donned by others, although the head-dressstillremainsprivilegedattire.

ThePaiwanarefamedfortheirglazedbead ornamentation and skill in carv-ing wood and stone. One of their mostcommonly used decorative motifs is thehighly esteemed hundred-pace viper(Agkistrodon acutus)totem.

It isbelieved thatduring thePaiwan’s15-dayMaleveqcelebration,heldonceev-eryfiveyears,thespiritsoftheirancestorscomedownfromDawuMountain大武山tocommunewiththem.Inearlierdays,theirreverenceforancestralspiritswassymbol-izedbysculpturesinsidetheirdwellings.

PuyumaThe Puyuma 卑南, based in Taitung

Countyandnumberingabout12,200,can


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be divided into eight tribes, each withits own legend about its origins. For in-stance,while themythologyof theNan-wang南王 tribesaystheirancestorswereborn from bamboo, that of the Zhiben

知本 tribe claims that their progenitorssprangfromstone.

In traditional Puyuma society, prop-erty ownership was matrilineal, withthe eldest daughter inheriting the fam-ily’swealth.Shamanisticpracticeswerecommon with “white” shamans healingthe sick and “black” shamans inflictingcurses. A communal trakuban build-ing served as the tribal political centerand as a school for males, who, beforemarriage, underwent military trainingand were tasked with defending thecommunity.Someyoungmenstillwearhead wreaths in recognition of havingattainedmanhood.

Puyuma women are known for theirskill at producing exquisite embroidery.Geometric patterns of dancing figuresexecuted incross-stitchstyleareamongthe features that make Puyuma embroi-deryunique.

RukaiTheapproximately12,100Rukai魯凱

areconcentratedinKaohsiungCity 高雄市

aswellasPingtungandTaitungcounties.Traditionally, they had a patriarchal hi-erarchy with chieftains, nobles, warriorsandcommoners.Thelilywassymbolicofnobility, and only highly regarded com-moners recognized as spiritually pure orbrave had the honor of adorning them-selves with the flower. Still, commonerscouldelevatetheirsocialstatusbybring-inginlargeharvestsorbymarryingup.

As part of the annual Tsatsapipianuharvest festival held in August, Rukaimenbakemilletcakesonstoneslabsanddivine the harvest in the coming yearbased on the qualities of the cakes. Theclimax of the Tsatsapipianu is a rope

swing ceremony for eligible young menand women. The higher and longer awoman can be swung by her beau, it issaid, the greater the couple’s chance ofhavingablessedmarriage.

The Rukai share many cultural tra-ditions with the neighboring Paiwan,including similar attire, headdresses andbeliefsconnectedtothehundred-pacevi-per.Thetwogroupsalsohadwell-definedsocialhierarchieswithnobleandpowerfulclansholdinghigherpositionsinthecom-munity.ButunlikebilinealPaiwansocietyin which the eldest progeny—regardlessofgender—inheritedthefamilyproperty,among theRukai, theeldest sonwas thedesignatedheir.

Saisiyat The Saisiyat 賽夏, numbering nearly

6,000 and scattered across Miaoli 苗

栗 and Hsinchu 新竹 counties, are bestknown for their Pas-ta-ai ceremony thatcommemoratesthespiritsoftheTa-ai—ashort-statured, dark-skinned people whothey say were the earliest inhabitants ofTaiwanandpassedonmanyoftheirskillstotheSaisiyat.LegendhasitthatbecauseTa-ai men sexually harassed Saisiyatwomen, the enraged Saisiyat men killedvirtuallyallofthem.Afterward,theSaisi-yatexperiencedyearsofpoorharvests.ToplacatethespiritsofthedeadTa-ai,ritualchantinganddancingareperformedfournightsinarowonceeveryotheryear.

TheSaisiyatareapatriarchalsociety.Traditionally, each clan is representedby an animal, plant or other totem andmarriage must be between members ofdifferentclans.DuringtheQingdynasty,the Saisiyat adopted Chinese surnamesderived from their clan totems, suchas Feng 風 (wind), Ri 日 (sun) and Xia夏 (summer). Saisiyat culture containsstrong influences from theAtayal. Somemembers of the Saisiyat can speak boththe Atayal and Hakka languages due to


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their geographic proximity to neighborswhospeakthoselanguages.

Sakizaya The Sakizaya 撒奇萊雅, a matrilineal

society,areasmallgroupwithapopula-tionofabout560wholiveontheQilai奇萊plaininHualienCounty.BecausetheyhavecloselyinteractedwiththeAmisforalongperiodoftime,thecustomsandat-tireofthetwogroupsbecameessentiallyidentical,butonlyabout30percentoftheSakizaya language overlaps with that oftheAmis. It was not until 2007 that theSakizaya were officially recognized as adistinctindigenousgroup.

Fusion with theAmis is said to havecomeaboutwhentheSakizayafledtheircoastal plain homeland and sought ref-ugeinthemountainsafterlosingabattleagainst Qing troops in the 19th century.Only by disguising themselves as Amisdidtheyavoidbeingannihilated.

To thisday,Sakizayaelders stillper-formtherice-giving Mivakivakiritualforwelcoming young people into the ranksofadults.

Sediq The Sediq 賽德克 were officially rec-

ognized as one of Taiwan’s indigenouspeoplesin2008.Numberingabout7,100,they are mostly concentrated in NantouCounty’s 南投縣 Ren-ai Township 仁愛鄉.TheSediqarefamousfortheircourageousuprisingagainsttheJapanesecolonialrul-ersbeginningwiththeWusheIncident霧社事件in1930(seeChapter3,“History”).

The Sediq are renowned for the in-tricacyof theirweavingandembroidery,with a preference for star-like and othergeometric patterns against a white back-ground. Traditionally, face tattooing wasaprominentculturalfeatureoftheSediq,symbolizing men’s courage and skills inhunting and women’s domestic virtuesandexquisite skills inembroidery.Some

among their society are still guided byan ancient gaya or waya set of rules foreveryday life, including family affairs,religiousceremoniesandsocialroles.

TheSisin isregardedbytheSediqasa sacredbird,whosesongs, traditionally,were interpreted as guidance for makingimportantdecisionssuchasthoseregard-inghuntingormarriage.

Thao With a population of about 700, the

Thao邵people’shomelandisintheenvi-ronsofNantouCounty’sSunMoonLake日月潭. One of their legends has it thattheir ancestorsdiscovered the lakewhilechasing a white deer and moved thereafterseeingthearea’sbeautyandnaturalabundance.Later, theybegantocultivatecrops on earth-covered bamboo raftsfloatingon the lakeandbecameadeptatcarving hollowed-out tree-trunk canoes.AmongtheThao’suniquepreservedtradi-tionsisthepestlesonganddance,mostlyperformed by women, during which therhythmissetbytappingpestlesonstone.

The Thao are a patriarchal society.Decisions regarding ceremonial ritualsaremadeby thechief,ahereditaryposi-tionpassedon from father toeldest son.InthecornerofmanyThaohomeshangsan ulalaluan, a basket containing ances-tors’ clothing arranged in chronologicallayers,inwhichancestralguardianspiritsarebelievedtodwell.

TrukuThe homeland of the Truku 太魯閣,

who number about 26,800, stretchesfrom Hualien County in the vicinity ofthe famousTarokoGorge太魯閣峽谷 intothe mountainous western borderlands ofNantou County. Three to four centuriesago, it is said, an increase in populationpromptedagroupofTrukutosetoffeast-wardfromtheiroriginalhauntsinNantouin search of more cultivatable land and


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hunting grounds. They climbed overMountQilai奇萊山 in theCentralMoun-tains 中央山脈 and settled in Hualien’sLiwuRiverValley立霧溪谷.

Trukuchiefsareelectedandareduty-bound to represent their tribalvillages inexternal affairs, mediate internal disputesandmaintainsocialharmony.RegardedastheteachingsofTrukuancestors,thegayarules of conduct used to be strictly ob-servedinthebeliefthatviolationofthembyevenonepersoncouldbringextensivepunishment upon an entire clan or tribe.Ceremoniesareheldeveryyear topraiseandseektheblessingsofancestralspirits.

In bygone days, facial tattoos werea noted feature of the Truku, and onlyadults who had mastered hunting orembroidery skills were allowed to wearthem.AmongTrukutraditionsthatremainimportanttodayareweavingandknitting,along with knife-making techniques andshamanisticpractices.

Tsou Numbering about 6,800, the Tsou 鄒

peopleareconcentratedmostlyinChiayi

County’s 嘉義縣 Alishan Township 阿里

山鄉 and are divided into northern andsouthern subgroups that have variationsin dialect and customs. Their social andpolitical organization is characterized byapatriarchalstructureandwell-organizedclans.Inearliertimes,publicaffairswereconducted by men in the kuba, a sacredbuilding where rituals were held andyoungmenhadtostaytoreceivetrainingbeforegettingmarried.

TheHomeyayaharvestceremony,heldin JulyorAugust, is theTsou’smost im-portantcelebration.Skilledathuntingandpreparing animal hides in bygone times,theyobservedtaboosagainsthuntingbearsor leopards. The Miyatjgu ceremony ofone of the Tsou tribes, which had beendiscontinued formanyyears,was revivedin1993.Itisbasedonabeliefthatances-tral spirits bringing peace, health, beautyand other blessings reside in sacred shellbeads.Priestsarethekeepersofthebeads,which are brought out into public viewonlyfortheannualceremony.

Another important tradition is theMayasvi or victory ceremony, conducted

Dressed in traditional garb, indigenous Tsou women from Alishan Township in Chiayi County sing an ode to the springtime cherry blossom. (Wu Yuan-yuan, courtesy of the Tourism Bureau)


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when warriors returned triumphant fromwar. In the present day, it is held everyyearinFebruaryorAugustinvolvingpar-ticipationofthewholetribe.Celebrationsof newborns, coming-of-age rituals andrestorationof thekuba are all conductedatthistime.Thethree-day,two-nightcer-emonyopenswithdancingandsingingtowelcome thegods, andends atmidnightofthelastdaywhenthedeitiesareagainsentoff.

Yami OrchidIsland蘭嶼offTaiwan’ssouth-

eastcoastishometoabout3,900indige-nouspeopleofficiallyknownastheYami雅美, but who, in their own language,refertothemselvesastheDawu(orTao)達悟, which means “the people.” UnliketheindigenouspeoplesofTaiwanproper,theirtraditionallivelihoodandculturearetiedtotheocean.Uniqueaspectsoftheircustomsincludeloinclothswornbymalesasdailyattireandahair-swingingdanceperformedbywomen.

The Mivanwa and Mangegen aretwoofthemostimportantritualsfortheYami. The former is held in Februaryor March to pray for an abundance offlying fish, while the latter seeks bless-ings for a new boat.Though flying fishare an important part of their diet, theYamihavedesignatedtimesandseasonsforcatchingandeatingthefishtoavoiddepletingthestock.Alarge-size,canoe-style Yami boat, which has a capacityof 10 adults, is constructed by puttingtogether21to27woodenplankswithoutusingasinglenail.

Traditional Yami homes are housesof stone and wood built in depressionshewn out of stony hillsides facing theocean. This enables them to withstandfierce typhoon or gale winds, to remaincool in the summerand to retainheat inthe winter. Traditional society is patriar-chal,butwithnoformalsocialorpolitical

hierarchy. Social affairs are handled bythemaleheadsof household andfishinggroups, while disputes are settled by theimmediatefamilyandrelativesofpartiestotheargument.

Immigration and Emigration The National Immigration Agency

入出國及移民署 under the Ministry of theInterior (MOI) is in charge of affairsrelated to emigration and immigration.Between 1991 and 2010, the number offoreign nationals (not including peoplefrom mainland China) living in Taiwanjumped from around 30,000 to 418,802,mainly due to the arrival of blue-collarguest workers beginning in the early1990saswellasanincreaseinmarriagesbetween ROC citizens and foreign na-tionals.InDecember2010,guestworkersin the fields of manufacturing and con-structionaccountedforabout40percentofthetotalforeignpopulationinTaiwan,while domestic helpers and care giversaccountedforabout36percent.

MarriagesofROCcitizenstoforeign-erspeakedin2003at54,634couples,ac-countingforoneineverythreemarriages.In 2010, this figure dropped to 21,501,oroneineverysixmarriages,with62.01percentofnon-ROCspouses frommain-land China, Hong Kong and Macau,24.24 percent from Southeast Asia and13.75percentfromotherareas.

In2010,around16,000ROCcitizensemigrated to other countries. StatisticsshowtheUnitedStateswasthetopdesti-nation,followedbyCanada,AustraliaandNewZealand.

Demographic TrendsThe official population statistics of

Taiwanindicatedthattherewere3.12mil-lionpeople livingon the island in 1905.Forty years later, the population had


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nearlydoubledto6.09million.Althougha baby boom afterWorldWar II greatlyincreasedthepopulation,subsequentpoli-cies and familyplanning slowedgrowth.The population growth rate in 1957 was3.19percent,whichdeclinedto1.77per-centin1982andfurtherdwindledto0.18percentin2010.

The total fertility rate (the averagenumber of children born to a womanduring her childbearing years) was fiveduringthe1960s.Itthenfelltotwointhe1980s, and was 0.9 in 2010. This latestfigure is among the lowest in the world.In 2010, the number of babies born hita record low of 166,886, with a ratio of109.46boysto100girls,whilethecrudebirth rate dropped from 2.3 percent in1981to0.72percent.

Statistics show that the decliningbirth rate has been accompanied by arising average age of marriage and arising divorce rate. Between 1971 and2010, the average age at marriage rosefrom 28.8 years to 33.9 years for menand from 22.8 years to 30.5 years forwomen. Meanwhile, the divorce raterose from 0.04 percent in 1971 to 0.25percentin2010.

Taiwanisnowanagingsociety,astheproportion of people aged 65 and olderhas been steadily increasing. In 1949, itwas 2.5 percent of the population, andin 2010, 10.74 percent. The 15-64 agegroup, which comprised 56.4 percentof the total population in 1949, grew to73.61 percent during the same period.Conversely,theproportionofthoseunder15yearsofagehasbeendecreasing.

Basedonthesetrends,theCouncilforEconomic Planning and Development 行政院經濟建設委員會 in its 2010 populationestimatereporthasforecastthatTaiwan’spopulation will peak at 23.43 million in2022, and then fall to 18.84 million in2060. By then, the proportion of thoseaged 65 or older will increase to 41.6percent,while thepercentageof those inthe15-64agegroupwilldecline to48.9percentandthepercentageofpeopleun-der15willfallfrom15.7percentin2010to 9.4 percent. Moreover, the proportionof women in the 15-49 childbearing agegroupwillplummetfrom54.4percentin2010to28.5percent.Thesetrendscreatea tremendous pension burden for work-ers: by 2060, just 1.2 members of theworking-agepopulationwillsupporteachelderlyperson.

Toaddresstheagingofthepopulationand its effects on national development,thegovernmenthasbeenpromotinganewpopulation policy. This policy, mirroringthose adopted by other nations facinga “graying” society, aims to establish acomprehensivesocialsecuritynet,further

Population by Age

65 years of age and above (%)

15-64 years of age (%)

Under 15 years of age (%)

Total population

Source: Ministry of the lnterior

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

0

20

40

60

80

100

'10'01'91'81'71'61'51

Thousand persons %

7,869

11,149

14,995

18,194

20,606

22,40623,162

42.09 45.85 38.71 31.60 26.30 20.80 15.65

55.46 51.66 58.26 64.00 67.10 70.40 73.61

2.45 2.49 3.03 4.40 6.50 8.80 10.74


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raisethequalityoflifethrougheducation,promote environmental protection andsustainable development, and formulateanappropriateimmigrationpolicy.

Measures to reverse the falling birthrateincludeimprovingpre-andpost-natalcare, building an environment conducivetochild-rearingaswellasprovidingcareandbirthsubsidies.In2011,anationwidechildcaresubsidyprogramwaslaunchedfor qualifying families with childrenunder 2 years of age. Taipei City alsoimplemented its own package of subsi-diesthatincludesbirthgrantsinadditiontomonthlychildcareallowances.

LanguagesThe written language intelligible to

speakersofallSinitictonguesisChinese,one of the few ideograph-based writ-ing systems still in use on a large scale.WhilemainlandChinaadoptedsimplifiedcharacters in1956 inabid toameliorateits widespread illiteracy, the ROC con-tinuestoemploytraditionalwrittenchar-acters.Although Mandarin is the official

language of the ROC, large segments ofitspopulationspeakHolo河洛語andHak-ka 客語, andAustronesian languages arestill used by indigenous peoples. At thesametime,thestudyofforeignlanguageshas taken root as the nation becomesmoreconnected to theworldcommunityand as more immigrants have made theROCtheirhome.

Official LanguageMandarin, known as Guoyu 國語 in

theROC,isthenation’sofficiallanguage.To help people learn proper Mandarinpronunciation, theMinistryofEducation(MOE)formulatedtheMandarinPhoneticSymbols 注音符號 in 1913 as a standardphonetic system. This system, consist-ingof37phoneticsymbolsandfourtonemarks,isstilltaughtinschoolstoday.

Over the years, a variety of Roman-ization styles have been developed tomake Chinese phonetics easier to learn.The most popular among these are theWade-Gilessystem,theTongyongPinyinsystem 通用拼音 and the Hanyu Pinyinsystem 漢語拼音. To conform to a global

A family of three has become a norm in Taiwan, where birth rates are among the lowest in the world.


38


convergence spearheaded by the 2006U.N. Conference on the Standardizationof Geographical Names, the ROC gov-ernmentdecidedin2008toswitchtotheHanyuPinyinsystem.(Foracomparisonof different Romanization systems, seeAppendixIV.)

With a substantive commitment tolanguage education, the ROC offerssomeof thebest resources in theworldfor foreigners wishing to study Man-darin. The Mandarin Training Center國語教學中心, established in 1956 byNational Taiwan Normal University 國

立臺灣師範大學, was the first institutionto offer language courses for foreign-ers in Taiwan. Today, 30 university-affiliated institutions provide Mandarinprograms. Details on Mandarin pro-grams are available on an English-languagewebsitesetupbytheMOEathttp://www.studyintaiwan.org.

Other LanguagesOver the last decade, there has been

growing awareness of the importanceof preserving Taiwan’s rich linguisticheritage.Thishas led thecentraland lo-calgovernments topromoteeducationinHolo,HakkaandAustronesianlanguages.Since2001,primaryschoolstudentshavebeen required to take courses in at leastoneoftheselanguages.

Holo HoloisthemothertongueoftheHolo

populationinTaiwan.Amongavarietyofmethodsforrepresentingthislanguageinwrittenform,theearliestandmostpopularonewastheRomanizationsystemknownasPėh-oē-jī 白話字,whichwasfirstintro-ducedbyPresbyterianmissionaries.

Many attempts have been madein Taiwan over the years to promotea natively formulated written system.The MOE, for instance, unveiled the

Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet 臺灣閩南語音標系統 in 1998. In 2006, theMOE rolled out theTaiwanese Roman-ization Scheme 臺灣閩南語羅馬字拼音方

案foruseinHoloteachingandlanguagetextbooks.However,mostnativespeakersof theTaiwanese dialect of Holo remainuntrainedinreadingthesesystems.

Hakka The Hakka language in Taiwan has

fivevariants,ofwhichtheSixian四縣andHailu 海陸 dialects are the most widelyspoken.SixianisprevalentinHakkacom-munities in Kaohsiung City and MiaoliandPingtungcounties;andHailuismostcommonlyspokenby theHakkapopula-tionofHsinchuCounty.

LikeHolo,Hakkaisprimarilyanorallanguage,andfluencyinHakkaisbecom-ingincreasinglyrareamongyoungpeopleinTaiwan.Topromote the language, theCouncil for Hakka Affairs (CHA) 行政

院客家委員會 has carried out a number ofplans, including creating a database forbasicHakkalanguagematerials,publish-ing dictionaries of the various Hakkadialects, providing funds to schools toteach Hakka and sponsoring research onthe Hakka language and culture throughuniversityprograms.

The CHA also administers languageproficiency tests at various levels. In2010, a record number of over 15,600peopleregisteredfortheelementary-leveltest, which was an increase of 135 per-cent over the previous year, while some6,000 registered for the intermediateandhigh-intermediatelevels.Thepassrateforthe elementary test was 69 percent, andthe intermediate and high-intermediatetests84percent.Indicativeofbroadinter-estinthelanguage,exampassersin2010rangedfromages7to84.Nearly10per-centoftheelementaryexamtakerscamefromnon-Hakkabackgrounds.


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• Ministry of the Interior: http://www.moi.gov.tw• Council of Indigenous Peoples: http://www.apc.gov.tw• Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Culture Park: http://www.tacp.gov.tw• Council for Hakka Affairs: http://www.hakka.gov.tw• Ministry of Education: http://www.moe.gov.tw• National Immigration Agency: http://www.immigration.gov.tw • Council for Economic Planning and Development: http://www.cepd.gov.tw

Related

Websites

Indigenous Languages Taiwan’s indigenous languages, clas-

sifiedbylinguistsasFormosanlanguages,belong to the same Proto-Austronesianlanguage family as Malay and Hawai-ian. A number of Taiwan’s indigenouslanguages were Romanized by Christianmissionaries during the Dutch colonialperiodinthe17thcentury(seeChapter3,“History”).Anotableexampleisthewrit-ingsystemdevelopedfortheSirayawhoused this system for signing contractswithHanpeopleintothe19thcentury.In2005, theCIP and theMOE jointlypro-mulgated the Romanization-based Writ-ingSystemsforIndigenousLanguages原住民語言書寫系統. To date, these writingsystems cover 14 indigenous languagesand42dialects.

Overall, the number of indigenouslanguage speakers has been declininglargelydue toaneducationpolicy in thesecond half of the last century that pro-motedMandarinanddiscouragedtheuseofHolo,Hakkaandindigenouslanguagesin schools.As a result, younger genera-tionsofstudentsgraduallylostfluencyintheirmothertongues.

To help keep indigenous languagesalive, the MOE has included these lan-guages in school curriculawhile theCIPhas conductedproficiency tests.Apolicyhas also been instituted to encourage in-digenousstudentstoacquirelanguagecer-tification,wherebyastudent’shighschooland university entrance exam score isincreasedby35percentifheorshepassesanindigenouslanguageproficiencytest.

Foreign Language EducationFor decades, English as a foreign

languagehasbeena required subject forstudentsinjuniorandseniorhighschoolsin Taiwan. In 2005, English was madecompulsoryfromthethirdgrade.Insup-port of English learning, the MOE com-missioned the Language Training andTestingCenter語言訓練測驗中心todeveloptests forfiveproficiency levels.From itsinceptionin2000to2010,nearly4.3mil-lionpeoplehadtakentheseexams.

As for alternatives to English, theMOE implemented thePlan for thePro-motion of Second Foreign LanguageStudy in Senior High Schools 推動高級中

學第二外語教育計畫 in 1999. By the firstsemester of the 2010-2011 school year,about530,000studentshadtakenelectivecourses under this plan, including Japa-nese, French, German, Spanish, Korean,Russian, Vietnamese, Indonesian andLatin. The most popular choice in 2010wasJapanese.

Numerous public and private edu-cational institutions provide the publicwithampleopportunitiestolearnforeignlanguages. While the most popular for-eign languages taught in Taiwan remainEnglish and Japanese, interest in majorEuropean languages has been growing.Also,arisingnumberof immigrantsandguest workers from Southeast Asia hasprompted schools to provide courses insuch languages as Indonesian, Thai andVietnamese. These languages were, forthefirsttime,includedintheMOE’ssub-sidyprogramin2010.


People & Language. ROC (Taiwan) Yearbook 2011 Ch02 people language

Documents

indigenous

eldest son

roc citizens

young men

ancestral

total population

austronesian

qing dynasty