The Taiwanese Cultural Association (TCA; ) was an important organization during the Japanese rule of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It was founded by

Chiang Wei-shui Chiang Wei-shui (; 6 August 1890 – 5 August 1931) was a Taiwanese physician and activist. He was a founding member of the Taiwanese Cultural Association and the Taiwanese People's Party. He is seen as one of the most important figures in Ta ...

on 17 October 1921, in Daitōtei, a district in modern-day

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

History

After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, an epidemic of

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

and

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

engulfed the world. Needless to say, Taiwan was also inundated with this new sense of

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. Inspired by the

Samil Movement The March 1st Movement, also known as the Sam-il (3-1) Movement (Hangul: 삼일 운동; Hanja: 三一運動), was a protest movement by Korean people and students calling for independence from Japan in 1919, and protesting forced assimilation ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

in 1919, Taiwanese college students in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

further developed their craving for an independent Taiwan. At that time, only affluent Taiwanese families could send their children to Japanese universities. Most of these children were born and raised during Japanese

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

of Taiwan. Therefore, they were taught using Japanese methods and customs quite different from the education of their parents, a formal Chinese education teaching strictly traditions and ancient philosophies. In

, Taiwanese students underwent extreme racism from not only Japanese students but also their friends and relatives. When improperly treated by the Japanese (e.g. being called ), these students would often search for methods of circumventing trouble. Due to these actions, though, they were often taunted by Korean students for not fighting for their own rights.

Japan

Japan was not only the hub of advanced learning for Taiwanese students, but also an excellent opportunity to learn revolutionary ideas such as

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

for all people and

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

, options that the oppressive Japanese Regime would not allow. This was where intellectuals adopted new and more innovated ideas in order to gain either

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

for Taiwan. These intellectuals often held conferences discussing beneficial possibilities. They petitioned the Japanese government to permit the enactment of a representative committee which spoke in favor of Taiwanese people, thus taking a vital step towards democracy. The committee, established in 1921, was called the

Petition Movement for the Establishment of a Taiwanese Parliament The Petition Movement for the Establishment of a Taiwanese Parliament (or alternatively translated ... Taiwan Representative Assembly, Taiwan Parliament Petition League Movement) took place in the first half of the twentieth century. It demande ...

Lin Hsien-tang Lin Hsien-tang (; 22 October 1881 – 8 September 1956) was a Taiwanese-born politician and activist who founded several political organizations and sat on the Japanese House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. Early life and family Lin Hsien-tang's ...

was elected as their headperson. During its fourteen-year span, many rallies were held.

References

Chinese link

External links

''Culture Taiwan'' article
Cultural organizations based in Taiwan 1921 establishments in Taiwan {{Taiwan-org-stub

History

Japan

See also

References

External links