Savages

I was really offended when I saw this picture at an exhibition, at a section where it showed the history of colonialism in Taiwan from 1869 to 1949. The exhibition is called “Hold the Mirror up to His Gaze”. The early history of photography in Taiwan is really eye-opening ad I have Taiwanese relatives and get to see a glimpse of the past. Some of the pictures were taken by foreigners who came to Taiwan to do an ethnography on its people. This image was specifically taken by an Australian, where you can clearly see the words “Savages” being handwritten at the bottom of the image. Were we really barbarians? I do know that the development of Taiwan surely began much later than the Western civilizations. I’ve always read about other groups of people (i.e., indigenous or African Americans) being called savages. But now that I am placed in the shoe where my ancestors were being called savages, that is a very odd feeling that makes me frown and shake my head.

Therefore, this promoted me to begin thinking about imperialism and colonialism. We are very much familiar with colonialism in the United States, manifested in the brutal experiences of slavery. The United States have colonized many Asian countries, reaping havoc like in Vietnam, even resulting in the Vietnam War. Thankfully, Taiwan was not one of their targets. Taiwan was previously colonized by the Japanese — and looking at the history, I am actually glad that we were colonized by the Japanese than by the Westerners. I have my reasons, so please don’t judge me too quickly.

When the Japanese came to Taiwan, they were really the ones who started the infrastructure of Taiwan. They built the roads, they built the railroad, and they really set a. foundation for Taiwan to become modernized with transportation. My grandparents grew up during the time of Japanese colonialism. She is currently 98 years old. She enjoys sitting in front of the television, humming to Japanese songs. Even though my grandmother has never been to Japan before, she received Japanese education in Taiwan, so she can speak Japanese fluently. Whenever I go back home and visit her, I simply just enjoy sitting there and watch her sing in a language that I do not understand at all.

That makes me wonder: Is colonialism really all that bad? I think that in the case of Taiwan being colonized by the Japanese, it seems like the colonists really made Taiwan better. But then again, I didn’t live in that period of time. I rarely heard stories of oppression, especially almost non-existence for the Han Chinese. For the indigenous Taiwanese people, this may be a different story and experience. This is why it is important to always be aware that there are different sides of a story. We cannot solely depend on one story, especially own our version of story, to determine the effects and implications of the past.

However, there is a silverlining. Being called a savage today has different connotations.
You’re so savage! — doesn’t this seem like a “you’re so cool and fierce!” statement?