Of Peoples and Nations
Growing up as a person of European descent in the United States of America, I was raised from birth to be a patriot. In elementary school, my classmates and I learned stories of Christopher Columbus, the Pilgrims, and how George Washington and the armies of the thirteen colonies turned away the evil British redcoats.
Yet, not everyone has this narrative. For example, if I were the descendent of a Sioux Chief, my national identity might be different.
This week I plunged into the book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson. I found this work personally engaging for many reasons including:
- Anderson has a humbling knowledge of world history. He has in impressive ability to effortlessly make comparisons between Eastern, Western, Middle Eastern, and African histories.
- As someone who has spent significant time in the Philippines and Thailand, this is one of the first history books that I have read that acknowledges the unique origins and national identities of these two countries as compared with the rest of Asia.
- The discussion of race was fascinating and could be a good reference point for discussion of contemporary race relations in the United States.
- I personally found discussions related to language fascinating. In my Master’s work, I learned that God used the timing of the birth of Christ concurrent with an era when so much of the world spoke Greek. This allowed the apostles to quickly carry the message of the risen Christ throughout the vast Roman Empire. Anderson’s discussion carried this thought further. It was also interesting to learn that the British overseers thought that that Hindus of India would convert to Christianity simply by having an English education (Kindle page 93).
- The example of the French celebrating their revolution in front of Vietnamese children who were subservient to the French was thought provoking. (Kindle page 120).
Truly, this book has much food for thought about the ways which a group of people develops a common identity as a “nation.” For me, reading this book is helpful in understanding China and its relationship to Taiwan.
Two years ago I stood in a classroom in Guangzhou, China and told a class of university students that I had been to several countries including Laos, Switzerland, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Mexico. One bold young man and interrupted me “Taiwan is not a country.” Instead of engaging him in a sensitive political discussion, I simply asked him, “well, what is it?” He exclaimed, “It is a special region of China.”
I have just returned from a trip to Taiwan. On this trip, I visited the Sun Yat Sen Memorial, the father of the Republic of China (a.k.a. the George Washington of Taiwan). I saw his face on the money and his portrait hung in a school where our mission team sang.
I learned that many in Taiwan still speak the Taiwanese language, even though it is only an oral language (a few missionaries tried to write it down but no one really learned to write it). Most everyone I met considered themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese.
This is a nation that breaks the rules. It is both proudly Chinese, claiming to be the one true modern China, and proudly Taiwanese, celebrating their island culture. It is no secret that the new President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, is controversial. She is Taiwan’s first president with Aboriginal Taiwanese heritage. For better or worse, she has made statements and decisions that have caused a rift between Taiwan and Mainland China.
As an outsider with a fairy tale sense of nationalism (i.e. Columbus, Pilgrims, and George Washington) it is difficult for me to wrap my mind around Taiwan. Are its residents Chinese? Are they Taiwanese? Are they both?
While Anderson’s book has not given me total clarity on this issue, it has given me valuable perspective.
https://www.facebook.com/Stuzki/videos/vb.623950798/10154923987005799/?type=3&theater
Video of Fort Worth’s Southcliff Worship Team Singing at a Jr. High School in Puli, Taiwan.
Notice the Taiwan flag and the portrait of Sun Yat-sen.
About the Author
Stu Cocanougher
11 responses to “Of Peoples and Nations”
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Super great post, Stu. I thought of you as I read the portions in the book about Southeast Asia.
I agree with Anderson on certain levels, but not with his philosophy. As a dabbler in history I knew that many states in the world were moving toward centralization in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Italy, for example was having a war to settle that in the 1860’s – the same time as the US.
But unlike Anderson, I see God’s hand in the movements of people. I loved your example of how so many were speaking Greek when Christ came that the Gospel could be spread throughout the world. In our day it seems that many think English will become the uniting language of the world. What do you think? Do we even need to unite globally?
P.S. I loved your video.
Regarding your question about language, here are the top 3 languages spoken in the world:
1. Chinese 1,197,000,000
2. Spanish 414,000,000
3. English 335,000,000
It is significant that no language comes close to Mandarin Chinese, with almost 2 billion speakers. Less than 100 years ago, China had a handful of major languages and a good number of regional dialects.
While it is undisputed that Mao’s murderous regime destroyed both traditional Chinese culture, and the spread of Christianity, there was one benefit. Now Chinese evangelists, speaking Mandarin, can travel throughout China and preach the gospel. This was not possible before Mao. This is another case of God using evil for good.
Very interesting Stu! I had no idea Taiwan wasn’t a country either. I’m not sure what they are so I’ll just put them in the category of “imagined communities”.
Your passion for Asia continues to inspire me and I love hearing your foreign travel stories. Thank you for sharing. Wish you were going with us to Thailand:)
Thank you for the reality check. The same as with Jim, I love to hear about your mission trips. I can only imagine how this author’s view on a community is revealed in your travels. I remember there was a discussion about Americas’ President Elect phone call to the President of Taiwan. China was not happy!
Thank you for your post.
First, regarding the education you (and I) received. Our schools teach the stories of the “winners.” History about women as founders of the nation (think Abigail Adams) or African American women as essential to the space race (think the movie/book Hidden Figures)– is rarely taught. One alternative to telling those stories is the Zinn Education Project (https://www.facebook.com/ZinnEducationProject/) which shares stories of those often overlooked in our nation’s history.
Re: Taiwan. Not having been there, I do not speak with the knowledge you have. But I wonder about the ability to find identity in more than one nation. What it comes down to, I believe, is that nation-ness is still a sticky thing. Taiwanese identifying as both T and Chinese is one example. Or both North and South Koreans identifying themselves as Koreans. Or the Kurds identifying more as Kurdish than Iraqi or Syrian; and other minorities resisting citizenship in their political countries (Armenians in Turkey). It seems to be a fluid, sticky definition.
Stu great post! Reading about your personal experiences with understanding nationalism outside of America was very interesting. Honestly, when I read your post my initial thought was why does it matter if they identify as both Chinese and Taiwanese. I think the fallacy of nationalism is forcing people to only identify in one way. Pleadging an affinity to a socially constructed ideal of a unified national bond. The fact that they have a different view of national association then we do is awesome. It demonstrates the diversity that exists in our world. We can all learn something from each other.
Asia is a part of the world that I know next to nothing about, so am grateful for your insights and thoughts Stu.
I can’t wait until we all get to Hong Kong!
“Why does it matter if they identify as both Chinese and Taiwanese.” Good question. First of all, the Taiwan/China problem is easier to understand with a Chinese mindset.
First of all, the Chinese civilization is over 6,000 years old. While I was raised during the cold war, with “Communist China” being an evil empire, The look at as a blip on the radar of their ancient culture. In other words, both Mainland China and Taiwan’s Chinese majority share 5,940 years of common history and 60 years of separation.
What fascinates me is that the Chinese civil war was never resolved. Both Taiwan and China are still technically at war and Taiwanese people have grown up with the understanding that, at the whim of the mainland, they could be blown to bits. In fact, Taiwan is a top pick for the beginning of the next world war.
This video is 3 years old, but does a great job of helping us understand this dichotomy.
https://youtu.be/MZqVv2wj6C4
By the way, Anderson briefly discusses Taiwan in the last chapter of the book.
Thank you for sharing your insight and knowledge, Stu!