Aftermath of colonial education & decolonizing is really tough, especially for families. My parents grew up having the entirety of Japanese era ripped out from text book & only learnt abt ROC and China. 228 is a huge taboo to them, talking abt it = causing conflict. (1/)
We took a family trip to Tainan and me being a history geek made everyone visit a bunch of museums. The thing abt Tainan is that unlike Taipei, ppl really put their heart & money into saving history. (in Taipei many evidence of the past were intentionally whipped out by KMT) (2/)
Bits and pieces of colonial past (including white terror) is EVERYWHERE in Tainan. And my parents can usually appreciate the beauty of the structures. However, I can see them visibly flinch when anything about KMT's wrong doing is mentioned. Even when we are in an art museum (3/)
admiring Tan Ting-pho's painting... The exhibition have a timeline matching artworks with his life. And in the end it's just, "killed in front of Chiayi station in 228". My parents immediately turned and left the room with me standing there feeling heartbroken. (4/)
My parents love us deeply, and they feel a strong sense of regret on how they "failed" to protect their children from the influence of the evil DPP. They are not KMT supporters, but will always choose KMT over any other parties bc anything KMT does looked justified. (5/)
Yes they know KMT massacred people. But they will also argue that its all in the past and DPP is obviously worse than KMT. (when we aren't even talking about DPP at all)
They don't wish to argue with me, so they choose to leave the scene even when we are just looking at art. (6/)
They don't wish to argue with me, so they choose to leave the scene even when we are just looking at art. (6/)
And here's the thing - everything is politics. Art, history, language, food, music, buildings... Everything. Just bc Tainan isn't hiding it's past, doesn't mean they are "too political". But, even stating the truth (such as this person was wrongfully killed) is too much. (7/)
When we are reading about something built in 1930, my mom commented: "Oh! It's from 民國29年" & was visibly upset when my sister corrected her saying that 1930 was before "光復" so it shouldn't be read in ROC years.
Our family have been in TW for centuries, but here we are, (8/)
Our family have been in TW for centuries, but here we are, (8/)
restraining ourselves from latching into fights, because someone taught our parents that this is a land with no history, and killed off anyone who could have teach them otherwise.
They do not understand why I am so fixated on figuring out WHAT is it that I have been missing. (9/)
They do not understand why I am so fixated on figuring out WHAT is it that I have been missing. (9/)
