Category: Sigur Center 2020-21 Summer Fellows

With two years of one-on-one instruction (guided by Integrated Chinese‘s level 1 textbook) but a childhood immersed in Chinese-speaking environments as my background, my Chinese reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills have developed unevenly. Having a heritage background has largely been helpful in learning Chinese, but at times can be a hindrance. My listening skills surpass my speaking skills which in turn surpass my writing and reading skills. Before CLS, my Chinese was halting–there were times when I was speaking or writing when I would sense that the way I was phrasing something was (grammatically) wrong or awkward, but, unsure how to rephrase my thought, my efforts to speak and write could sometimes be slow and drawn out, with stops and starts. When I enrolled in CLS’s Chinese program, my hope was that through meaningful exposure to Chinese every day and actively working on improving with the help of formal instruction and feedback, I would be able to speak more intuitively and read and write more fluidly.

I was enrolled in the third-year class, which I found to be lively and engaging even with the long hours and steady workload. From Mondays to Thursdays, we had three and a half hours of class in the morning (with plenty of breaks!), followed by an hour of lunch with students from other levels, and then an additional half hour to hour of review/culture class in the afternoon. On top of this we had nightly homework and new vocabulary to memorize. Fridays were test days and the following Monday, we would start the cycle over again. Between the contact hours and the assignments and work we had to put in outside of these, there was certainly plenty of opportunity for Chinese practice every day!

Including myself, there were only 4 students in the class so there was both the opportunity and expectation that we be fully present and engage in Chinese. We each had different strengths, but at this level we were assumed to be proficient in the basics and to be able to navigate the everyday situations which were the focus in earlier levels. Of course there is always more vocabulary and grammar to learn, but the primary focus of the third-year course was to put these in service of honing our ability to express abstract thoughts and hold sustained discussions. Over the course of 7 weeks, we were not only regularly asked to share our opinions and thinking, but to elaborate and express ourselves in more than single sentences and phrases. Could we say more? What could we offer to back up our claims and flesh out our perspectives? At this level we were also asked to be attentive to writing in a more sophisticated way—to make use of transition words/phrases and conjunctions so that our sentences would flow and our compositions would have a sense of cohesion.

We spoke about childhood memories and the influence our upbringing had on us, evaluating and articulating opinions about leaders and people in general, the hardships and dilemmas that come up in life and how to respond to them, our dietary preferences and habits, the feelings that music and other situations evoke in us, societal issues, and achieving happiness. Our discussions were grounded in our own experiences, though we were often asked to also consider other perspectives. Since I’m studying Mandarin in preparation for a year-long anthropological fieldwork in Taiwan, I found the course content not only interesting but also incredibly relevant to my goals. Discussions around one’s background, experiences, influences, thoughts and feelings are exactly the kinds of conversations I hope to be proficient enough to have when I’m in Taiwan. Being able to have these kinds of conversations will help me connect with people, but they also speak to the anthropological interest in the richness of the everyday and in the specificity of lived experiences.

Overall, I really enjoyed participating in CLS. It was fast-paced and exhausting, but rewarding. I also enjoyed having the program length as window of time in which my main focus everyday was Chinese. Though this was not a fully immersive experience, the daily engagement in Chinese was helpful in building my confidence, which I believe is just as important as mastering grammar and vocabulary in being able to make use of my language skills. As I transition back into the academic year, I’m looking forward to being able to more fully appreciate Chinese dramas and extensive reading as a way to unwind while also practicing and further honing my language skills!

Sylvia Ngo, PhD in Anthropology 2025
Sigur Center 2021 Asian Language Fellow
Beloit College, Wisconsin, USA

Hello everyone!

This is my final video blog for my summer study program. I will be finishing my last class on Sunday and will conclude my 8 weeks study program.

In this blog, I am going to discuss some interesting places that have been talked about in my textbook that I think are fun places to visit when getting out of Taipei, and also I will provide some closing thoughts on my study program.

To watch the video please go to this link!

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought enormous difficulties for doing research on Asia. Since in-person visits to archives and field work has become more inconvenient, this blog post explores alternative ways to do research. Based on my experiences of using the “Data Platform of Documents on the Sino-Japanese War and modern China-Japan Relations (Kangri zhanzheng yu jindai Zhongri guanxi wenxian shuju pingtai),” (hereafter “Data Platform on Sino-Japanese War”) this blog post discusses the value of online databases for research on Asia.

Overview of the Database

Established in 2015, The “Data Platform on Sino-Japanese War” (bottom) was a project within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) center’s general initiative to promote research on the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The database was directed by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the National Library, and the National Archives Bureau. The funding for the database comes from National Social Sciences Foundation.

Most of the materials in the database are contemporary publications from the Republican period (1912-1949), including official documents, books, journals, and newspapers. By September 2020, the database contains more than 50,000 volumes of books, about 1,000 titles of newspapers, and nearly 3,200 titles of journals—more than twenty-five million digital pages in total.

The title of the database indicates that it is strong on Sino-Japanese War and China-Japan relations, but the sources in the database cover every aspect of Republican China. Therefore, the database can be helpful for any research that covers the Republican period.

Some Examples of Sources at the Database

One interesting set of sources I found at the database was the journal Resistance War and Communication (Kangzhan yu jiaotong), which was the internal journal of the Ministry of Communication during the Sino-Japanese War. The journal (bottom, copyright “Data Platform on Sino-Japanese War”) was published biweekly, and the database has all the issues from 1938 to 1942. The journal contains rich information on China’s wartime communications, including plans, conferences, and operations of the Ministry of Communication, as well as informed opinions on communication affairs. The journal is an example of the database’s strong collection of Republican period journals.

Another useful set of materials I discovered was the Military Administration Statistics (Junzheng tongji), a secret series compiled by the Ministry of Military Administration from 1937 to 1945. The series (bottom, copyright “Data Platform on Sino-Japanese War”) contains detailed statistics on every aspect of the Nationalist Army, including its combat and service troops, supplies and logistics, medical services, and armament industries. The series is a useful source to study the military aspect of the Sino-Japanese War.

Tips for Searching the Database

For searching of the database, I recommend use various types of keywords: thematic, personal, institutional etc. I also suggest sparing additional patience when searching for materials. The database covers a wide range and various types of materials, which are not sorted out in record groups as in an archive. Therefore, it might take more time to find useful sources.

Overall, the “Data Platform on Sino-Japanese War” is one of the largest online databases on Republican history open to the public. It offers an additional option for doing research during the pandemic. For other alternatives such as digital archives, please see my blog post “Doing Research on Asia during the Pandemic, Part I: Digital Archives”.

Zhongtian Han, Ph.D. East Asian History 2022

Sigur Center 2021 Field Research Fellow

China

The Covid-19 Pandemic changed everything, including academic research on Asia. The disruption of international travel to Asia limited access to archives, as well as the opportunity to conduct field work. In this situation, it is important to find alternative means to get sources and do research. Based on my experiences of using the Academic Historica Collections Online System, this blog explores the use of digital archives to do research on Asia during the pandemic.

Overview of the Archive

Established in May 1914 at Beijing, the Academia Historica (Guoshi Guan) was the central government institution responsible for compiling official history and collecting official documents. After 1949, the Academia Historica moved with the Nationalist government to Taiwan and reponed at Taipei in 1956.

The Academia Historica is responsible for managing the records of Republic of China Presidents and Vice-Presidents, as well as the records of a number of government institutions and prominent political figures. The records of Academia Historica cover the political, military, economic, social, and cultural aspects of the Republic of China. Therefore, they should be valuable for research on any topics of Republic of China history.

The digitization of Academia Historica records began in 2002. It was part of the Republic of China government’s general plan to digitize government records for public use. In 2016, the Academia Historica opened its digitized records to the public. By January 2019, the Academia Historica has made more than six million pages of digital documents available for public use. Since then, that number kept growing. The digital documents are searchable and open to download through the Academic Historica Collections Online System (bottom).

Some Examples of Records at Academia Historica

My experiences of using the Academic Historica digital records focused mainly on the Republican History (1912-1949). I found two collections of documents most valuable: the Chiang Kai-shek Collection and the Chen Cheng Collection. Chiang was the supreme leader of the Nationalist government and the Nationalist Army, while Chen served high civil and military posts under Chiang. The two collections include not only the personal directives and papers of Chiang and Chen, but also the official documents collected by or associated with them. Therefore, the two collections are comparable to U.S. presidential libraries in terms of the broad range of sources they contain.

Some of the most interesting documents I discovered were those on the Wuhan Campaign (June-November 1938) in the Chen Cheng Collection. The campaign involved more than 800,000 Chinese soldiers and about 400,000 Japanese soldiers and was fought in central China. The documents in the Chen Cheng Collection revealed the elaborate communication networks on the Chinese side. These include a highway network that connected Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi (bottom left, copyright Academic Historica), and an inter-province landline telephone and telegraph network in the three provinces (bottom right, copyright Academic Historica).

Tips for Searching the Records

The most convenient way to use Academia Historica digital records was through keyword search. To maximize the chance to find useful materials, I recommend using various types of keywords for any one topic: thematic, personal, institutional etc. It’s also helpful to pay attention to historical context and use keywords in contemporary use.

After searching by keywords, the results can be browsed either by the record group number or the starting year of the documents. When finding some useful documents, it’s also a good idea to browse other documents within the same record group. This often leads to additional useful materials.

Overall, the Academia Historica is probably the largest and best organized digital archive in Chinese language open to the public. It provides scholars with an alternative to in-person archival visits during the pandemic. For other options such as online databases please refer to my blog post “Doing Research on Asia during the Pandemic, Part II: Online Databases” on the Sigur Center for Asian Studies website.

Zhongtian Han, Ph.D. East Asian History 2022

Sigur Center 2021 Field Research Fellow

China

Hello everyone, I hope your summer is closing on a high note. My summer studies have been progressing well and I hope you all enjoyed my video on cooking dumplings.

Currently in my lesson we are talking about a lot of places that you can take a day trip to if you are already in Taipei. This blog I wanted to touch on some really cool areas that my lessons have recommended but also some areas which I have visited in the past while in Taiwan. It’s disappointing that I was unable to take part in language studies in Taiwan this summer, but having this language opportunity has really helped me improve my language ability and I am excited for the next opportunity where I will be able to go to Taiwan.

1. Jiufen/Teapot Mountain

This area is very famous as a tourist destination where you can walk the winding streets of Jiufen and eat many kinds of street food in addition to eating at many great restaurants. Since Jiufen is in the mountains you are bound to find many hikes in the area that are of interest. My personal favourite hike is at Teapot Mountain. This is a fantastic hike that I think everyone who plans to head to the famous Jiufen area should take the time to make the short trip from Jiufen to Teapot Mountain. The views on a clear day are absolutely spectacular, as your view will be mountain summits against a backdrop of the open ocean. An easy place to start this hike will be from the Gold Mining Museum at the base of the mountain, from there you can take the trail about 35 minutes to the top. Alternately, you can drive up to just below the summit and walk the 5 minutes to the top to enjoy a great view. The best way to travel to this area will be by taking a train to the Ruifang train station and then taking a taxi to your intended destination.

1. Laomei Green Reef

This location from March to May has very beautiful views of the green vegetation that grows on the reef along the shore. The Laomei Green Reef is located north of Taipei along the north coast of Taiwan. It is best to visit Laomei Green Reef during low tide so that you will be able to see the vastness of the green reef and the view it has to offer tourists. The reef is a well known geological site due to the geological forces that have formed the unique landscape. Nearby this area, there is also a lighthouse that you can walk to and further enjoy the scenery and view. The Laomei Green Reef is not the most convenient location to get to. While there are busses that can be used to get there, the most convenient way to visit is by using a car or using a rideshare company; otherwise it might take too much time.

1. Wistaria Tea House

This tea house is not much of a day trip but rather a place to visit while you are busy exploring Taipei. I wanted to add this since I have really enjoyed my time while visiting. Wistaria Tea House is located near National Taiwan Normal University and Shida Night Market and is just a short walk from either. At the tea house, you have the option to have dinner or you can just relax in the tea room and enjoy the variety of tea and small snacks. One very fun part of visiting the Wistaria Tea House is how you will be educated on the proper preparation of the teapots and cups prior to enjoying the tea to ensure you are practicing the proper methods that enhance the flavor of the tea. The tea house is a fun educational experience and you will be able to enjoy the teas that are natively grown in Taiwan.

1. Yinhe Cave & Waterfal

       This excursion is south of Taipei and is actually in New Taipei City. The best route to take to arrive here is to take the MRT Green Line to Xindian Station and to take the bus or a rideshare company to the trailhead. The walk is not long and the scenery is very worth the time spent getting there. Once there you will see the buildings pressed up against the rock face and the beautiful waterfall overhead. Most places in Taiwan when hiking actually have a lot of stairs due to the frequent rain that often causes erosion. Therefore, the trails are usually nice and well maintained

Early in the program, we all received a package containing some swag as well as materials for our weekly cultural activities. In this video blog, I share the crafts we had the chance to learn and try for ourselves—all while continuing to practice our language skills!

Sylvia Ngo, PhD in Anthropology 2025
Sigur Center 2021 Asian Language Fellow
Beloit College, Wisconsin, USA

Eight weeks in the TISLP was definitely flown by quickly. These eight weeks are not only the journey of learning Mandarin but also the journey of learning about looking at life through different perspectives. Each week the students learn about a different controversial topic; we talked about familiar issues like Freedom of Speech or Plastic Surgery. Still, we also talked about topics that I never thought or even heard about, like Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) or Nuclear Power. With unfamiliar issues like these, the language barrier is not the only challenging thing, but also the knowledge barrier is what the students struggle with. Taking the GMO topic as an example, this is a great topic because it was not much of a topic in the US since most US food is GMO base; however, it is a controversial topic in Asia, especially Taiwan. Thus, my classmate and I have to do much research on what is GMOs and what is controversial about them just to have a basic understanding of GMOs.

Every week’s topic was designed for the students to hear both sides of the argument, and at the end of the week, the students will pick their side and report why they choose their side. Since the class discussions are always controversial topics, the professor always clarifies that her main goal is for the students to practice language skills and not judge the students’ opinions about the topics. This had helped the students become more confident when sharing their ideas because, in this classroom, everyone’s primary goal is to practice Mandarin and not judging each other. Most of the time, the students will start out opposing (or supporting) the idea of the topic, and at the end of the week, their opinion is only more vital rather than changing. However, at the beginning of the GMO topic week, I started with opposing GMO products, thinking it is not natural or healthy for people. Surprisingly, by the end of the week, I had changed my side and choose to support the idea of GMO products.  I learned that the problem of GMOs is not the product itself but how many giant corporations had taken advance of the GMO technology and made the product had a bad reputation. Through this chapter, I learned that the change of technology is not scary; what is scary is how people take advantage of technologies for making profits.  Furthermore, people need to join together to contribute ideas and speak up about their concerns so the country’s government can change the law to protect people’s safety.

Through the TISLP, my Mandarin has not only improved significantly in all aspects (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), but most importantly, through my classmates, I learned that this world is very big and there are still many different voices, and for everyone to achieve common goals, mutual respect is fundamental.

At the end of the program, the students came together to answer an interview about the program. I hope you enjoy the interview.

Lyn Doan, M.A. Chinese Language and Culture 2021

Sigur Center 2021 Asian Language Fellow

National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

This blog post is an instructional video on how to make dumplings. I used a recipe that was in my textbook and part of one of the lessons I completed. The process was fun and it was a nice way to get to cook new foods and practice my Chinese language skills by going to the local Asian market to find ingredients. I also used other Chinese language cooking resources to practice my dumpling wrapping skills (I still need some improvement).

The video is so large I was unable to upload it so I have shared the link where you can find it on YouTube.

Enjoy!