"Mainland"? Which "mainland"?

An obvious symptom of brainwashing in Taiwan (and elsewhere)

Because of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), for most of the past six decades, Taiwan's educational system has indoctrinated students with the concept that "my country" (我國/本國) includes Taiwan, the territory now controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC), and Mongolia. As a result, certain words used by Taiwanese reveal how deeply this indoctrination has penetrated.

An old Geography textbook used in Taiwan
Tim Maddog photo
(Click to enlarge)
While most elementary school students these days will state "Taiwan" (台灣) as the name of their country, and only an incredibly small minority will say they are from the "ROC" (中華民國), there's still a lot of deep-set confusion. As Professor Lee Hsiao-feng (李筱峰, AKA Jim Lee, of National Taipei University's Graduate School of Taiwanese Culture) explains in the piece I will translate below, the words we are exposed to on a daily basis affect our ability to see clearly and even to clearly form our own identity.

Here it is, 「大陸」「大陸」，哪個大陸？ ("'Mainland,' 'mainland,' which mainland?") [translations, text coloration mine]:

俗話說「什麼人玩什麼鳥」，同樣的，「什麼人說什麼話」。在當前國家認同錯雜混亂的台灣，從每個人使用的不同用詞，就可以判斷他的國家認同和政治立場的差異。

People say, "This kind of person plays with this kind of bird" and "This kind of person uses these kinds of words" [both meaning: "A person is defined by the words they use"]. In the past, Taiwan's national identity has been a jumbled mess. From the different words that people use, you can spot the differences in people's sense of national identity and political affiliation.

記得蔡英文與馬英九進行電視辯論的時候，凡是對「中華人民共和國」的稱呼，馬英九一律把它改稱「大陸」，但是蔡英文則清清楚楚叫它為「中國」。全世界都知道，「中國」指的就是那個全名叫做「中華人民共和國」的國家。但是「大陸」呢？全世界沒有一個國家叫做「大陸」，倒是在地理上，有歐亞大陸、非洲大陸、美洲大陸。「大陸」，指的是哪一個大陸？馬英九不稱中國為「中國」，而稱「大陸」，為什麼？因為他所認同的國家就是中國，而且台灣是中國的一部分，如果他將對岸稱為「中國」，等於是將台灣置於中國之外，這是他無法容忍的。稱中國為「大陸」，表示兩邊都屬中國，而有「大陸地區」和「台灣地區」之分。所以將中國稱為「大陸」，其實是對台灣的矮化，是對台灣的貶損！

Think back to the televised debate between Tsai Ing-wen and Ma Ying-jeou. Each time the PRC came up, Ma consistently referred to it as the "mainland" while Tsai referred to it more clearly as "China." The whole world knows that "China" refers to the country whose full name is the "People's Republic of China." But what about "mainland"? There is no country on Earth called "Mainland" [Maddog note: Though I've capitalized it here (as if it were the name of a country), it shouldn't actually be capitalized unless it's the first word in a sentence.] -- it's merely a geographic term which could variously refer to the Eurasian continent, the African continent, or the North and South American continents. So why say "mainland"? Because Ma identifies with China and considers Taiwan to be part of China. If he were to call the other side "China," it would mean that Taiwan is something separate -- something Ma could never admit. By calling China the "mainland," he means that the two sides belong to China and that the "mainland area" and "Taiwan area" are both part of that China. This actually belittles and disparages Taiwan.

中國人馬英九稱中國為「大陸」，一點都不奇怪。奇怪的是，竟然也有自以為是獨派的人士，也習而不察，跟著人家把中國稱為「大陸」，這就自我矛盾了。

For Ma-the-Chinese to call China the "mainland" isn't strange at all. What is strange is when supporters of Taiwan's independence use the word out of sheer habit, following others' use of "mainland" when they mean "China" -- this is a contradiction of their own principles.

最近台灣出現了一個名詞叫做「陸生」，其實也有一樣的意涵。所謂「陸生」，就是「大陸學生」的簡稱。把中國來台的留學生稱為「陸生」，和稱中國為「大陸」一樣是對台灣的矮化。中國來的留學生，當然簡稱「中生」，怎麼變成「陸生」？

The word "lùshēng" has recently entered Taiwan's vocabulary. This contains a similar meaning. "Lùshēng" is merely a short form of ""dàlùxuéshēng" ("mainland students"). To call Chinese students "lùshēng" is just as belittling and disparaging of Taiwan as using the word "mainland" instead of "China." A more natural short form would be "Zhōngshēng." How did that become "lùshēng"?

再者，近年來出現了一個不三不四的名詞叫做「阿六仔」。許多人把中國人稱為「阿六仔」，所謂「六」，當然是大「陸」的轉音。「阿六仔」這個名詞，本身帶有輕蔑的語氣，殊不知用這種輕蔑的名詞形容對方，其實是矮化了台灣，貶損了自己而不自知。

Another strange word which has appeared in recent years is "a-la̍k-á" [Maddog note: The pronunciation of that term is invariably Taiwanese, not Mandarin]. Many people call Chinese (people) "a-la̍k-á" with the middle word "la̍k" ["six"] having the same pronunciation in Taiwanese as the "lù" in "dàlù." "A-la̍k-á" itself bears a pejorative tone, but actually one may not realize that using this kind of tone to describe others can also belittle Taiwan, disparage the user, and show self-unawareness.

這種矮化台灣、貶低台灣的用詞還有很多，例如，將孫文（孫逸仙）先生稱為「國父」就是。所謂「國父」是哪一「國」的「國父」？當然是指「中華民國」的國父。不要說連孫文本人都不知道他被國民黨稱為中華民國「國父」，孫文如果知道台灣人竟然也稱他為「國父」，一定詫異萬分。因為孫文在過世前一年曾經呼籲日本應該讓「朝鮮和台灣兩民族」獨立自治，而台灣人竟然還在叫他「國父」，真是蠢蛋！

There are many more words used to belittle and disparage Taiwan. For example, calling Sun Yat-sen the "nation's founding father." Which "nation" is he the "founding father" of? Of course that would be the "Republic of China [ROC]." Don't say that even Sun himself didn't know he was called "the nation's founding father" by the Chinese KMT, but if he could know that some Taiwanese still call him the "nation's founding father," he'd be completely amazed because a year before he died, Sun appealed to Japan to allow Korea and Taiwan to become independent. For Taiwanese to call him the "nation's founding father," they must really be morons!

至於那些遊走對岸淘金的藝人，也跟著中國人將中華人民共和國稱為「內地」，那就不只是「蠢蛋」兩字所能形容了！日本殖民統治時代，台灣人稱日本本土為「內地」，清帝國時代則稱中國本土為「內地」，現在台灣不屬中華人民共和國，卻也稱呼人家「內地」。台灣人，你要自我作踐到幾時？

As for entertainers who wander off to China in search of money and who refer to the PRC as the "heartland," not even the word "moron" can describe what they are! When Taiwan was a Japanese colony, Taiwanese referred to Japan as the "heartland." However, during the Qing Dynasty, [what we now call] China was the "heartland." Present-day Taiwan doesn't belong to the PRC, yet people still use the term "heartland." People of Taiwan: How long will you humiliate yourselves like this?

One "mainland" which Professor Lee left out was Australia's. People in Tasmania will refer to the non-Tasmanian part of Australia as the "mainland" while people in New Zealand never do so -- because it's a whole other country. It's a good example to use with people who don't seem to "get it."

Related:
* A guy I met later on Facebook called in to New Taiwan Go Go Go (新台灣加油) to complain about so-called pro-Taiwan TV stations using the word "mainland." I posted the video on YouTube:

1:23 YouTube video: "Mr. Chuang wants green media to stop saying "mainland""
* Hena (Taiwanese for erhu, 二胡) player Kenny Wen is one of those who sold his soul to Beijing and was "forced" to call China the "heartland" (內地):

9:00 YouTube video: "Kenny Wen Teaches: How to sell your soul to the demons in Beijing"
* A Taiwan Matters post with links to videos of the entire debate referred to in Lee's piece: "Ralph Jennings pushes anti-Taiwan, pro-Ma propaganda"

* If you need help with the videos linked in the post at the link above, the Taipei Times translated the entire debate between Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) into English:
- Part One: Ma, Tsai lock horns in ECFA debate
- Part Two: Tsai questions Ma on job losses from signing ECFA

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Words which mean things: Taiwan, 台灣, propaganda, 宣傳, brainwashing, 洗腦, Lee Hsiao-feng, 李筱峰

Cross-posted at It's Not Democracy, It's A Conspiracy!