Generation gap has been a widely discussed topic because of its significant impact on work, family and social relationships. The issue started being discussed during the post war era when globalization and multiculturalism were taking root in society. In most situations where a generation gap exists, the older generation always holds relatively more conservative opinions, while the younger generation is more accepting of their current worldview, and this evidently introduces conflict between the two generations ().
The unique historical background of Taiwan notwithstanding, the country (region) has also had generation gap as one of the most challenging social problems after the KMT (Kuomintang of China) came into power. However, different from other countries, the generational gap problem in Taiwan can be traced back to the different educational backgrounds of the old and young generations since the old generation were highly influenced by either Japanese culture or traditional Han Chinese culture, while the younger generation on the other hand, enjoyed their new Taiwanese identity.
Japanese colonization served as a basis for Japanese culture’s penetration in Taiwanese society and further contributed to the later emerged generation gap in the island since 1960s. Taiwanese who settled in the island before KMT brought huge amount of mainlanders in (also known as Benshengren) were governed by Japanese for about half a century and many of them were assimilated to the Japanese culture as a result of the Kōminka campaign. The Japanese language was taught in schools and many Japanese customs were introduced to every Taiwanese family (). However, the campaign did not go unopposed and faced numerous challenges, chief among them being the refusal of many Han Chinese to become assimilated into Japanese culture (). Nonetheless, the campaign was considered as a successful part of Japan’s scientific colonization plan since it helped Japanese values and traditions to become deeply rooted in the Taiwanese society. The Japanese educational background of many Taiwanese contributed to the generation gap and while Japanese culture is still popular in Taiwan today, the young the generation never received any Japanese-based education. In film Cape No.7, the representation of the generation gap can be seen through the contrast between characters. A long shot in the beginning of the movie depicted Old Mao, the Benshengren postman in town singing fluently in Japanese while working (Cape No.7 06:05), and represents the Japanese culture’s influence on his generation. On the other hand, the representation of the main character Ajie’s lack of Japanese language skills can be seen through the parts where he had difficulty in reading the letter written in Japanese (Cape No.7 15:15). With language difference serving as the first barrier, the different ideologies and thoughts that came from different educational backgrounds also blocked interactions between people from the two generations. As in the movie, Old Mao rarely talked to any of the young characters such as Ajie.
Similarly, mainlanders who came to Taiwan with the defeated KMT government, also known as Waishengren, in the same way experienced difficulty communicating with their offspring. The older generation is highly influenced by traditional Han Chinese culture and this is because they either had spent many years at mainland, or had come from a came from a Han Chinese culture-rooted family. On the other hand, while most of the young Taiwanese came from Chinese families (either Benshengren or Waishengren), the new Taiwanese identity on them gradually replaced the old Chinese one. Differences in many aspects determined that the two generations could only share little in common and also led to the gaps and conflicts between them.
The bond with mainland and Han Chinese’s long history is a major difference that effectively caused the gap. Bai Xianyong’s short story “New Year’s Eve” described a New Year party held by a mainlander’s family in Taipei. Both the owner of the house, Major Liu, and the guest who was invited to the dinner, Brother Lai, served at the KMT military, joined World War II and together fought against Japanese, then came to Taipei because KMT government lost the civil war against communist party. The other two guests, young couple Yu Xin and Li Zhu, as a representative of the young generation of Taiwan, had relatively less connections with the mainland and showed less interest when listening to Brother Lai’s stories. During dinner, Major Liu and Brother Lai spent a lot of time recalling things they had been through at mainland () to express their nostalgia for days spent in the homeland. But the young couple seemed indifferent to what happened in the “old” times and were not talkative at all. In addition, it could be seen that Li Zhu was actually scared by the way Brother Lai talked and behaved (). The only topic Yu Xin had interested at was the Battle at Taierzhuang, () and that was also the only time he initiatively started a conversation. Ironically, it seemed that Yu Xin was only regarding the battle as an interesting story heard from class, and irritated Brother Liu because of his disrespectful tone ().
Although Mandarin became the official language of Taiwan soon after KMT came to power, language barrier was still a problem due to the existence of several Chinese dialects (). Chef Zhu, from the film “Eat Drink Man Woman”, is one example of older generation mainlanders who speak Mandarin with an accent compared to his 3 daughters who grew up in Taipei and could only speak pure Mandarin. Therefore, when Chef Zhu talks to his daughters during “Sunday dinnertime”, it almost feels like they are from different countries instead of the same company. Such linguistic differences do not only make a difference on the surface, but also cause real troubles on communication. Chef Zhu and Uncle Wen’s Beijing dialect would not be hard for other Taiwanese to understand because it is a language that is relatively similar to standard mandarin. But when it comes to Major Liu’s wife’s Szechuan dialect (), it would be a different case. Szechuan’s dialect is “highly divergent in phonology, vocabulary, and even grammar compared to standard mandarin, and is especially difficult for speakers of other mandarin dialects to understand”. Szechuan dialect is definitely not the only case, as there are more than 200 dialects in China (), and many of them are difficult for standard mandarin speakers to understand (For example, Shaanxi dialect, Hunan dialect, etc.), just like the Szechuan dialect.
Another important factor that contributes to the generation gap in Taiwan is the difference between traditional Han Chinese values and new emerged Taiwanese values on families and individuals. Traditional Chinese culture, which is based on the philosophy of Confucianism, has an emphasis on the sacred bonds between family members () as well as the elimination of individuality. Such core values can be found in many aspects of Chinese culture, for example, the Chinese idiom “Tian lun zhi le” (The Happiness of a family union) and Chinese proverb “Qiang da chu tou niao” (Only the first bird will be shot/ Don’t be too conspicuous). Moreover, similar to Japanese culture, Chinese tradition encourages females to stay home and become housewives. Even today the idiom “Xiang fu jiao zi” (serve husband and teach kids) is still being regarded as a standard rule for Chinese women to follow. All these traditional Chinese values soon became troubles that made the generation gap wider, as more and more Taiwanese started to pursue individuality and self- liberation since the beginning of economic miracle in Taiwan. Females also began to walk out of their houses and try to find actual jobs in order to escape from the fetters of tradition. Chef Zhu’s three daughters- Jia Zhen, Jia Qian and Jia Ning, in film “Drink Eat Man Woman”, are representations of young Taiwanese who realized the importance of individuality and self- liberation. Jia Ning became pregnant and decided to live with her newly met boyfriend, although she was the youngest at home. Jia Qian is a white-collar office lady who pursued sexual liberation actively. Jia Chen, the oldest sister of the family, tried to stop her siblings from leaving home, but eventually fell in love with another teacher and left home herself. Chef Zhu, being a representative of so many old Taiwanese parents, devoted a lot to his family and tried to persuade his daughters to stay, but the distance between him and his daughters only became longer and longer.
On the plus side, the generation gap in Taiwan has some inherent benefits and might just be the key driver towards an independent Taiwan. Traditionally, the Taiwanese generation gap is mainly due to the polarization of society along a very thin line based on an individual’s sense of identity and their stance on Taiwan’s status as relates to mainland China (Xueying). The early education system in Taiwan taught that China and Taiwan were interlinked and should not be separated. However, the generational schism has resulted in quiet educational and democratic reforms and now the younger generation feels more distant to China compared to their parents (Flannery). The younger Taiwanese are clearly more pro-independence when compared to their elders and this a good thing since the younger generation are more concerned with contemporary world issues such as the environment and inequality. They also want the government and society in general to be protective of the vulnerable and move towards more transparent policy making.
In conclusion, it is evident that the generation gap and resulting divide could be easily ignored to rapid economic development, and the older generation would generally classify the youthful protests as the whims of a young attention seeking generation. However, the economy has now stagnated for over a decade raising concerns for more distributive justice and the need for an independent Taiwan. While the older generation are also hit by the economic downturn, most say they are grateful to the KMT for triggering industrialization in the island country (Xueying). There are also concerns about low salaries, and ageing population, low-birth are and unaffordable housing and all this points the complacency introduced by the generation gap and the cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan.
The younger generation in Taiwan are trying to combat an old and unjust system by acquiring a Taiwanese identity, and hoping to run a more just government while their parents are trying to conserve old culture, tradition and allegiance to the mainland. If the conservative older generation are allowed to run everything, Taiwan may become complacent and not enjoy the benefits of democracy or independence. However, a youthful rowdy nation is not good either since youth still need guidance on how deal with certain issues. In this case, the generational gap and resulting divide should not be considered a bad thing. In fact, groups in society should not be defined entirely by their stand on particular issues or where they stand on a black and white divide. Instead, society should welcome the generation gap as a check on both parties.
Works Cited:
Flannery, Russell. "Generation Gap: New Taiwan Mindsetcomplicates Relations With Mainland". Wall Street Journal. N.p., 2016. Web. 7 May 2016 . <http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB911414317759989000>.
Xueying, Li. "Generation Gap Emerging Along Left-Right Political Divide". The Straits times. N.p., 2016. Web. 7 May 2016 . <http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/generation-gap-emerging-along-left-right-political-divide>.
