Misplaced Pages

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87-465: Its main objective is to serve as a cultural, education, economic and informational exchanges organization between Taiwan and the overseas Taiwanese and Chinese descent communities. Its remit is not limited to expatriates from Taiwan, but includes all ethnic Taiwanese and Chinese living in a foreign country who "identify with the Republic of China (ROC)". With the evolution of the political landscape and

174-443: A "Film Fund" to financially support the film industry of the country. The fund is somewhat controversial yet is still well supported. The Government Information Office (Chinese: 新聞局) was in charge of the film grant before 2012. Grants were divided into two groups of $ 5 million and $ 800 million. The production cost works out to be around a minimum of $ 120 million across 15 films. The application contains certain specifications to allow

261-592: A 'political whitewash'. Despite this, the film was more successful in Taiwan due to the variety of Taiwanese dialect comedic puns on Mandarin Chinese words. Successful films that focus on Taiwan have therefore predominantly been independent, low-budget, and aimed at the local market, such as John Hsu 's Detention , which received five awards including Best Director at the 56th Golden Horse Awards . Teng Sue-feng used Cape No. 7 as an example to discuss how profit

348-666: A Japanese education, encouraging them to wear Japanese clothes and the men to cut their long hair. Films such as Japanese Police Supervise a Taiwanese Village (1935) illustrated how "proper" imperial subjects should dress and act as well as promoting their superior farming skills thanks to the Japanese overlords. Taiwanese directors would vividly revisit the legacy of this process of cultural annexation in such films as Hou Hsiao-hsien 's City of Sadness (1989) and The Puppetmaster (1993), as well as Wu Nien-jen 's A Borrowed Life (1994). Taiwanese cinema grew again after 1949, when

435-594: A governmental body of the People's Republic of China ", under the desinicization policies of independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party . However, its English acronym OCAC and Chinese name remained the same, to reduce the expense for its official title change. After the Kuomintang renewed its mandate in the 2012 election , the official English name

522-666: A more organized approach to the production of film in the colony of Taiwan. Films played a vital role in enabling the larger colonial project of imperialization or cultural assimilation of Taiwanese subjects into the Japanese empire. The first silent film produced in Taiwan was An Introduction to the Actual Condition of Taiwan , a propaganda documentary that Takamatsu directed in 1907. Takamatsu noted that early films were produced mostly for Japanese audiences rather than for local Taiwanese. Hence, early films tended to be educational in nature, lauding Japan's modernizing presence on

609-509: A part 1 and part 2) was released in September 2011, with part 1 (The Sun Flag) being the 2nd highest grossing Taiwanese domestic film of all time and part 2 (The Rainbow Bridge) being the 7th highest grossing Taiwanese domestic film of all time . It was shown in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival and it was selected as a contender for nomination for the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011 and

696-447: A place with a unique society, culture and history. This principle has been largely adopted for understanding Taiwan's cultural representation and expressed in a variety of cultural activities, including music, film and the literary and performing arts . The pressures of indigenization and the growing acceptance of a unique Taiwanese cultural identity have met opposition from more conservative elements of Taiwan society. Critics argue that

783-403: A pluralistic society that embraces many cultures and recognizes the rights of all citizens. In the mid-to-late 1990s, gestures toward localism were increasingly adopted by pan-blue figures who, while supporting the Chinese nationalism of Chiang Kai-shek , saw it as appropriate, or at least advisable, to display more appreciation for cultures of Taiwan. Pan-blue politicians such as James Soong ,

870-613: A rating. The Ministry of Culture established by the Executive Yuan further specifies that not more than one third of the committee members can come from the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development . The rating system was expanded into five categories on October 16, 2015 per regulations (Chinese: 中華民國104年10月16日文影字第10420350091號令修正發布 ) drawn up in accordance with the Motion Picture Act. Article 9 of

957-512: A response to the government's failures. Rubenstein (2007) credits Chiang for beginning Taiwanization as Premier. The dissident groups, united under the Tangwai , or “outside the party” banner, called for the government to accept the reality that it was only the government of Taiwan and not China. The key demands of the Tangwai involved instituting democracy and seeking international recognition as

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1044-492: A script, but the benshi often preferred to continue with their own interpretations. Notable films during this period include Song of Sadness ( 哀愁の歌 , 1919), The Eyes of Buddha ( 仏陀の瞳 , 1922), and Whose Mistake? ( 誰の過失 , 1925). Unlike Japanese-occupied Manchuria, Taiwan never became an important production market for Japan but rather was a vital exhibition market. Japanese-produced newsreels, shorts, educational, and feature films were widely circulated throughout Taiwan from

1131-565: A sovereign state. Taiwanese demanded full civil rights as guaranteed under the ROC constitution and equal political rights as those experienced by the Mainlander elite. The Taiwanese cultural elite fully promoted the development of Xiang tu literature and cultural activities, including rediscovering Taiwanese nativist literature written under Japanese colonial rule. The tangwai movement revived symbols of Taiwanese resistance to Japanese rule in

1218-402: A very young boy, from an ordinary family, getting into progressively more trouble. Edward Yang 's Taipei Story (1985) and A Confucian Confusion (1994) talk about the confusion of traditional values and modern materialism among young urbanites in the 1980s and 1990s. His nearly four-hour film A Brighter Summer Day (1991), considered by many to be his masterpiece and the defining work of

1305-559: Is a tragi-comedy involving two groups of actors rehearsing different plays on the same stage; the masterful juxtaposition and the depth of the play's political and psychological meanings helped it win recognition at festivals in Tokyo and Berlin. Ang Lee is perhaps the most well-known of the Second New Wave directors. His early films Pushing Hands (1991), The Wedding Banquet (1993), and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) focus on

1392-1392: Is accessible within walking distance North East from NTU Hospital Station of the Taipei Metro . Taiwanization Lai Ching-te ( DPP ) Hsiao Bi-khim ( DPP ) Cho Jung-tai ( DPP ) 11th Legislative Yuan Han Kuo-yu ( KMT ) Shieh Ming-yan acting Vacant Vacant Vacant Control Yuan Chen Chu Lee Hung-chun Local government Central Election Commission Kuomintang Democratic Progressive Party Taiwan People's Party Others New Power Party Taiwan Statebuilding Party People First Party Taiwan Solidarity Union New Party Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Newspapers United Daily News Liberty Times China Times Taipei Times Propaganda Censorship Film censorship Lin Chia-lung Cross-Strait relations Special state-to-state relations One Country on Each Side 1992 Consensus Taiwan consensus Chinese Taipei Australia–Taiwan relations Canada–Taiwan relations France–Taiwan relations Russia–Taiwan relations Taiwan–United Kingdom relations Taiwan–United States relations Republic of China (1912–1949) Chinese Civil War One-China policy China and

1479-500: Is not a branch of Chinese culture" and "Taiwan's Minnan dialect is not a branch of Fujian 's Min-nan , dialect but rather a 'Taiwan dialect' Taiwan radio and TV increased their Taiwanese Hokkien programming. These efforts were perceived in China as initial efforts towards breaking the ties between Taiwan culture and Chinese culture by downplaying the long-term Chinese cultural and historic identification in that region. In April 2003,

1566-588: Is not primarily remembered for his benshi performances, but mainly for writing the inestimable history of cinema and drama in Taiwan. The most famous benshi of all was possibly Zhan Tian-ma, whose story is told in a recent Taiwanese biographical film, March of Happiness (Taiwan, 1999, dir: Lin Sheng-shing). Benshi masters frequently were intellectuals: many spoke Japanese, often traveled to Japan and/or China, and some were poets who wrote their own librettos for each film. From 1910, films started to be distributed with

1653-621: Is shared in Taiwan. Teng estimated the revenue to be NTD 520 million, and the production cost to be NTD 50 million. After deducting costs, 60% of the profit goes to movie theaters, and 10% to the distributor. The director gets about NT$ 140 million. The first censorship in China under the Beiyang government came in July 1923, when the "Film Censorship Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Education Association"

1740-565: The February 28 Incident . Mandarin Chinese became the only language allowed in media and school to the exclusion of other languages of Taiwan , as well as Japanese. Public institutions and corporations were given names that included the words "China" or "Chinese". School history and geography lessons focused on China with little attention paid to Taiwan. Street names in Taipei were changed from their original names to Chinese names that reflected

1827-576: The Mainland Chinese market, and any films released on the mainland must comply with censorship that often involves downplaying or removing any indicators that Taiwan is a separate country from China . Such films include Hou Hsiao-hsien 's The Assassin (2015), Yu Shan Chen's Our Times (2015), Giddens Ko's You Are the Apple of My Eye (2012), and The Wonderful Wedding (2015). All of these focus on cross-cultural themes marketable on

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1914-522: The National Languages Committee , which was part of Taiwan's Ministry of Education , released a legislation proposal entitled "Language Equality Law." The proposed legislation sought to designate fourteen languages as the national languages of Taiwan. In mainland China, this was seen as an effort to diminish the use of standard Mandarin and its cultural influences in favor of revising the cultural and psychological foundations on

2001-632: The People's Republic of China 's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council as being part of the desinicization campaign. In July 2007, the Taiwan Ministry of Education released a study that found 5,000 textbook terms, some relating to Chinese culture, as being "unsuitable". The Kuomintang saw this as part of a textbook censorship desinicization campaign. Between 2002 and 2007, the ROC government under Chen Shui-bian took steps to revise

2088-718: The Taiwanese localization movement , the organization now puts emphasis not only in Standard Chinese , but also on Taiwanese , Hakka , and other Taiwanese cultural expressions. It offers information about aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, and its overseas offices may serve, in addition to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices . The English title of the council was changed from "Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission" to "Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission" in 2006, officially to "avoid being confused as

2175-623: The Taiwanese people are a nation and Taiwan is a sovereign country . Due to the political status of Taiwan and Han origin of most Taiwanese today, it is strongly linked to the Taiwan independence movement in promoting de-Sinicization to seek a national identity separate from China . This involves the education of history, geography, and culture from a Taiwan-centric perspective, promoting native languages of Taiwan such as Taiwanese Hokkien , Hakka , and indigenous languages , as well as reforms in other aspects. No one can confirm when

2262-402: The 1950s and 1960s, genre films of the 1960s and 1970s, including jiankang xieshi pian (healthy realist film), wuxia pian (sword-fighting film), aiqing wenyi pian (literary romantic film), zhengxuan pian (political propaganda film), and shehui xieshi pian (social realist film), Taiwan New Cinema of the 1980s, and the new wave of the 1990s and afterwards. Starting in the second decade of

2349-454: The 1960s, Taiwan was enveloped by the problems of rapid industrial development, rural abandonment, labor disputes and the uneven distribution of access to wealth and social power. These changes, combined with the loss of several key allies, forced the KMT regime to institute limited reforms. The reforms permitted under Chiang Ching-kuo allowed indigenization to increase as leading dissidents generated

2436-1017: The 5th highest grossing domestic Taiwanese film of all time . The film also starred Vivian Sung from another box-office success, Café. Waiting. Love (2014), the 11th highest grossing domestic Taiwanese film of all time . In 2014, Umin Boya directed a baseball film entitled Kano (2014), which ended up grossing over NT$ 330 million, making it the 6th highest grossing domestic Taiwanese film of all time . The 9th-15th highest grossing Taiwanese domestic films of all time are, in order: Zone Pro Site (2013) (#9 with NTD 305 million), Ang Lee 's Lust, Caution (2007) (#10 with NTD 280 million), Café. Waiting. Love (2014) (#11 with NTD 260 million), Monga (2010) (#12 with NTD 258 million), The Wonderful Wedding (2015) (#13 with NTD 250 million), Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above (2013) (#14 with NTD 220 million), and Twa-Tiu-Tiann (2014) (#15 with NTD 210 million). Taiwanese filmmakers have attempted to cater to

2523-464: The 8th highest grossing domestic Taiwanese film of all time . In 2013, Chiu Li-kwan's film David Loman (2013) earned NTD 428 million, making it The 3rd highest grossing domestic Taiwanese film of all time . In 2015, female director Yu Shan Chen (a.k.a. Frankie Chen) released a film entitled Our Times (2015), which was the highest-grossing domestic Taiwanese film of the year, grossing over NT$ 410 million ($ 17.1 million US dollars), thereby making it

2610-598: The Legislature. After passing the legislature, the amendments need ratification from at least fifty percent of all eligible voters of the ROC, irrespective of voter turnout. Cinema of Taiwan#Film censorship The cinema of Taiwan or Taiwan cinema ( Chinese : 臺灣電影 or 台灣電影 ) is deeply rooted in the island's unique history . Since its introduction to Taiwan in 1901 under Japanese rule , cinema has developed in Taiwan under ROC rule through several distinct stages, including taiyu pian (Taiwanese film) of

2697-681: The New Taiwanese Cinema, deals with Taiwan's struggle in the 1960s to find its identity after the Kuomintang took control of Taiwan and brought numerous Chinese immigrants to the new republic, who expected to return to China once the Communists had been defeated. The New Taiwanese Cinema films therefore create a fascinating chronicle of Taiwan's socio-economic and political transformation in modern times. The New Taiwanese Cinema gradually gave way to what could be informally called

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2784-538: The Second New Wave, which are slightly less serious and more amenable to the populace, although just as committed to portraying the Taiwanese perspective. For example, Tsai Ming-liang 's Vive L'Amour , which won the Golden Lion at the 1994 Venice Film Festival , portrays the isolation, despair, and love of young adults living in the upscale apartments of Taipei . Stan Lai 's The Peach Blossom Land (1992)

2871-572: The TV series) and Black & White: The Dawn of Justice (2014) (another prequel to the TV series but a sequel to the 2012 film). In 2012, Giddens Ko's romance You Are the Apple of My Eye (2012) earned about NTD 425 million, making it the 4th highest grossing domestic Taiwanese film of all time , followed by Fung Kai's Din Tao: Leader of the Parade (2012) which earned NTD 317 million, making it

2958-612: The Taiwanese movie industry began to recover from a slump that had lasted for about 10 years. Some notable films that led the revival of Taiwanese cinema are Monga (2010), Seven Days in Heaven (2010), Night Market Hero (2011), Love (2012). The head of the Government Information Office stated that "2011 will be a brand new year and a new start for Taiwanese films". The director of Cape No. 7 , Wei Te-sheng 's follow-up movie, Seediq Bale (comprising

3045-512: The United Nations Chinese unification Taiwan independence movement Taiwanese nationalism Tangwai movement Pan-Green Other Republic of China rule Japanese rule Taiwanese nationalism ( Chinese : 臺灣民族主義 or 台灣民族主義 ; pinyin : Táiwān mínzú zhǔyì ; Wade–Giles : tʻai wan min tsu chu i ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī : Tâi-oân Bîn-cho̍k Chú-gī ) is a nationalist ideology asserting that

3132-412: The boundaries of Taiwanese film-making and broken the island's long-standing taboos about the depiction of controversial subject matter. Taiwanese cinema faced difficult times competing with Hollywood blockbusters in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Box office for local films dwindled to less than 20 films annually and many Taiwanese viewers preferred watching Hong Kong or Hollywood productions, causing

3219-541: The box office, documentary films from Taiwan have also become more popular. The development of Taiwanese documentaries began after lifting of martial law in 1987 and the rise in popularity of small electronic camcorders, as well as the support and promotion provided by the Taiwan Council for Cultural Affairs. Documentaries also receive support from other government agencies and private corporations. A variety of film festivals and awards have been established to encourage

3306-542: The censorship requirement in June 2015. To control the rating system requirement from a legislative perspective, article 9 of the new Motion Picture Act (Chinese: 電影法-中華民國104年 ), promulgated by the Legislative Yuan, maintains that motion pictures and their advertisements shall not be screened if not granted a rating by the central competent authority which shall convene a rating commission to rate films. Members of

3393-416: The commission shall be representatives of government agencies, and scholars and experts having academic or practical experience in related fields. The commission's conclusions shall be made public and clear rationales for ratings given be listed. Article 10 maintains if motion pictures and their advertisements violate restrictions or prohibitions laid out in law, the central competent authority shall not grant

3480-582: The concept of localism has started. Some say when the first large wave of Han people emigrated from mainland China to Taiwan in the mid-16th century, they must have wanted to maintain some independence from the control of the ruling class in their original hometown. Others say that only when the Kingdom of Tungning , with its capital at Tainan, was built by the Zheng family in 1661, did this concept appear. Most Chinese contemporary scholars of mainland China believe

3567-427: The correct amount of money to be allocated to a given film's production, for example the purpose of the $ 5 million grant is to encourage new directors directing a feature film for the first time. The Ministry of Culture (Chinese: 文化部) is in charge of film policy and film industry since 2012. After the documentary about Taiwan's traumatic earthquake in 1999 Life (生命, 2004) garnered then record-high 30,000,000NT at

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3654-466: The country's cinematic history to Titanic (1997). It raked in 530 million TWD (US$ 17.9 million) domestically, setting an all-time box office record for a Taiwanese film, and is currently the highest grossing Taiwanese domestic film of all time . It has won 15 awards to date, such as The Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year at the 45th Golden Horse Awards in 2008. After the success of Cape No. 7 ,

3741-478: The country's film industry to be dominated by foreign repertoire. Taiwan's film industry went into decline in 1994 and collapsed in 1997 because of the growing popularity of movie piracy. The high box office takings of Cape No. 7 (2008) by Wei Te-sheng and Taiwanese films after 2008 proved that the local film industry had recovered from its slump. Cape No. 7 was so popular in Taiwan that on 1 November 2008 it became its highest grossing domestic film, second in

3828-568: The early 1980s, the popularity of home video made film-watching a widespread activity for the Taiwanese. However, the Taiwanese film industry faced serious challenges, including the entry of Hong Kong films into the Taiwanese market. In order to compete with Hong Kong films, the CMPC began an initiative to support several fresh, young directors. In 1982, the film In Our Time (1982), which featured four young talented directors (Edward Yang, Te-Chen Tao, I-Chen Ko, and Yi Chang), began what would be known as

3915-422: The effort to mobilize ethnic Taiwanese. The opposition to the KMT's China-centered cultural policies resulted in dissidents crafting new national-historical narratives that placed the island of Taiwan itself at the center of the island's history. The Taiwanese emerged as a frequently colonized and often oppressed people. The concept of bentuhua was finally expressed in the cultural domain in the premise of Taiwan as

4002-648: The end of the Chinese civil war brought many filmmakers sympathetic to the Nationalists to Taiwan. Even then, the majority of films were still made in Taiwanese Hokkien and this continued for many years, with over a thousand Taiwanese-language films being made from 1956 to 1981. In 1962, out of a total of 120 films produced, only seven were made in Mandarin ; the rest were made in Taiwanese. However,

4089-499: The fact that the ruling group on Taiwan were considered outsiders by some were the reasons cited for both the Taiwan independence movement and localism. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the KMT began a period of education reform, including a lift on Hokkien restrictions in schools and the restoration of previously suppressed private schooling. However, these private schools were staffed by regime loyalists and reliant upon government funding for support, meaning that they often provided

4176-527: The film-going experience in Japan, was adopted and renamed piān-sū by the Taiwanese. This narrator was very different from its equivalent in the Western world. It rapidly evolved into a star system but one based on the Japanese system. In fact, people would go to see the very same film narrated by different benshi, to hear the other benshi's interpretation. A romance could become a comedy or a drama, depending on

4263-477: The films of the Italian neorealism movement. This emphasis on realism was further enhanced by innovative narrative techniques. For example, the conventional narrative structure which builds the drama to a climax was abandoned and the story progressed at the pace as it would in real life. Due to its honest portrayal of life, New Taiwanese Cinema films examined many of the important issues facing Taiwanese society at

4350-607: The former head of the Government Information Office who once oversaw the limitation of Taiwanese dialects, began speaking in Hoklo on semi-formal occasions. Efforts have been made by the Republic of China (Taiwan) government beginning in 2000 to distance itself from China and rollback earlier sinicisation efforts by taking actions such as removing Chinese influence from items within Taiwan control. While

4437-427: The generational and cultural conflicts confronting many modern families. His Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) revived the wuxia genre successfully. Although not in the tradition of New Wave or Second New Wave, it is a commercial success which placed Asian films firmly in the international domain. The recent films Eternal Summer (2006), Prince of Tears (2009) and Winds of September (2009) have pushed

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4524-462: The geography of China and Kuomintang ideals. With the end of martial law in 1987 and the introduction of democracy in the 1990s after the Wild Lily student movement , an effort began to re-assert Taiwanese identity and culture while trying to get rid of many Chinese influences imposed by the Kuomintang . In 2000, then-ROC president Lee Teng-hui began making statements such as "Taiwan culture

4611-539: The increasing remoteness of the possibility of retaking mainland China, led to a cultural and political movement which emphasized a Taiwan-centered view of history and culture rather than one which was China-centered or even, as before 1946, Japan-centered. Localism was strongly supported by President Lee Teng-hui . The Bentuhua movement was sparked in the mid-1970s with the growing expression of ethnic discontent due to unequal distribution of political and cultural power between mainlanders and Taiwanese people. Beginning in

4698-512: The island of Taiwan by using other languages. The draft was not adopted. The textbook issue was raised in November 2004, when a group of lawmakers, legislative candidates and supporters of the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) urged the Ministry of Education to publish Taiwan-centric history and geography textbooks for school children as part of the localist campaign. Although

4785-485: The island. Other films catered to Japanese audiences exotic desires for Taiwan as a place of adventure and danger such as Conquering Taiwan's Native Rebels (1910) and Heroes of the Taiwan Extermination Squad (1910). Many conventions in Japanese films were adopted by the Taiwanese filmmakers. For example, the use of a benshi (narrator of silent films), which was a very important component of

4872-487: The island. The KMT did little to promote a unique Taiwanese identity; often newly immigrated Chinese or " mainlanders " as they were called, working in administrative positions, lived in neighborhoods where they were segregated from the Taiwanese. Others, especially poorer refugees, were shunned by the Hoklo Taiwanese and lived among aborigines instead. The mainlanders often learned Hokkien . However, since Mandarin

4959-493: The late Japanese colonial period to martial law in Taiwan , the development of Taiwanese film was dominated by the official camp studio development. The film produced during that stage was mainly news footage taken by the government-run studio (Taiwan film companies, the Central Motion Picture Corporation , China Film Studio) and political propaganda. Even today, the Taiwanese government maintains

5046-492: The main criteria. The law was renamed the Motion Picture Act (Chinese: 電影法-中華民國72年 ) in November 1983, and expanded the censorship criteria to include the following: Article 30 of the 1983 law lowered the age cutoff line from 12 to 6 to dictate whether the viewing should be restricted or not. KMT practiced martial law until July 1987. After lifting it, the Executive Yuan, or through its now dissolved Government Information Office (GIO), promulgated regulations to carry out

5133-523: The mainland and other parts of Asia, while purposefully avoiding use of the Taiwanese dialect and common symbols of Taiwanese nationality, like the flag . This is even the case in The Wonderful Wedding , which relies on comedic misunderstandings between the families of a mainland Chinese groom and Taiwanese bride, but attributes them to cultural differences on the regional level not the national level, something that has been described as

5220-493: The mid-1920s through 1945 and even after decolonization. As in Japan's other colonial film markets, the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 marked the beginning of an era of enhanced mobilization for the Japanese war effort throughout Asia and Taiwan's film markets were purged of American and Chinese films as a result. The Japanese strove to transform the locals into Japanese citizens, giving them Japanese names,

5307-594: The names of businesses stationed abroad. In 2003, the ROC Foreign Ministry issued a new passport with the word "Taiwan" printed in English on its cover. Moreover, in January 2005, Taiwan adopted a Westernized writing format for government documents, denied that it was an attempt at desinicization, and promoted the actions as "a concerted effort at globalizing Taiwan's ossified bureaucracies and upgrading

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5394-633: The narrator's style and skills. Lu, a famous actor and benshi in Taiwan wrote the best reference book on Taiwanese cinema. The first Taiwanese benshi master was a musician and composer named Wang Yung-feng, who had played on a regular basis for the orchestra at the Fang Nai Ting Theatre in Taipei. He was also the composer of the music for the Chinese film Tao hua qi xue ji (China, Peach girl, 1921) in Shanghai . Other famous Taiwanese benshi masters were Lu Su-Shang and Zhan Tian-Ma. Lu Su-shang,

5481-684: The nation's competitive edge." Campaigning in this area continued in March 2006, where the Democratic Progressive Party sought to change the Republic of China year designation used in Taiwan to the Gregorian calendar . Instead of the year 2006 being referred to as the "95th year of the ROC"—with the 1912 founding of the Republic of China being referred to as "the first year of the ROC"—the year 2006 would be identified as 2006 in official usage such as on banknotes, IDs, national health insurance cards, driver's licenses, diplomas and wedding certificates. This

5568-411: The nation's socioeconomic structure. During this time, traditional kung fu films as well as romantic melodramas were also quite popular. The author Chiung Yao is especially famous for the movies made in this time period which were based on her widely read romantic novels. Taiwanese cinema of this period is related to censorship in the Republic of China and propaganda in the Republic of China . By

5655-417: The nationalists may view such efforts as emphasising the importance of Taiwan's culture, this section addresses the perspective of those who likely support the Chinese unification of all of Greater China under a single political entity. At the end of World War II , Chinese Kuomintang forces took over Taiwan and soon began an effort to sinicise the population. Taiwanese urban elites were wiped out in

5742-399: The new millennium, documentary films also became a representative part of Taiwan cinema. Taiwan cinema is internationally known for its representative directors, including King Hu (Chinese: 胡金銓), Hou Hsiao-hsien (Chinese: 侯孝賢), Edward Yang (Chinese 楊德昌), Tsai Ming-liang (Chinese 蔡明亮), Chang Tso Chi (Chinese: 張作驥), Chung Mong-Hong (Chinese: 鍾孟宏), and Midi Zhao (Chinese: 趙德胤). From

5829-410: The new perspective creates a “false” identity rooted in ethnic nationalism as opposed to an “authentic” Chinese identity, which is primordial and inherent. Many mainlanders living on Taiwan complain that their own culture is marginalized by bentuhua , and initially expressed fear of facing growing alienation. In the past decade these complaints have subsided somewhat as Taiwan increasingly views itself as

5916-548: The perspective of the ROC constitution , which the mainstream political parties such as the KMT and DPP currently respect and recognize, changing the ROC's governing status or completely clarifying Taiwan's political status would at best require amending the ROC constitution. Passing an amendment requires approval from three-quarters of a quorum of members of the Legislative Yuan. This quorum requires at least three-quarters of all members of

6003-432: The production of documentaries. Taiwanese documentaries often deal with themes related to the filmmaker or their family, and explore serious social or political issues. These documentaries have started to gain international attention gradually, and many have gone on to win awards at international film festivals. The first film was introduced into Taiwan by Toyojirō Takamatsu ( 高松豊次郎 ; see 高松豐次郎 ) in 1901. Taiwanese cinema

6090-529: The production of films in Taiwanese began to decline due to a variety of reasons, ranging from limited scope and waning interest for such films, to the Nationalist government's promotion of Standard Chinese in mass media and its deeming of Taiwanese as too "coarse". In 1969, more films were produced in Mandarin than in Taiwanese in the country for the first time. The last movie filmed entirely in Taiwanese

6177-518: The regulations specifically mentions the Restricted rating will be issued under the following scenario: Where the sale or use of illegal drugs, robbery, kidnapping, killing, or other illegal activities are detailed in the plot; where there is concern that such activity could be mimicked; where terrorism, bloody events, violence, or perversion are particularly vivid and could still be acceptable to persons over age 18; where sexual imagery or innuendo

6264-470: The rejuvenation of Taiwanese cinema: the New Taiwanese Cinema . In contrast to the melodrama or kung-fu action films of the earlier decades, New Taiwanese Cinema films are known for their realistic, down-to-earth, and sympathetic portrayals of Taiwanese life. These films sought to portray genuine stories of people living either in urban or rural Taiwan, and are often compared stylistically to

6351-499: The resulting draft outline of history course for regular senior middle schools was criticized by a variety of groups, President Chen Shui-bian responded that "to seek the truth of Taiwan's history" is not equal to desinicization nor an act of independence and indicated that he would not interfere with the history editing and compilation efforts. The proposals to revise Taiwan's history textbooks were condemned in February 2007 by

6438-587: The roots of the localist movement began during the Japanese rule (1895 to 1945), when groups organized to lobby the Imperial Japanese government for greater Taiwanese autonomy and home rule. After the Kuomintang (KMT) took over Taiwan, the Taiwan home-rule groups were decimated in the wake of the February 28 Incident of 1947. The KMT viewed Taiwan primarily as a base to retake mainland China and quickly tried to subdue potential political opposition on

6525-529: The said revised law starting in 1987 (Chinese: 中華民國七十六年八月三十一日行政院臺七十六聞字第二○二○八號函核定 ) and 1988 (Chinese: 中華民國七十七年一月一日行政院新聞局（77）銘影二字第○○○○二號令發布 ). The then regulations revised the motion picture rating system, classifying films into three categories (General Audience/Parental Guidance/Restricted) based on age. The categories were expanded into four (General Audience/Protected/Parental Guidance/Restricted) in 1994 ( Chinese : 中華民國八十三年四月一日行政院新聞局(83)強影二字第○四一五八號令發布修正第二條、第三條、第五條至第十一條條文 ). The film law rephrased

6612-421: The same program of political and cultural indoctrination as public schools. Furthermore, while speaking Hokkien in schools or military bases was no longer illegal, few opportunities were available for its use, as Mandarin continued to be the state-approved lingua franca . In the 1970s and 1980s there was a shift in power away from the KMT to people native to Taiwan. This, combined with cultural liberalization and

6699-404: The terms "China", "Republic of China", "Taipei", and others that impart an association with the Chinese culture. In 2002, the "Name Rectification Campaign" made significant advances in replacing the terms "China", "Republic of China", or "Taipei" with the term "Taiwan" on official documents, in the names of Taiwan-registered organizations, companies, and public enterprises on the island, and in

6786-413: The time, such as urbanization, the struggle against poverty, and conflicts with political authority. For instance, Hou Hsiao-hsien 's A City of Sadness portrays the tensions and the conflicts between the local Taiwanese and the newly arrived Chinese Nationalist government after the end of the Japanese occupation. Chen Kunhou 's 1983 film Growing Up provides a nuanced perspective on the experience of

6873-506: The word "Taiwan" in parentheses between the words "the Republic of China" and "Embassy" in both of its Chinese and Spanish titles, and to omit the ROC national emblem. Supporters of the name-change movement argue that the Republic of China no longer exists, as it did not include Taiwan when it was founded in 1912 and mainland China is now controlled by the Chinese Communist Party as the People's Republic of China. From

6960-607: Was changed back to the original. However, in November 2012 there was a controversy when it was discovered that the OCAC used simplified Chinese characters in some of its teaching materials. Amid threats in November 2012 from Democratic Progressive Party legislators to freeze the OCAC's budget, its director relented to demands to rename the OCAC to the ROC (Taiwan) Overseas Community Affairs Council . Political Party:     Kuomintang     Democratic Progressive Party    Non-partisan/ unknown The council

7047-598: Was changed from the Chunghwa Post Co. to The Taiwan Post Co. The company's name was changed back on 1 August 2008, and the names on the postal stamps were reversed in late 2008, soon after the Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Ma Ying-Jeou won back presidency and ended 8 years of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rule. In March 2007, the name plate of the ROC Embassy in Panama was revised both to include

7134-497: Was enforced as the official language of the Republic of China and Taiwanese was not allowed to be spoken in schools, the mainlanders who learned Taiwanese found their new language skills to diminish. As Taiwanese, or any language other than Mandarin, was forbidden in the military posts, many mainlanders whose family lived in martial villages only spoke Mandarin and perhaps their home language (e.g. Cantonese , Shanghainese , etc.). The promotion of Chinese nationalism within Taiwan and

7221-588: Was established in Jiangsu . It became more pervasive under the Nationalist government . The ROC regained its footing in Taiwan, which was acquired from Japan in 1945 and the 1931 law still applies to the Fujian islands of Kinmen and Matsu. In 1955 (Chinese: 電影檢查法-中華民國44年 ), 1956 (Chinese: 電影檢查法-中華民國45年 ), and 1958 (Chinese: 電影檢查法-中華民國47年 ), four more amendments to the law ensued without revising

7308-506: Was made in 1981. The 1960s marked the beginning of Taiwan's rapid modernization. The government focused strongly on the economy, industrial development, and education, and in 1963 the Central Motion Picture Corporation (CMPC; see 中影公司 ) introduced the "Health Realism" melodrama. This film genre was proposed to help build traditional moral values, which were deemed important during the rapid transformation of

7395-471: Was one of nine films shortlisted to advance to the next round of voting for nomination. Other notable films include: The Killer Who Never Kills (2011), which is based on a short story in the Killer series written by Giddens Ko . Additionally, the popular 2009 TV series Black & White resulted in two feature films entitled: Black & White Episode I: The Dawn of Assault (2012) (a prequel to

7482-572: Was the first, and from 1900 to 1937, one of the most important of Japan's colonial film markets during the era of Japanese rule . In 1905, Takamatsu raised 10,000 Japanese yen in donations to the Japanese military from the proceeds of films screened in Taiwan about the Russo-Japanese War. By 1910, the Taiwan Colonial Government coordinated the efforts of independent filmmakers such as Takamatsu and others to establish

7569-436: Was viewed as the government trying another angle for desinicization by removing any trace of China from Taiwan. In February 2007, the term "China" was replaced by the term "Taiwan" on Taiwan postage stamps to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the February 28 Incident that began on 28 February 1947 that was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang (KMT). In that same month, the name of the official postal service of Taiwan

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