Friday, December 09, 2005

Introspection of histrory should not be shuned

When I found and read the news, 韓国政府転覆はでっち上げ 民青学連事件で調査公表 (A fabricated conspiracy to overthrow the Korean government. The investigation report of incident of Student Union of Democratic Youth published) on Asahi Shinbun's website, I did envy and admire the S.Korean people.

The democratization of S.Korea and Taiwan was late in comparison with Japan and Occidental countries. The democratic campaigners had been fighting for quite a long time before the dictatorial government stepping down and democracy being established.

However when the S.Korean are honestly facing the faults they made before, Taiwanese still shun to introspect our own history so far.

KMT, the once-dictatorial-party that slaughtered and oppressed Taiwanese people, has never been inquired into their guilt. Also the incumbent goverment has never officially and openly looked into the politicians involved in those shameful deeds. What even more ridiculous is KMT just secured a landslide in joint local election held on December 3rd, 2005.

Now I believe the deep influence of education and media. So pathetic that our people are so well brainwashed that they've been turned to think and act weirdly and unreasonably.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Not dangerous enough. More please...

The joint local election in Taiwan has finished. KMT is cheerful for the landslide-victory, however many people are worried about the future of Taiwan.

Sounds serious, isn't it? It's just an election that is held periodically in any democratic state like Taiwan. Though pro-China KMT swallowed more than half of the ballots, most of the Taiwanese do not think Chinese reign over Taiwan is acceptable. Say if a referendum held for Taiwan to be merged into China, I certainly believe there will be a veto put strongly. The local election victory has shown nothing but KTM still owns awful local control at all.

After the election, KTM's chairman Ma Ying-Jeou has claimed to loosen the restrictions over economical activities to China. Also he blamed the current legal measures are sakoku (literally "closed country") . What a ridiculous comment !

There are economical restrictions toward China for national security concerns derived from China's territorial ambition toward Taiwan. However the restrictions do not work well that Taiwan is already the biggest foreign investing country in China. For about USD 200 billion shed into the hostile state, China is also the biggest investment recipient from Taiwan.

I'm sorry to say Taiwanese businessmen have very little risk-management concepts and national security consideration.

Anyone who has basic economical or financial knowledges knows that investment concentration is quite dangerous. The claims of "not dangerous enough, more please" from pro-China oppositon party is so stupid and nothing but nonsense !

Friday, November 25, 2005

ファイト!ファイト!ファイト!

こんばん、センターで模擬試験を受けるんだ。でも、全然怖くないと思う。だた模擬試験、まことの試験じゃないだ。そのうえ、先週模擬試験の失敗から、一週間が経って、きちんと強化をしておいた。もっとよい成績を取れりましょう。

ずっとある人に能力試験3級が易しいだと言われている。ほんとに?

どうしても、ファイト!ファイト!ファイト!

Thursday, November 24, 2005

ご勘弁して

もしある日本語が上手な人が来て読んだら、たいてい私の多い違いがある文章がわかしいと思いましょう。

12月4日に日本語能力試験3級を受けるよ。このごろ、自分に一生懸命勉強させられている。練習すれば、練習するほど、熟達になると信じる、それで、あざけりに恐れがないだ。

もし貴方が達人ですが、お教えが頂けると幸いなんです。時間がなければ、これらが笑えれば、とてもいいと思う。

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

落書きそう

もともとこのブログで英語で台湾の事柄を紹介しょうと思った。外人に祖国の文化や政治や社会現象を説明つもりだったが、外国の友たちからサポートを探したっかた。

然し、英語が下手なので、ポストが少しになっていた。この外、台湾語を押し広めることも大切が、別のブログで台湾語で多く書いて、だんだん以前の目標を疎かにした。

どんなに可笑しい考えだな。始まった時から今に至るまで、ここに着いて読んだ外国の人がいるか。ないと思うよ。

インターネットが巨大な世界だ。無名のブロガはほとんど影響がないよ。もし多い外国に住んでいる人に意見が述べろと思ったら、もっと素敵な方法がいるよ。

こんな覚悟ですが、時間といいテーマがあったら、できるだけ英語でポストを書きます。ちかごろ、思いのままに書きましょう。

よく別荘で住む

結局のところ、ここでまれにブログしたり、気持ちのごみ箱で使用したり、私は初めてのブログが没落した。

時間が少ないだ。実は MSN Spaces に別荘と呼ぶのでよく書いているが、代わりにあの別荘はもうネットにまことの家になった。

こんなことが「世は回り持ち」と言う意味だか。

ざんげ

他の人を軽蔑するのが間違いと分かったよ、それに、きょうお昼の時部分的な仲間がずいぶん嫌だと思ったね。退屈させる話題と愚かな評論をずっと話していった。何も言いたくなかった、ただ食べ続けていった。


つまり間抜けが別の間抜けを馬鹿にして笑うことだよ。

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

誰的臉

也是一篇沒入選的作品,一樣有著己身所從出的情感,我應該不會常寫華文詩,所以這也是少見的一朵異卉吧~


誰的臉

晨光煞白
紙薄的刀鋒爬過臉龐
蠶食新桑
喀滋作響
突然的一抹瑰紅
算是第幾根權杖
失手劃開的新傷

聚成暗紅的球狀
瞥見東瀛的朝陽
映著
那一夜無眠的蒼白
卻忘
藍天新日躍上窗台
虛長十二芒日鬚
被痛斥的背叛
慌忙中抹不去
那奔湧的赭
六十多個年頭已逝
還不脫這羞恥名號

摘去奴性的高帽
削去生養的肌膚
迎見死白的裡襯
慢慢
滲出鮮紅的斑駁
應是藍地黃虎一點三世紀的褪色

新日刺眼的驕傲
陳酒釀成了酸醋
只得用刀一再告別這臉那臉
潺潺赤誠
滑過洗亮新瓷
那是一尾垂頭喪氣的虯龍
映著一臉紋路縱橫
誰來愛這美麗黥面


風行當世的白晳透亮
復還熱蘭遮城的膚漾

此刻矮人黝黑的機警靈活
只好沉在日月潭的深水
僅只藏在小琉球的烏洞

還找吧
即便揭開鬍髯之下起伏的喉結
南島十餘音響
也是絕唱
刀起刀落
劃不開
凝結在柏油路下
那張承載車輛奔馳往復
曾經支起鹿隻成群跳躍
找不著
誰的臉

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

多元的美麗與胸襟

這篇文章是投到 2005 林榮三文學獎「散文」未入選的作品,其實也是一篇舊作的擴大改寫,雖然不得評審青睞,我自己仍是很喜歡的,考量到雙倒水別莊在母語使用上的理想性,所以決定把本文就此種在「一倒水」留存了。


多元的美麗與胸襟

暮 夏,外頭陽光普照,金黃色的日光從門外斜斜地溜進車站裡,下午的巴塞隆納車站,陌生的廣播聲不時在耳邊響起,望著四處的告示和牆上的時刻表,一邊翻著手中 的小字典,雖然語文不通,但許多與英文同源的單字卻是可以一望明瞭的,例如:「internacional、información、tren」,手裡抓 著一本lonely planet,生硬地操著才剛從上頭學來的句子,買車票、問路、購物,這真是自助旅行裡最有趣的一部份了。

無可置 疑,這是一 個風光旖旎、文化豐富的國家,但自然與人文的美,都還比不上她對於多元文化的尊重,所帶給我的印象深刻。仔細看著牆上不時出現,長條形大大的紅色指示牌, 不論哪一塊,上頭總是井然有序地寫著一行大字,其下跟著另一行小字,大字是加泰隆尼亞文,小字是卡斯提爾文(一般通稱的西班牙文),雖然一樣屬西班牙境 內,但在東北這一帶的官方語文,不管是路標或任何公共資訊,總以加泰隆尼亞文為主。

即使是離開了大城市,到了一個小城裡的長途巴士轉運 站,小小的 佈告欄裡,已經有點泛黃的時刻表上,還是有條有理地把兩種語文並列,老實說,用東方那種慣常的沙文心態來看,這著實有點畫蛇添足,使用羅馬字的西方諸語, 字母幾乎一致,而其中更不乏同源字詞,彼此大同小異;在越過國界前往安道爾和南法的巴士時刻表,都看得到internacional這個字,一大一小地並 列著;既是巴士站,autobús這個字是一定有的,同樣一大一小地排列著,除了這些拼法一致的字,還多得是只差一、兩個字母的字,一律這樣上下並排,有 條不紊地呈現,這個景象,讓我心裡不禁有點驚奇。

怎麼個驚奇法呢?試想,你曾否身處在苗栗的火車站裡,看見售票窗口上「打單口」和「售票口」的說 明並列;或是在台南的巴士站,發現候車處同時標示著「去台北ê透逝車」、 「往台北直達車」的文字重排,即使在台北市的捷運電車裡,有四種語言先後地進行廣 播,但Hö-ló和客語永遠只聞其聲,總不能在路線圖或跑馬燈上與中文和英文平起平坐,更別說在各別地區,按當地母語人口選擇首要標示文字了,但在西班 牙、瑞士,尊重多元沒有淪為政客們的口號,而是在日常生活與公共領域中體現落實,其中的啟示何如?

你怎麼看自己的母語呢?你怎麼認識腳下土地的歷史?伊拉克共和國可是巴比倫的延續?伊朗可是波斯的繼承人?義大利能夠繼承羅馬帝國的產業嗎?馬其頓共和國是否該重建橫跨歐亞非三洲的龐大帝國?

在 獨尊拉丁文的中古時代,英文、法文、德文等現代西方語文,要不是很不成熟,就是被視為粗鄙的方言;即使拉丁文黯然地走下舞台,幾百年前的英國,上層社會還 以法語為時尚,就像當時的東歐貴族以德語為正統一樣,曾幾何時,莎士比亞的劇作成了經典,近代,米蘭昆德拉則用捷克文寫出了傳世不朽的文學,這島上尚存的 十幾種母語呢?若非奄奄一息,就是在書寫方式上爭執不休,更有甚者,許多人正抱著百年前的拉丁沙文心態,站在中文的角度,認為母語沒有書寫的必要、沒有文 學的未來,只要能有口語功能就可以,母語復振則像是可有可無的施捨,大家心裡所想的,大概是母語即使消亡,又有什麼關係?

是嗎?難道沒有人知道語 文的重要性不止於此。聯合國教科文組織在二○○三年的一份報告「語言的生命力與瀕危情形」(Language Vitality and endangerment)中就總結了為什麼人們該關心語言的滅失,報告中說:「每 一種語言的滅絕都會造成一種獨特的文化、歷史及生態知識無可挽回的損 失,每一種語言都是一種人類對這個世界經驗的獨特表達‧‧‧每當一個語言死去,我們就少了一種可以理解人類語言、人類史前史以及維護這個世界多樣生態體系 結構及作用模式的證據。而最重要的是,這些消失語言的使用者,將會經驗到他們語言的滅亡,也就是他們原初種族及文化認同的滅亡。

在麻省理工學院教授語言學,已故的Kenneth Hale則更為激昂地說道:「當你失去一種語言,你就失去了一種文化、智慧寶藏、藝術品,這就好像對著一座博物館丟下炸彈一樣。

當我們習慣用單一的語文進行思考、研究、交流、創作,我們已經拋棄了躺在加護病房裡的母語,我們或許不曾直接向著那一座座「博物館」丟下炸彈,但我們已經決定背對那個「博物館」,註定永遠揮別其中的豐盛。

什麼樣的豐盛呢?若不是身歷其境,若不是用心體會,無動於衷也就不奇怪了;而每當說起不同語文的美,我就會想起那個夜晚,一個大鍋菜的夜晚,如果大鍋菜適合拿來形容「多元」而觸動人心的感受的話。

那是今年五月「保生文化祭」的其中一夜,在保安宮對面的廣場,古雅的戲文、現實與夢幻交融、今曩的信仰感觸相互拍擊、天空中駁雜的煙火、地面上不同的人種、各異的音語從揚聲器裡傳送出來、尚未沈澱的心思,在回程的電車裡反覆咀嚼,真是五味雜陳‧‧‧。

戲棚下坐滿了人,和捷運上巧遇的朋友一路從圓山捷運站走到了保安宮,那正是第三或第四台(幕)的時候,望著人山人海,一時找不著約好了來看戲的其他的朋友。

甚且,在戲台上還找不到我們熟悉的語言。

如 果不是兩側的投影幕,北管戲的發音,聽在觀眾耳裡,有如異星或梵語的絕響,那是一種古老而走調的北方官話,所謂走調,是裡頭找不著現時北京話裡的捲舌音和 唇齒摩擦音,而不時穿插的道地Hö-ló字詞則和蛻變的北方腔口交織為一,只是你來我往的對白及唱作,除了粉墨登場的演員幾無人通曉,它以這島上傳統戲曲 的身分隸屬於台下的民人,又戴上音腔的面具,保持若即若離、不全然歸屬的關係。

北管戲文的生發,雖然不是在台灣,但不正是文化交融的產物嗎?中國北方的官話到了長江以南,變化成了獨特的腔調,然後跟著先人渡海來台,再次糅合,如今這個音聲,只活在一齣齣的古老劇目之中。

台 上的時間拉回那段唐帝國或真或假的歷史,樊莉花和薛丁山坐帳揮軍,力抗外敵,有扮相奇怪,擺出金剛大陣的妖孼,於是有薛丁山趕赴崑崙,求師相助的情節。 「崑崙佇叼位?」坐在左邊的先生半開玩笑地問起後頭的阿伯,這絕對不是個認真的地理試題,問題的本身只是想敲敲躲在戲文背後那些意象學家的腦袋,任何地方 都有崑崙,不同情境決定遠近,總之,師父在哪裡、神器在哪裡,崑崙就在那裡。

而我們的崑崙呢?難道只能是在遠遠的西方,那雲深不知處的崑崙?也曾經一度,我們得北眺東瀛的富士,而今呢,玉山比之崑崙何如?凱達格蘭的七星山呢?卑南、排灣、魯凱的大武山呢?賽德克的奇萊呢?

我 暗地忖想,古老的北管在蘭陽劇團裡立命安身,並得以流浪到失根台北的一隅重現,當它最繁華的年代,反而沒有這麼俗麗的服裝吧!以往用不著擴音器,戲曲響遍 每個角落,現在透過擴音器,音場反而小的可憐,擴音器的功率可以大到讓人耳聾,不過在政治和潮流的面前只是螞蟻爬過鑼面;樂師凋零,板柝絃竹關鎖進磁帶和 光碟,若非其時,誰與聞焉?這是何時何地,又何以古老的樂音與語言,能和現代的燈光音響及乾冰噴霧,擺盪在競合之間。

你能想像北管戲曲不用北管的語言嗎?當福佬的信仰儀式裡聽到的是詰屈聱牙的北京話、當客家山歌的語言不再有人通曉、一如人們再也無法理解鄒族古老的祭歌的內涵,我們還喊著多元台灣嗎?那時候的多元要從何說起?

我 們的家鄉,不只是大陸移民的社會,在血緣上,更是橫跨數萬公里南島語族的原鄉;文化上,則是座數百年來,受著強勢浪頭交替拍打的島嶼;在認同上,有史以來 至少已經七次易幟,我們的先民為不同的野心家效命,什麼時候才肯為自己的土地和自己的親人流血,驕傲地擺脫「蓋頭蓋面」的沙文大帽,看見東西交融、南島、 中華、東瀛交流,屬於我們自己的福爾摩沙呢?

每思及此,我就想起巴塞隆納、想起加泰隆尼亞人的不厭其煩,他們以自己的母語為傲,他們說自 己的話 語、寫自己的文字,一座博物館於是連同他們的認同與尊嚴永遠留了下來,而這樣的自省,則是讓更多博物館可以留下的基礎。要建構一個多元族群的台灣、五彩繽 紛的夢土,總要從心裡的這個最小意念做起,而身為海島上的人民,面對廣闊的大洋,我們何時才能擁有這樣的胸襟?

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Are you a culture-egoist?

Yesterday I read a discussion thread on a website about Han-characters employment in Taiwan. A guy posted something that I think worthy for further crunching on.

He suggests Taiwanese to invent a new alphabet to perform writing function of Mandarin, Taiwanese and all other languages in this country. The reason to craft a new set is because he thinks the Asian languages that adopt western alphabet, for instances Vietnamese, Indonesian and Filipino (Tagalog) seem in lack of unique styles. Well, the judgement is sort of subjective. The point is in the following.

The guy then said in '80s Time magazine had ever covered immigrants in California. The magazine described Vietnamese writing as Rococo spelling, being appraised eerie. (I myself have not read the essay and can't be sure it's true) He didn't find in some aspects it represents a unique style. Instead of that, he took this view to introduce more examples to support his stand against of Occidental alphabet employment in the Orient.

Here are the examples. If there's a chap whose name is 游世庭, the pronunciation in Mandarin would be Yu Shi-ting (In Taiwan, no matter what's your ethnic identity is, your name is forced to be written in Han-characters and pronounced in Mandarin). It sounds like "you shiting". This example is similar to another one I've heard. An American asked a Chinese student how to say "thank you" in his mother tongue. The boy answered that "shie-shie" means "thank you" in Mandarin Chinese. The American felt weird for that sounded like "shit shit". To make sure the boy was not kidding, he then asked the second question. "When someone says 'shie-shie' to you, how to reply 'you're welcome' in Mandarin Chinese." The boy gived the answer, "bu-shie" that infuriated the American. He just could not believe besides the "shit shit" as "thank you", the Chinese say "bullshit" to mean "you're welcome. (The truth is that the boy told the truth.)

I'm not that punctilious to blame the joke. It's OK to make fun of the cultural and linguistic differences. What makes me uncomfortable is the guy who joined the discussion in the thread considers these are more than jokes. He went on indicating a Vietnanmese restaurant named in a Vietnanmese name, "PHUC DAT". The name was so frequently teased by his American friend for the American thought the name probably pronouced "fuck that". (Of course not, even in the West, the pronunciation rules could be quite different in different languages.) And the teases were taken as his silly ground to oppose the adoption of western alphabet.

To adopt or not is another issue. But the said reason is so culture-egoistic, man. If we're going to find examples of similar (or misunderstood as similar) pronunciations but totally different meanings, and cultural shocks for an oppositely thinking. We surely can write a book that is very thick and heavy like a brick. But for what? Why we should consider them seriously? In what kind of angle? In your cultural backgound or mine? In your language or his/hers?

Stop the culture-egoism! The world has always been colorful from the time human beings showed up. Learn to switch the viewpoints when diversities are encountered. Isn't this a basical attitude of modern global citizens?

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

A poem written a year ago

Below a poem written about a year ago. The background in which it was written looks so afar that I begin to believe in what David Hume said. Maybe there's really no such a self that never changes.



Shovel up their hearts
It's the way to leave the hurts apart
So as to deny all the fresh feelings
Say adieu to the afterglow beaming

Stack up the wall
Shun to become so-called an enfant terrible
Confined are the emotions to the cage
Saved are the betrayed on the brink of rage

In a world that's ever changing
They're taught to neglect truth gleaming
For honesty with colors grim
It's replaced with a mask of duty-cling

Farewell his once fervent soul
Rerouted he's back onto the dull road
Hanging over a question bold
Why we always hurt the dearest the most

Monday, August 01, 2005

A doggerel for Taiwanite.org

A long night
Upon the island at which we abide

Too many lies
Have rooted that needs more than sighs

We may not be white knights
Just hate to submit to the plight

But why flite
If there're words articulate
Dazed hearts may they grind

Taiwanite
People with rocklike minds
We're not from bordering isle
We've decided to stand upright

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

The diet of the Taiwanese Plains Aboriginals


Below is a handout compiled for reference in an English class. The handout is about some rough informations about foods taken by the Taiwanese Plains Aboriginals. (PeN-pou-chok-kun平埔族群;a collective name referring to many diffrent peoples)I would like to share with people who visit this blog. Maybe some of you are professional in this field and would be nice to correct me and tell me more about it.

Staple foods and cereals

They took meat as their staple foods before encountering the aliens. The earlier the clan has been in contact with the new comers, the more they take rice as the staple foods.

Most of the rice people plant and eat today in Taiwan is paddy rice. However in the early days, there were dry rice and paddy rice planted and eaten respectively. Also millets have been very important cereals even in today’s aboriginal communities. People use millets to make wine, so called the millet wine. The wine tastes sweet and delicious.

As for the races, like Taokas and Ketagalan, they contacted Chinese people later than the others. Millets and potatos are more important than rice in their daily diet. An old book(《番社采風圖考》) written in Ch’ing ruling period recorded people digging a pit as an oven, burying the potatos to bake them. We call it khong-io in Holo Taiwanese. It seems khong-io has an aboriginal origin.

Other plants

Red pigweed is a kind of plant that looks red when you see it from a distance. Its stem has purple or green linear patterns on it. The leaves show different colors including green with a bit gray, dark purple or light red. Aboriginal people have planted red pigweeds from very early days. They grind the seeds to make snacks. The Siraya people also add the powder of the seeds into pang and mai. (Pang and mai are made by cereal powder and water) The seeds are materials for making wine, too. Both its stem and leaves are used as fodders. If there’s a famine, people will take the leaves as provisional vegetables.

Fata'an (the name of a kind of beans in Pangcah language/樹豆) are perennial shrubs. Also called hoan-a-tau(番仔豆) or bi-tau(米 豆) in Holo Taiwanese. The shrubs are usually planted around the aboriginal residences especially in Pangcah tribes. The Siraya people add the ground bean to making pang and mai. They also cook porridge with it. Bataan are commonly used as herbs when cooking.

Fruits

It says mangos and guavas are the most favorite fruits for the pen-po aboriginal people. The aforesaid guavas are not the breeded guavas sold in today’s markets. The guavas are called lai-a-pat (梨仔拔) or thou-pat-a (土拔仔) in Holo Taiwanese, the original guavas grow on this island.

The way to cook

They roast the meat and fish. However they preserve meat and fish with salt or eat the meat raw with salt usually. Also it says in some old books that they like to put the meat and fish away until a bit of rotten and eat with salt and ginger.

Salt and gingers are the most important seasonings in peN-pou aboriginal communities. When they eat raw meat, they mix it with salt and ginger.

Wines and betel nuts

Wines are not just drinks but also play very important roles in hunting, religions and other important rituals.

Betel nuts are eaten in common days but also offered in worshiping rituals. If you visit a house, the host will treat you betel nuts to welcome you.

Sunday, May 29, 2005

The Cultural and Linguistic Gypsy

【comment / English】

A friend mentioned a story he read on a newspaper column. A Roma man (popularly called the Gypsy) was asked by the columnist that why you don’t allow your children to go to local schools. The man replied: “No way. The schools teach our kids to become some other kind of people else. They don’t want them to be Roma.” He’s a proud Roma father.

To spare the discussion about the conflict between their drifting-around life style and the current social scheme with sovereign borders, I felt just as shocked as my friend who shared the story with us. The idea behind it is such a metaphor and reflection of our island.

We are sino-educated Taiwanese. The once ruling Chinese government in exile, KMT (Kuomintang) set up the schools to transform our children to become Chinese self-identifying. No matter what’s your ethnic origin is, Holo, Hakka, Pangcah, Puyuma, Cou, Bunun, Kavalan, Taokas...and so on, your kids go to the schools in where the teachers teach them Chinese history and geography several times than the content beloging to this island. For decades the teaching language has been Madarin Chinese instead of the children’s mother tongues. Notwithstanding Unesco called on the application of mother tongues as the teaching languages more than 50 years ago, in 1953. KMT has lost it power, however the incumbent educational system has cultivated so many sino-identifying people who are today’s legislators, teachers and parents. They’ve been turned into the stubborn advocates of the twisting system. It’s so miserable that we’re brainwashed so thoroughly that we can watch our beautiful cultures and languages dying without a frown.

It’s ridiculous that the Chinese government (PRC) attachs much more importance to mother tongues of different ethnic groups than us in their schools. How come the democratic Taiwanese goverment responds Unesco’s appeal worse than its autocratic foe even Taiwan itself has been listed among territories of mother tongues being endangered? How come there is a state that wants to convert its people into Chinese-like than China itself?

Still Taiwanese parents send their children to schools without further consideration. The modern educational process and credentials play such a role in our career and life. It’s pretty hard to require an overall rejection to it.

I just pray my dear countrymen who have begot kids not to forget their responsibility upon cultures and their mother tongues. Nor one day we, the people of a colorful island once with more than 20 languages and racial groups, will become just pure Chinese, purer than the real ones.

We are cultural and lingustic Gypsy. It seems we’ve got everything but the gem of pride kept by the Roma father.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

An Evening of the Stockpot

【 prose / English 】
2005-04-25

It was an evening of the stockpot with assorted tastes. There were intermixed tongues in the play, mixture of reality and dreams, clashes between different senses, belonging to separate periods, of religions, colorful fireworks in the sky, diversified people on the ground, and languages broadcasted from amplifiers respectively. On the MRT tram, with a mind not placid, the thoughts were already blended with Milan Kundera. What a stockpot of all-flavor mingling…


There were so many spectators in front of the stage. I walked from Inn-soann-a MRT station (圓山捷運站)to Po-an-keng(保安宮)with the couple I met on the tram. It was about the act 3 or 4 when we arrived. The spot in where our writing group appointed to gather was so crowded that I looked around but couldn’t find the teacher and other pals.

What even more was, on the stage, we couldn’t find the language which we were familiar with.

The tongue in pak-koan-hi(北管戲)sounded like Latin or Sanskrit, pretty hard to understand, in the spectators’ ears. The captions projected on the screens on both sides of the stage helped a lot. It is a kind of vernacular composed by Holo and queer-tone Mandarin. Though it’s said queer, actually in it those retroflexions and labio-dental fricatives, which are incompatible with Holo, all have disappeared. In the vernacular, Holo vocabulary mingles with the molted Mandarin pronunciation. Almost no one understood it besides the actresses (actors) on the stage. The pak-koan-hi belongs to the people in front of the stage with its identity of a traditional opera. However there’s a lukewarm sense in this relationship for the dialogue and singing in a rare vernacular.

In my mind, a tricky idea rised when I saw a couple of Westerners. The spectators were not some big potatos but common people found in any secluded corners of the town. The genuine local play is supposed to be very close to the local people. I thought the foreign friends might not know we had the same linguistic obstacle when viewing the opera. The obstacle can also be projected to the ceremonies in the churches of the middle ages. Actresses (actors), spectators and the theatrical tongue are metaphors of priests, laymen and Latin language respectively. That’s a symbol to relieve the linguistic hindering. Also with that tacit comprehension, we would be able to meet and sympathize each other in the inner room behind the stage and the altar.

The plot of the play was written according to some dubious anecdotes of Tng Empire (唐帝國/Tang Empire). Hoan Li-hoa (樊梨花) and Sih Teng-san (薛丁山) commanded the imperial troops to fight against the enemies. Two weird-looking shamans set up an invulnerable battle array called Kim-kong Tai-tin (金剛大陣). Sih Teng-san had no idea but went to Khun-lun (崑崙) to request the master to help. “Khun-lun ti toh-ui? (Where’s Khun-lun?)” The man sat next to me asked an elder behind him. For sure it was not a serious geographical question. The question itself just meant to knock on the heads of imagologists behind the opera script. Khun-lun could be anywhere. Khun-lun is the place in where masters and magical apparatuses are.

If the ancient pak-koan-hi did not settle down and revive in Lan-iong Opera Troupe (蘭陽劇團), it was impossible for it to show again in the origin-forgetting Taipei. The gaudy costumes nowadays did not even belong to its once glorious days. It has seen better days in which there was no amplifier, but those were also the days you can hear pak-koan-hi everywhere. Now it is sung and read out of the amplifiers, but few can hear instead. The power of amplifiers can be that high to make the spectators all deaf. But when it comes to go against the politics and trends, its sound is so faint that it could be likened to ants walking on the gong. There are fewer and fewer pak-koan-hi musicians, the music has been recorded and locked in the tapes and CDs. I wonder if there are people who listen to it after the cultural festival ends up. Also these are the merely several days the ancient music and tongue have chances to cooperate and compete with the modern stage lighting, audio equipments, and dry ice spraying.

The stage was set in the square, surrounded by wing-rooms, in front of the temple. A pedestrian path was between the temple and the square. The spacial circumstances caused heavy sound effects when the fireworks began to crack, and music to be performed before the temple. All the sounds resonated like waves clashing each other among the audience shockingly.

I turned around and then saw a batch of modern fireworks rush up into the murky sky with colors of red, yellow, orange and green. After that, a lot of soaring crackers were kindled; scurrying up and emitting shrill screams. The music of the worshiping ceremony sounded. All came to the climax when the act 9 started. People couldn’t help but had to cover their ears. It was also when I decided to leave.

Out of the square people were found gathering in a circle in front of the temple. Joss papers were on fire in 3 stacks respectively. A shaman was exercising the worshiping manners before the incense burner with the ceremonial music performing. Tall puppets representing Chhit-ia (七爺 / name of a godling) and Peh-ia (八爺 / name of a godling) stood by. The sounds of the opera had much diminished here. I felt a sort of peaceful and respectful atmosphere. Actually it was inappropriate to say peaceful for it was noisy actually. I was pretty surprised that that was the first time I didn’t feel uneasy being among the ceremony of the traditional religion. The attitude I’d taken had severed me from the land. Although I still could not join the worship, at least I already was able to perceive the maternal embrace of the land and the linkage with the ancestors and people. There were affections of dependability and peace I had not known. It seemed that I could see the feeling stretched all the way along Tai-liong Street (大龍街) and Khou-lun Street (庫倫街) to the MRT station.

The messages broadcasted in the MRT station were done in 4 languages in turn. The first was Taiwanese-style Mandarin of which the tone has become mellow. The second was Holo spoken by an announcer who forgot to relax her tongue. Then here came the twittering and softly-sounded Hakka which aroused the images of trees of flowers on Chhau-soann (草山). Among the languages, English, the last one, was the only one that had not rooted in this land. The English announcements sounded like abruptly and ended up the message stiffly.

I then sat in the tram again and opened Immortality of Milan Kundera to the last chapter. The title was “celebrating”. Though it was late to celebrate the moment worthy to toast at the very beginning. Well, so what? The immortality could lasts unrestrainedly ever. We could always be able to abolish the fear of the immortal one in time. It just as that we could never be able to undo the disappointment and perplexity of losing something.

So my friend, maybe you would be kind enough to allow me to bestow an odd and curt footnote to this prose: what an evening of the stockpot with assorted favors on the both austronesian and Han-cultural island state at all times.

Monday, April 25, 2005

軟骨頭犬之物語

【 prose / Mandarin 】

軟骨頭是一種講求實際的土狗,他們看事情的角度很簡單,只要保住自己的性命,顧好自己的肉骨頭,其他的事,就只管靜靜地忍耐,笨笨地裝可憐,他們相信委屈求全、窩囊到底,一切就不會改變,也可以繼續過著幸福快樂的日子。

他們都把早期台灣警察面對群眾運動的格言:「打不還手、罵不還口」刻在腦子裡,他們不是警犬,也不關心街頭上的人群是暴民流氓還是民主人士,他們只是單純地相信,如果強出頭想反抗,膽敢對攻擊、羞辱他們的人有所忤逆,那麼他們會更快地就失去現在所擁有的一切。

他 們的想法有著悠久的傳統,而且像信仰一樣的牢固,百折不撓,不到一個世紀前,納粹及法西斯的勢力方興未艾,當時以張伯倫為首的軟骨頭派就是這樣「勇敢」 地主張,對侵略者採取強硬行動會引起普遍的歐洲戰爭,如此一來英國牧羊犬在這場戰爭中,只會遇到無法預料的災難而不會贏得任何東西,故而極力主張對德國狼 狗的侵略擴張採取妥協、退讓、姑息的綏靖政策,他和當時的法國布丁狗達拉第聯合起來,強迫東歐的捷克小獵犬不要抵抗德國狼狗,結果造成東歐被納粹狼狗一口 吞噬,軟骨頭的英法等眾狗,仍以為只要不要反抗、拒絕戰爭,侵略者就會滿意地離去,可是法國布丁狗最後還是被納粹狼狗給咬爛,英國也成為狼狗追逐的目標, 如果不是有英吉利海峽,英國牧羊犬只怕也得一起祭入五臟府。

「不要打仗,什麼都好談!」軟骨頭們義正辭嚴地呼喊著,他們相信誠意可以感動 頭上天,誠心可以感化侵略者,他們覺得侵略者就是一條飢餓的小狼狗,只要乖 乖地伸出狗腿給牠咬上一口,牠就會滿意的離開,其實自古以來侵略者都是貪得無靨的大野狼,你越是膽怯退縮,牠則是得寸進尺,直到完全把你撕爛吞下肚為止, 凡被狗追過的人都知道,勇敢地表達立場,挺直腰桿,積極反抗,狗才會夾著尾巴退後,忘記你是一塊排骨,重新把你當人看。

或許台灣土狗們不 當正常人太久,忘了上頭這種「狗的哲學」,竟然因為看到最近國內外雜誌上中國示威群眾齜牙咧嘴的照片,會激動地脫口而出:「你看!中國北 京狗的民族主義這麼強烈,我們不可能向併吞說不的。」英國牧羊犬張伯倫當初不也是這麼想嗎?他看見德國狼狗趾高氣昂地要求「生存空間」,認為說「不」很危 險,不如把捷克獵犬和東歐整批送給狼狗啃噬,牠就會滿意地乖乖離開,上百萬條人命已經證明張伯倫錯了,不過至今仍有軟骨頭們覺得這是對的,他們堅持相 信,只要舉起雙手投降,中國北京狗就會非常非常溫柔地侵犯你,不會讓你太過痛苦,歷史是不斷重覆的蠢事,這話還真是說得狗對!

只是,納粹狼狗真的毫不猶豫地吞下捷克獵犬,中國北京狗最近汪汪地向日本秋田犬吠得很大聲,其實爪子連碰都不敢碰到牠很想吃的釣魚台便當,看起來,中國北京狗比較會虛張聲勢。

如 果張伯倫從墳墓裡醒過來,大概會因此反對現代的軟骨頭效法他的模樣,因為張伯倫安撫的是一條真正敢咬人的德國大狼狗,可是現在叫得很大聲的,其實是一隻 中國北京狗,他的爪子和牙齒不但沒有日本秋田犬尖銳,也沒有四處游走的美國鬥牛埂來得孔武有力,不過奇怪的是一大群台灣土狗卻因為軟骨病發作,決定要把狗 腿送給北京狗咬上一口,說起來誰真知道太過狗腿,北京狗會不會因此得意忘形,轉身變成66年前的那隻弄得血跡斑斑的德國狼狗。

台灣土 狗想要的是什麼呢?不就是維持現在的富裕和民主嗎?雖然說防止台灣土狗被北京狗吃掉,符合日本秋田犬和美國鬥牛埂的狗家利益,算一算,三隻狗也足以 阻止一隻瘋狗,不過台灣土狗卻被張伯倫附身,相信歷史上一直毫無建樹的姑息主義(appeasement)一定可以創下首次的成功。

軟骨 頭們說:「沒關係吧!香港西施犬被北京狗吃掉以後,也過得好好的呀!沒有什麼改變。」造成軟骨頭的維生素缺乏症,讓軟骨頭也同時健忘又眼盲,忘了香港 西施犬在被吞掉以後一蹶不振的房地產、居高不下的失業率,最後不得不鬆開狗鏈讓大陸「同胞」來消費振興經濟,結果卻是大圈仔偷搶殺姦,治安一落千丈。

軟 骨頭眼盲嚴重,忘了香港西施犬的言論自由受到壓縮、宗教信仰受到限制(法輪功成員無法入境等)、西施犬所嚮往的民主選舉停滯不前,更有甚者,北京狗根本 沒把肚子裡的香港西施犬看在眼裡,不久前才準備把西施犬基本法改掉,把西施犬連骨頭一起消化掉,結果香港西施犬用五十萬人次的街頭運動讓北京狗肚子痛到打 滾,不得不暫時放棄進一步的欺凌。

這在一群軟骨頭的台灣土狗眼裡是看不到的,軟骨頭說:「香港西施犬好像過得還不錯,我們還是乖乖被北京狗吃掉吧!應該不會過得太差!」軟骨頭久了,智商也退化,竟然忘記香港西施犬本來就是北京狗的獵餌樣本,一旦北京狗想吃的都咬在嘴裡了,還管你什麼五十年不變一狗兩制?

軟 骨頭老祖宗造成侵略者全面發動大戰,也造成納粹大批地屠殺猶太人,很多人譴責納粹的罪行,也有很多人在懺悔,可是如果不是因為「軟骨頭」,侵略者的胃口 會被養大,最後肆無忌憚四處殘殺嗎?大家不應該忘記在美國波士頓一座被屠殺猶太人的紀念碑上,一名叫做馬丁的德國新教神父留下的一段話:

『起初他們追殺共産主義者,我不是共産主義者,我不說話;接著他們追殺猶太人,我不是猶太人,我不說話;此後他們追殺工會會員,我不是工會會員,我繼續不說話;再後來他們追殺天主教徒,我不是天主教徒,我還是不說話;最後他們奔我而來,再也沒有人站起來爲我說話了。』

如果古往今來不斷重覆的張伯倫失敗經驗,都還不能喚醒台灣土狗裡的姑息主義軟骨頭,但願這段改寫的集體懺悔警世錄能有點小小的作用:

『起 初他們追殺香港西施犬,我不是香港西施犬,我不說話;接著他們追殺台獨埂犬,我決定不當台獨 埂犬,我不說話;此後他們追殺中華民國杜賓,我放棄當中華民國杜賓,我繼續不說話;再後來他們取消一狗兩制臘腸,我只好丟掉一狗兩制臘腸,我還是不說話; 最後他們奔我而來,再也沒有人站起來爲我說話了。』

軟骨頭的台灣土狗,現在還有人替你說話,你是說話不說話?

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Unreversable After the Bang

【prose / English】
In a world being crafted about 3 decades ago, sadness is the end product of weakness. As for the weakness, it is the first factor and the Destiny.

part.1 Sadness

It's a stupid ambivalence. Good restaurants, wonderful foods, fantastic scenes and the beautiful weather now seem to be the shadows of a ratty life. No more the seducements bode a plan or a enjoyable gathering in the coming days, but remind him that all the warmth and joys of sunshine belong to the others. Once when he was thrown into the abyss, he should not expect they work in the dark den.

Here's the metaphor. A prisoner is locked in a swarthy cell. He can see no way out. Death doesn't augurs terrors but a yearning release. The best treatment he thirsts for being granted undoubtedly would be a thorough murk. For even a faint beam from a flashlight can irritate his eyes and also pour ridicule.

part. 2 Weakness

Self-esteem and intimacy are twins. Though we may never be Freud, we can tell the sear in the tender age that works like the bang that creates the whole universe. It's the forces and laws of Destiny keeping on moulding the life.

The deprivation of intimacy brings out the fear of the same thing. It sounds like "never better than ever". However the deprivation itself convicted him of inferior. The accusation then pushs him around to find a way to be remitted. He's a beast pants for self-esteem. He knows nothing of the pith of relationship. But the predator continues to loot in hopes of being relieved. He's just been filling the wrong stomach. That's why he can never be fulfilled.

Finale

Just do I recall repeatedly there's a paradox in theology. The dilemma of human free will and divine almighty administration. Is it simply a drama following a play script exactly? Or it's a world might ruin itself after a long run for there's no one mastering ubiquitously and incessantly. All I know is men cannot even go against his causes. Some day the scientists may give us a whole picture of the universe, but I do not expect anyone can overturn the laws and the ongoing process after the big bang.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

失望 kám 有底止

【 七字 á / Holo

無管山頭鹿角尾
Iah 是崁跤深山坑
有伊鎮殿心肝底
Pa-lang 或是風雨暝

伊收 soah 化妝舞會
加冠面
lóng 離面皮
多所見就無奇怪
目識利利心知知

失望若 chún 有底止
玫瑰才望有後期
煩惱 s
ô 出墓塚 á
艱苦怎講會透機

向望失望無底止
大石沈海心稀微
看人袂輸相壁堵
呣通袂記得

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Dear Grandpa… A Translator Needed

【comment / English】

A little boy was asked how’s the new local language class in school. He smiled like a blossoming morning glory. “You know what? I can talk with my grandpa now! “ He said cheerfully.

The linguistic gap derived from intermarriage, isn’t it? “Nope” is the answer. Millions of examples can you find to prove the prevailing circumstances in Taiwan. And what is more, most of the family members including the parents, kids and their grandparents share a same ethnic identity and mother tongue. What a bizarrerie!

The following conversation happened in a stem family. “你腹肚會iau--無? [Holo](Are you hungry?) Said a-kong (grandpa). The grandson looked so confused. The mother perceived the predicament and served as a translator."爺爺在問你肚子餓不餓呀?快回答![Madarin]"Grandpa is asking you’re hungry or not. Reply him.The grandson did reply, in a language confused his grandpa reciprocally, “喔!我想吃糖果![Madarin](Oh! I wanna some candy.) The mother had no choice but to save her father through translating again, “I beh 食糖 a--lah[Holo](He wanna eat some candy.)

What a ridiculous scene it is. They even live under the same roof. But the whole education system is molding children into aliens to their grandparents. Their parents suffered the same “redevelopment” but at least still have parents who talk with them in mother tongue. Now they become accomplices unconsciously because they were taught in schools, when they were young, their mother tongue is barbarous. As a result, they would love to help their kids to be linguistically “civilized”.

It’s a cultural tragedy in Taiwan. KMT (the Nationalists) who rulled this island after being defeated by the Communists and fled from China gripped the media and education system. The sino-government-in-exile reconstructed them to be propaganda machines that have been desperately sinicizing Taiwan for decades. Though the once tyrannic regime has lost its power. Its remaining schemes are still poisoning Taiwanese people.

No wonder it’s hard to find youngsters who know that Madarin, the official language in Taiwan nowaday, has been spoken among Taiwanese no more than 60 years. Not to blame more and more Taiwanese can’t tell their differences from Chinese culturally and linguistically.

It’s such a pain to be deprived one’s own culture and identity. Also from the view of the whole human being, the cultural and linguistic crisis undergone by an island which was once an Austronesian paradise with more than 20 languages and ethnic groups could be an unrecoverable damage, which is likened by Economist to dropping bombs on the museums. Cultural assets are not perennials. They withered once and forever.

The little boy is so happy to regain the ability to communicate with his grandpa. Pity is that so many boys’ parents might think mother tongue learning may or may not be needed so far. Needless to say we Taiwanese still have pro-China legislaturers who oppose the emergency measure to teach local languages in schools. I just cannot figure out the reason why, in their eyes, nothing is valuable if it goes against the annexing ambition of China.

Monday, April 11, 2005

When a repeated offender always demands an apology

【comment / English】

For some aspects, it is a dangeraous world. A tsunami hit the southeastern Asia just several months ago, claiming a death toll of hundreds of thousands. In a period of less than a month, Japan has been striken by severe earthquakes for several times. Nature has been glimpsed cruel, but nothing could be bloodier and more brutal than our internecine wars.

Never forget we can hardly find innocent people on earth. Are there any nations or ethnic groups qualified to claim that their forefathers and themselves have nothing to do with invasions? If there are lacks of apologies, we do owe each other some words as “I’m so sorry.”

That’s what I felt when I knew huge anti-Japan demonstrations are coming up in China again. The protestors yell that Japan should not describe their war crime cunningly in the textbooks, and demand apologies. I’ve heard the Chinese have been keeping on asking for an apology from Japan once and once again since I was very young. The Japanese do have apologized, though with delicate diplomatic languge but also abundant ODA (official development assistance). However it seems the Chinese are never satisfied. The repeated offender always demands one more apology.

How can China deny that its people are repeated invaders? Everyone knows the ancient Chinese ancestors lived in a relatively small area downstream along the Yellow River. Are the Chinese people going to tell us that all the territories out of where their ancestors were have been annexed peacefully? According to the historical books, we can even find easily that Chinese troops going over the border, conquering and slaughtering. The descendants of the victims spread almost all over the East Asia, and the central Asia, even Europe depending on your definition of the word China and which purported Chinese dynasty is part of Chinese history and which is not.

China does owe a lot of nations apologies. Also China does cover up trickily the war crimes their forefathers committed in their own textbooks. China has never paid ODA to anyone to express that they are so sorry.

Is anyone who can tell me why the repeated offender, China, always demands an apology from Japan, not even mentioning its rattling the saber toward Taiwan?

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Sakamifonosaw ci Taokara kakoanan

【prose / Mandarin】

他想殺我,而且總是在 J. A. 路上等著我,偏偏每天是不是會走在那條路上,卻不是我所能決定的,那有點像是在公車專用道旁邊擲銅板,正面 15、反面 214,擲出反面的時候,我就知道今晚會遇見他。

一下了車,明亮的騎樓邊,販售著五顏六色的衣飾、香味四溢的食物,可是他早已經迫不及待地靠了上來,口裡吐著威嚇的話:「死ななければなりません!你活著幹什麼呢!」

轉 進了 J. A. 路以後,是另一個世界,路燈昏暗,騎樓的商家少了三分之二以上,震耳欲聾的 pops 和 funks 樂音也不見了,現在,他的聲音主控全場,他用生動的描述,讓我好像親眼看見,他拿著刀子,用力地捅進我的胸口、我的腹部,我只差不能想像實際的痛覺,畢 竟, 我的身體還不曾真正地吃進刀鋒,我沒有辦法模擬電視劇裡頭,那種似痛非痛、因著刀鋒和筋肉磨蹭而起伏變化的表情和感受。

只不過話說回來,我知道他不敢的,他只是個虛張聲勢的懦夫,更精確點說,他是個找不到出口的病人,他的恫嚇和催逼令人目眩,可他卻沒有付諸行動的勇氣,也因為如此,我所嚮往的那一陣痛楚後的永遠平靜,一直停留在幻想的階段。

「你不敢的!膽小鬼!」我膽子壯了,竟然開始恥笑他,心裡想著今天日文課裡練習對話的情景,一具不存在的電話,在幾個固定的套語中間,有一句一起去看電影的邀約,「来週の日曜日、観覧車前に待っているよう。

他眉頭一蹙、欲言又止,顯然是不知道該怎麼用一個不熟悉的語言來表達心裡頭那個複雜的情緒。「(摩天輪嗎?在摩天輪前頭等著嗎?Ooops!該不會要先坐了摩天輪才去看電影吧!不要!我最怕高了,我連兒童樂園的摩天輪都極度排斥,拜託!放過我吧!)」

一個連摩天輪都不敢坐的人,竟然威嚇著要把刀尖鑽進一個熱騰騰的身體裡,真可笑呀!

想著想著,暗暗的夜空突然掉下豆大的雨珠,我一點也不想躲,連加快腳步的意願都沒有,因為心裡有百種交陳的滋味,我需要流點眼淚,而全世界都知道,在大雨裡頭落淚,是膽小鬼最好的迷彩了。

「唉!不行!背包裡的 X31 可禁不起雨淋,我還得靠它把稿子寫完哩!」我恨死了這個突如其來的怪念頭,信步走回騎樓下,脫下外衣,小心地把背包包裹。

死ななければなりません!你活著幹什麼呢!」他的聲音穿過我的耳朵,我的耳朵快長繭了。

是的,我知道,我真的知道,下次、還有下下次、下下下下次,只要是擲出硬幣反面的晚上,他都會在 J.A. 路埋伏等著我,用更狠毒的話威脅我,直到他鼓起勇氣,拿起刀子,結束一切的那一天。

Thursday, April 07, 2005

流浪兮路咁已經出尾

【 poem / Holo】

抵著春天黃煨兮日頭,
流浪兮路咁已經出尾?

目屎無閣趁傷心兮歌,
流浪兮路咁已經出尾?

堅心允頓 拗黃紙批
石磨磨心 注水坐底

流浪兮路咁已經出尾?