x INTRODUCTION
the central government. Taipei thus can be seen as a city approaching the world
class status that befits the hub
of a state that is a small, but still dynamic, East
Asian economic and political power center. Another, and in many ways very dif
ferent, Taiwan can be found to the south
of this increasingly sophisticated city.
Our journey into Taiwan's past begins here in Taipei, at the front gate of the
park that houses the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. In March 1990 this gate and
the steps
of a nearby theater were the site of a dramatic sit-in staged by students
of the ROC's major universities. These students were demanding political change
and, following in the footsteps
of Peking
University students at Tiananmen
Square ten months before, attempting to pressure their government and induce
it to promise constructive reforms. Conscious
of the events in Beijing (Peking),
and well aware
of the worldwide reaction to these events, the regime leaders
remained calm and, through an intermediary, negotiated a peaceful settlement
with the students. This settlement paved the way for the formation
of the Na
tional Consultative Assembly.
2 This meeting, held early in the summer of
1990,
brought together people of diverse backgrounds and opinions and promoted the
discussion
of many of the major political problems that faced Taiwan as it at
tempted to democratize.
Just to the south and west
of Taipei's urban core lies the suburb of
Pan
ch'iao. Here, amid the choking sprawl that is typical of the nearby suburbs of
Taipei and the other large cities of the island, is a large square block that is a
refuge from the crowded neighborhood. It is surrounded by a window to the
quieter times when Taiwan was a prefecture
of the Ch'ing empire: the walled
complex that was the home
of the Lins, one of the two large and powerful
landlord/gentry families that shared the same surname. The estate, once ne
glected, has been refurbished, and visitors can obtain a published guide to the
buildings, gardens, and pavilions
of the complex. Wandering through these
grounds, one can tune out the modem city and imagine the world in which
these gentry on the
Ch'ing maritime frontier lived.
Beyond Pan-ch'iao lies the countryside and, farther on to the south and east,
the small town
of San-hsia. This town and the cluster of villages nearby have a
long and rich history and, unlike the case in many areas in Taiwan, Westerners
have played a role in bringing this history to light. Anthropologists began to
study the area in the
1960s and the 1970s, when the island was one of the few
places with large Chinese populations where they could still do intensive, local
level ethnography. The area became home to such scholars as Arthur Wolf, Emily
Martin Ahern, Stevan Harrell, Robert Weller, and P. Steven Sangren and the
scholar/activist Linda Gail Arrigo.
3 Their work has become the window to Tai
wanese rural and village society that is required reading for the new generation
students
of Taiwan and mainland society. Taiwanese scholars have also focused
on this area, and this effort has had a marked impact on the life
of the commu
nity.
One scholar/activist has devoted himself-his time, his energy, and his
personal
resources-to the rebuilding and the refurbishing of the great temple