Yang Du Photo/Dashi
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"When transforming from an agricultural society to an industrial society, it is not only the transformation of production technology and the transformation of social management functions, but everyone's cognition and values will change, but it is not time to change it."
Yang Du, born in 1958, is a Taiwanese writer, formerly the deputy chief editor of the China Times and a lecturer at Fu Jen University, and is currently the secretary-general of the Taiwan Chinese Culture Association. He has published more than a dozen poems, including "The South", "Assassin's Song: Selected Poems of Yang Duchang", essays "Three or Two Friends" and "Running Thousand Miles", biography "Jian Ji: Epic of the Taiwanese Peasant Movement", "The Lampman in the Dark Night", and monographs "New Taiwan Drama Movement during the Japanese Debt Period".
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"Transformation from agricultural civilization to industrial civilization, China has only this opportunity in 5,000 years of history. Our generation has seen this change, so we should record the appearance of the change. Only our generation can feel the struggle, struggle, sweat, loneliness, loneliness or confusion in this process. That feeling should be recorded into a story, because after it transforms, I believe your child will definitely not have this feeling. "Taiwanese writer Yang Du said.
Recently, he launched a new book "One Hundred Years of Waking: The Story of Taiwan" in the mainland (the Taiwanese version is called "Mom in the Paddy Field"). By narrating the story of his family, he brought out the picture of Taiwan's transition from agricultural society to industrial society in the 20th century. The Taiwanese version of this book is related to Yang Du's mother's experience. Yang's father was in debt when he ran a business in Taiwan and wrote Yang's mother's check, which violated the Bills Law at that time, resulting in Yang's mother being arrested and imprisoned. Many years later, Yang Du still remembers the scene of his mother hiding and crawling in the sludge of the paddy fields in order to escape the police arrest.
"One Hundred Years of Waking: The Story of Taiwan" 》
Yang Du said that in the process of transformation in that era, many women silently endured pain for men's failure, and his mother was one of them.
In the 1980s, it was called Taiwan's "golden decade of social movements". Yang Du was one of the important media witnesses of this period, such as the Anti-Nuclear Power Movement and the Anti-DuPont Movement, which he participated. These events are also one of the derivatives of the transformation of agricultural society to industrial society. The changes in the
Yang Du was very regretful. For example, he once hoped to live and write in a rural area with a beautiful environment after retirement, but later found that this was impossible, "Writing is something I will go through for the rest of my life. In the past, I would have thought that going home to farm and study was a very happy thing. Very traditional idea. I don’t know if there will be any chance to go back to Taichung in the future. It seems to be difficult. I have to find farmland again. The farmland in the past is gone because it has developed, some have become factories and some have become apartments. "
Nowadays, that history of social transformation is far away from Taiwan in time, and on the other side of the strait, the huge ship of social change is also moving forward. The voices about big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are rumbling on various media every day. In contrast, the wider rural areas seem to be in silence. However, during the Spring Festival in 2016, a fake news about "Jiangxi New Year's Eve dinner" attracted the attention of the whole people, and the focus was on the issue of "rural/city". The countryside may seem silent, but not ignored.
The Taiwan story that Yang Du said may not be far from the mainland.
No miracle
Character Weekly: What is the origin of the writing of "One Hundred Years of Waking"? Now it has been a while since we have turned to industrialization. Why sort out this matter at this time?
Yang Du: In 1994, I went to the United States to study. At that time, the Asian economic miracle became an important topic for Americans' research. They wanted to know how Japan and the four Asian dragons rose. They said that one of the keys to the Asian economic miracle is Confucianism, as well as the various virtues of thrift and traditional agricultural society.These concepts are all understood, but in the development process of Taiwan, based on my father's experience, it was a very difficult transformation, because he wanted to transform from a farmer or a traditional Chinese person to a modern industrial society, he needed to learn modern industrial technology, factory management, financial management, and capital turnover, etc. He did not have any social conditions at that time. At that time, there was no such school. So he used his personal body to stumble and struggle. During this process, my mother was wanted and went to flee, while my father also went to flee. The whole family seemed to have collapsed and the house was almost auctioned. That left a deep mark on my growth.
Character Weekly: Is this happening in the 1970s?
Yang Du: My mother escaped around 1972, and that became a question I always ask for throughout my life: What caused her fate to escape? Later, I read about Taiwan’s history and Taiwan’s society, and I was actually pursuing the answer to this question. When I was in the United States in 1995, I wanted to say that there is no economic miracle. The so-called miracle is actually built with the blood and sweat of many workers, the failures of small and medium-sized business owners' families, families, or the blood and sweat of their stumbles and struggles. After 1995, I went back to Taichung to get along with my parents, and occasionally asked them about their past stories. Over time, I accumulated a lot of material. A few years ago, my father began to have some dementia. I found that his memories were gone at all. If I didn’t write them, the memories of that generation would disappear forever. So I started preparing and it took a year and a half to finish them. He passed away at the time of revision. In fact, this kind of writing is equivalent to leaving a record for that period of history.
People Weekly: You just mentioned that when the United States summarized the economic development of Asia, its rhetoric was a "miracle". At that time, there was no mention of the blood and sweat of workers?
Yang Du: is rare. They have always said that Asians have the virtue of diligence and thrift and the virtue of saving, unlike Europeans and Americans who would consume early. In fact, we have to save because we don’t have their social welfare conditions. If you don’t save, what should you do when you are old? Unlike them, social welfare is done well, and unemployment benefits are also available. But they would not think about Asia in this way, so they thought there was a gap between them at that time, which was quite interesting.
People Weekly: What was it like to see these gaps at that time?
Yang Du: At that time, the Taiwan dollar was relatively appreciated, the US dollar depreciated, and the Japanese yen continued to appreciate, so they always thought Asia was very powerful. At that time, I felt that they lived such a good life and our environment was so bad, but they kept saying that you were amazing and miraculous. In fact, these miracles include the social welfare and health insurance that workers should have, and then the environment is the sacrifice of the environment. In the 1970s, Taiwan set up factories everywhere and did not take any environmental protection measures. By the 1980s, there were all kinds of environmental movements, and the masses rose up to fight, demanding environmental protection and not allowing polluted factories to come in.
Character Weekly: You mentioned in the book that in this process of industrialization, some changes in human nature make you feel unforgettable. What kind of change is that?
Yang Du: For example, worshiping money. Because they were very poor, those who made money became materialists. Next is sudden development. When the land is sold to factories, farmers will get a lot of money. However, they do not have the current financial knowledge and do not know how to manage their finances. They just go to consume. Some buy sports cars, some build luxury houses, and even go to gambling. Some buy very luxurious foreign wine to drink. It's all kinds of excessive consumption.
People Weekly: What specific things impressed you particularly?
Yang Du: At that time, there was a gambling game called "Hao Le", which means that there was a lottery ticket in Taiwan that was issued by the government and had a fixed profit algorithm. The people used it to gamble on their own, and they redeem their numbers and each paid their own money. Whoever guessed it would be his own money. It may be that thousands of people come together to play together, so it is called "Homes' Joy". Central China in Taiwan was particularly popular at that time.Why is this happening? The processing and export-oriented industry makes a lot of foreign exchange, but because of foreign exchange controls, you cannot get US dollars, you can only get Taiwan dollars. The private sector owns a lot of Taiwan dollars, but they don’t know how to consume and invest, and they can only spend this money using the habits of the past agricultural era, so there are many distorted economic phenomena. Of course, human nature will also be distorted because it over-consuming and then expands itself. The biggest tragedy is that it will be gone after spending money. Some are very pitiful. Because the land was bought by the factory, he did not continue to farm. He only knew how to be a farmer in his life, so he ran to the city to sell vegetables and other things. However, he was not so familiar with the black and white in the city and the vegetable transportation system, so he was bullied. After being bullied, he might have spent all his money and had nothing when he returned to the countryside. Many families were displaced in this process.
People Weekly: These are the situations you saw at that time?
Yang Du: I saw it with my own eyes, and because I am a reporter, I will interview you everywhere. At that time, I just thought, well, why do people do this? Worry about them. At that moment, I had not seen such an evolution clearly. When I looked back in the 1990s, I thought it clearer that when I transformed from an agricultural society to an industrial society, it was not only the transformation of production technology and the transformation of social management functions, but everyone's cognition and values would change, but it was not time to change it. The Western modernization process has been 400 years and is slowly changing. We are not. We have spent 20 years on the various values of agricultural civilization, what we should do, and how to live, all of them are still there, but it has entered the industrial age, so industrial civilization and agricultural civilization coexist, and the two may be contradictory. Taiwan was very magical and realistic at that time, and the most distinctive example was stock trading. Stock trading should be a very modern capital behavior, right? We need to analyze the company's financial and operating conditions. Taiwan also has these, but it is not done so carefully. On the contrary, before they trade, they will go to worship the third prince's temple because the third prince's Hot Wheel. The largest capital game in contemporary times, how could you believe that the oldest third prince will help you make decisions? This is very contradictory.
March 9, 2013, Taipei, a large-scale march against nuclear power initiated by hundreds of environmental protection groups in Taiwan,
Industry cannot be forever prosperous
People Weekly: In the process of social transformation, you also mentioned some unchanging things. What are these things?
Yang Du: I think it is a relatively gentle mutual understanding and mutual care (spirit) inherited from rural society, especially in the central and southern parts of the country where rural society has not yet disintegrated. The families in Taichung were originally in a courtyard house. Although they were scattered later, they lived nearby. So when my uncle and uncle had a vegetable planting, they would come to my house. Everyone would be concerned about anyone who encounters difficulties and have always maintained this tradition. Although our house opens a factory, the door is open at any time, relatives will come in, and then I come to make tea. I often don’t know some younger generations. Sometimes when they finish drinking, I can’t remember who he is. But this is a habit. When he comes to your house, he always drinks a cup of tea before leaving. The strong sense of humanity is still there. For example, there was a person who failed to do real estate because his child failed, sold out all the land and lived a difficult life. Everyone would try their best to help him. He made the traditional food and went to the vegetable market to sell it, and everyone would buy it with him. In rural Taiwan, the gentle and honest tradition is still there, and that is the unchanged part.
People Weekly: In addition to these changes and unchanges, what else do you want to tell the world?
Yang Du: What I want to remind you specifically is that when you look at the process in Taiwan, the countryside is sacrificed. Industrial capital can be replicated infinitely, but agricultural production can only rely on the conditions of nature, so agricultural production is at a disadvantage in the entire industrial production process. However, agriculture is helpful to the overall ecology for social development. In addition, when industry is not good, it can be used as a regulation. Industry cannot always be prosperous and always maintain very well.During the oil crisis in Taiwan in the 1970s, many factories went bankrupt. What should those unemployed people do? I went back to my hometown in the countryside, barely relying on a little crop from the farmland to survive, overcome difficulties, and then go out to do business or find a job when the economy improves. Therefore, in the process of economic development, rural areas seem to be a safe hinterland. If development fails, there is still another hinterland to maintain the most basic survival. Agriculture is combined with the security of the entire society, not destined to be sacrificed or weak. There should be more policies to protect and take care of it.
After Taiwan lifted the strictness, the news quality has declined
People Weekly: You used to be a reporter, hoping to use the power of the media to promote social development. After the lifting of the strict rules, what problems will Taiwan’s news industry face?
Yang Du: After the pressure is relaxed, you can do a lot of reports, which becomes a situation of more competition among newspapers. However, due to excessive competition, the market is not that big, so newspapers end without being managed well. The TV station is also open again, and there are many TV stations, which turns into a media explosion. The news is too competitive, and no one has profitable, so the cost is very low. Although it is free, the quality of news, international and worldviews have declined. There were originally journalists stationed in Europe, New York and Washington, but they were later cancelled and used directly with foreign power. In the past, we all hoped that Chinese people would establish their own views and their own worldview, so reporters should go to the scene to watch.
People Weekly: What is the state of Taiwan’s media today?
Yang Du: The media of social networks replaced big media, especially newspapers, and also replaced TV, so now is a very chaotic era. It may be an inevitable development, and the only regret is that the quality of news has declined. In-depth reporting in a consumer society, few people pay attention to it, but it is such news that is changing the times, not consumer news. There is too much consumer news in Taiwan. If anyone chokes on Facebook, you can also write news. I don’t know if I’m old-school, but I know there are some senior journalists in the United States who form some groups to post in-depth reports. Only media with in-depth coverage can truly have social credit, and this kind of credit can affect society.
People Weekly: You used to report on various social movements in Taiwan, and you also participated in it, and even became sworn brothers with the people in it, but you don’t think you are one of them?
Yang Du: doesn’t work. I’m more like a Ranger. I just go to other places to play after helping. In fact, it was the same when he helped Ma Ying-jeou's election. He helped them fight a war and then left.
People Weekly: Being enthusiastic about public issues, one of the reasons you think is that you have a "unbearable heart". This sentence comes from "Mencius". Are you deeply influenced by the spirit of Confucianism?
Yang Du: is a little bit, but it is mainly influenced by my mother. When we were young, there were beggars in Taiwan. When they passed by, even if there was nothing left at home, my mother would definitely give them something to eat, such as dipping the crust in a little sugar and making it into a rice ball for others.
Character Weekly: What is your reaction to the family past you mentioned?
Yang Du: My child thinks my father is so courageous! My father knew that when there was no way out, he had been reckless, impulsive, and made mistakes, but he always had the courage to stand up again. The child also thinks I am a very courageous father. I have been a journalist, participated in social movements, participated in elections in my life, and participated in many intense things or the process of huge changes in Taiwanese society. I will tell my children what the future will be like. No one knows. A good education for a father is nothing more than just teaching you to have the courage to face anything. No matter how much money or knowledge you are given, it is useless. Really, no matter how much money you are, it is not enough to make you cowardly once and lose a lot.
On February 27, 2008, Ma Ying-jeou went to Nantou Fruit and Vegetable Market to pay his respects and was warmly welcomed by vendors and citizens
Reform is not a life-and-death confrontation
Character Weekly: For a long time, your identity has been a reporter, and what you do is to supervise the government. Later you went to help Ma Ying-jeou's election. Can you talk about this?
Yang Du: I started to help Ma Ying-jeou's election in 2007, helping him do local discussions, cultural discussions, and planning activities. For example, he rode his bicycle from the lighthouse in the southern rural area to the lighthouse in the northernmost part of the lighthouse. I launched this activity and rode with him, haha, that is, he was trying to get close to the people of Taiwan as much as possible during the election process.
People Weekly: Why did you think of doing such a thing?
Yang Du: Because I saw that Chen Shui-bian was very corrupt during his second term, I think he should change to a clean person. There is no problem with Ma Ying-jeou's personal ethics. Maybe he is not so courageous in doing things, not always a leader in troubled times, but he can set a relatively honest example in the era of corruption. I hope Taiwan will not experience political turmoil, but will have a period of rest and recuperation. But I know I am not a suitable person to participate in politics, because politics is a person who holds power and power. As long as you sit in that position and don’t mess with others, they will mess with you. I don’t really want to do this with people, and I’m not a person who plays Game of Thrones, so after choosing, I went home to be my happy literati.
Character Weekly: What kind of understanding do you have in the process of participating in politics?
Yang Du: has more on-site experiences about politics. The first is that all political leaders are actually very ordinary people. As long as you are a human being, you will have advantages and disadvantages, and the advantages and disadvantages of political leaders will be magnified, and if you bias towards a certain point, it will become a danger, and advantages will also become disadvantages. For example, Ma Ying-jeou's advantages lies in integrity and self-love, but people dare not do certain things in the process of self-love. They will fight each other in politics. Ma Ying-jeou is too kind, or he is unwilling to do something in his personality, so as a political leader, others will not be afraid of him. This is the advantage of everyone when choosing him, but later it becomes a certain weakness of him in leadership. As an authoritative leader, you can lead a place to escape from troubled times and create a new situation. But if you are a very authoritative person, and they will borrow your authority to do evil, this will also be a disadvantage. Therefore, political understanding is to learn balance. This is a bit like Lao Tzu's philosophy, and it is necessary to maintain a certain dynamic balance.
Another thing is my feelings about the overall situation. That is to say, no matter how revolution is, the society and culture are behind politics, the common values of everyone, a way of thinking and behavior, which will continue and will not be easily changed. Even after democratization, there are still local factions in Taiwan's elections and some people are still buying tickets. It can only change slowly and will not change them all overnight. We all look forward to a major change in policy, but this is difficult and we must be patient. The best way is to reform, let everyone's values move forward and form consensus to change.
Character Weekly: Reform rather than revolution?
Yang Du: pair, reform, not revolution. Revolution cannot change all political behavior patterns and human thinking patterns at once. Thoughts cannot be revolutionized, this is my understanding. I participated in many environmental movements, labor movements and student movements in the late 1980s, and I was familiar with them and even directly involved in their planning. I had a basic idea at that time, that is, if you engage in any social movement, you must think clearly whether to carry out reform or revolution. If you reform, you must have advance and retreat, leave room for the other party and leave yourself. In this way, you must train your own cognition, and at the same time, you must expand your social foundation, so that everyone has a common cognition, and slowly promote this reform.But if you want to carry out a revolution, turn small things into big things, turn them into uncontrollable, and then you will destroy each other after you pull the conflict to the maximum. When carrying out reform, you can only make a request bit by bit. Today you may make a certain requirement and hope to change a certain law. You must patiently move forward instead of taking extreme, life-and-death confrontation.
People Weekly: Based on the various problems arising from social transformation mentioned in your book, what kind of awareness do you think this society should have to improve them?
Yang Du: Taiwan's industrialization was about 20 years earlier than the mainland. The processing and export-oriented industry in the 1970s seemed to have become popular in the mainland since the 1990s. After 20 years of rapid development, wages have also increased and the environment has been damaged a lot. I think it should be a period of consolidation. For our workers, we should protect our labor conditions, as well as all aspects of health insurance. Then there is the environment, and we should regard environmental protection as an industry to develop in the future. For example, if you want to use good equipment to remove pollution, for those suspended particles, you have to consider how to use industrial equipment to reduce it, so if you invest in environmentally friendly equipment, this can become a future industry. Now, China only deals with coal pollution and provides good environmental protection equipment for coal. How much does it need in the country? China's size is too large, and any part can become an industry, as is the nuclear power industry, and so is the high-speed railway. Therefore, if China regards environmental protection as a future industry, it will be a space for development and can also solve the current economic difficulties. Environmental protection can be used as an industry, not a moral slogan.
Reporter of this magazine | Zou Jincan Intern Reporter | Huang Miaohong Published from Beijing
Editor | Zheng Tingxin [email protected]
