Language, Politics, Business   2004-11-07

Following are two articles from the editorial section of the   Taipei Times   discussing the romanization of Chinese in Taiwan. From all accounts romanization has been a longstanding and contentious affair in Taiwan. If you're interested in issues related to language, politics or business, read on!

Romanization: Looking to the Past

By Ann Heylen 賀安娟

The current controversy on Romanization (Hanyu pinyin (漢語拼音) versus Tongyong (通用)) reminds one of a similar controversy that was raging in the 1930s when Japan was ruling Taiwan. At that time, Taiwanese intellectuals were divided between pleading for the construction of a written Taiwanese and favoring the continuation of Mandarin Chinese as the literary medium to counter Japanese.

In the early 1920s, China adopted Mandarin Chinese as its new national language. It was a simplified form of the classical written language (文言文), and approximated the spoken form of the Beijing dialect. Taiwanese studying abroad or residing in China were swept up by the rising tide of Chinese nationalism. Writing in The Taiwan Minpao (台灣民報), a propaganda journal published by Taiwanese students in Japan, they started to advocate the use of Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan as a means to elevate Taiwan culture in view of a discriminative and second-rate Japanese educational system.

This idea was bound to evoke opposition. Forces from within Taiwan society expressed their concern on the feasibility of implementing Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan. Based on a northern dialect, Mandarin Chinese differed too much from the spoken form of Taiwanese and Hakka. Some argued that it was not the ideal solution for promoting the elevation of Taiwan culture in the colonial context.

From the late 1920s onward, the idea to write in a Taiwanese vernacular gained ground. The idea to use Mandarin Chinese as a foundation for the creation of literary works in Taiwan, making slight adjustments based on the spirit of Taiwanese, was discussed. In essence, the debate developed along similar lines to what we are witnessing today. Hanyu pinyin represents the linguistic universality of Mandarin Chinese, whereas Tongyong Romanization tries to accommodate the linguistic reality in Taiwan, that is, it tries to embrace one phonetic system for all the languages spoken in Taiwan.

In the 1930s, it was equally a matter of preserving the native languages in the wake of the Japanese linguistic policy. However, one should take the discussion one step further. In the 1930s, the idea to experiment with the creation of a written Taiwanese vernacular was also an expression of a Taiwanese linguistic consciousness. Being separated from the Chinese ancestral homeland, and under a colonial system, the only way to sustain and elevate Chinese culture was a continuation of the Chinese language as was known and spoken in Taiwan. This was not Mandarin Chinese, but the literary tradition of Southern Min. Again we can draw a parallel with the present. Despite 40 years of KMT Mandarin language policy, the spoken languages in Taiwan (in the first place Hoklo -- Taiwanese) have perpetuated themselves. Indeed, since the mid-1990s, it has become fashionable to study Taiwanese again, and research on the Taiwanese language is developing fast. Likewise, it comes as no surprise that this also includes a discussion on developing a system of Romanization for Taiwanese, in addition to the long-existing system used by the Presbyterian Church.

In this light, the question to be asked becomes: why develop a system that could represent several languages with one Romanization? Why not simply adopt Hanyu pinyin for Mandarin and Tongyong for the other native languages? Again, we can look at the 1930s for some tentative answers. The advocates of a written Taiwanese were also divided on the issue of how this new written form should look. Some wanted to use the purely colloquial version, and to this end created new characters. Others were more in favor of accommodating Mandarin Chinese, especially for words for which new characters had to be created, or for phrases of which the pronunciation was in doubt. These words could also be loanwords from Japanese, such as for ice cream or cocoa. The advocates of Mandarin Chinese did not accept that Taiwanese could develop into an independent written language. This would have questioned the universality of the Chinese language with a unified script system. It was presented as a coarse language and unrefined. As a matter of fact, the same arguments have been used against the "immature" nature of Tongyong.

Likewise, Tongyong underscores the fact that there is not a single phonetic version for Mandarin Chinese. Indeed, Tongyong Romanization questions the uniformity of Mandarin Chinese and might represent the wish to create a separate Taiwan. As such, it has rights and a consistency of its own. However, having one system to represent the several languages of Taiwan raises troublesome political and cultural issues. Although it wants to stress the Taiwanese specificity, it illustrates a Chinese mentality, very much concerned about the unification of the written and the spoken word, taken to the extreme by devising a Romanization system that represents all languages in Taiwan society. In doing so, it awards the same status to all the languages, and lifts Hoklo, Hakka and the Austronesian languages out of their lifelong clusters and social settings.

Once more, we can look at the situation in the 1930s. Then also, the discussion on dialects was popular. Taiwanese intellectuals were arguing that the creation of a written Taiwanese would lift Taiwanese out of the realm of dialect. They said that since it was part of the Chinese literary script tradition, it could not be considered as completely separated from the Chinese language. Therefore, once Taiwanese was to have a written form, it could be read and understood by Chinese people from the other provinces.

This argument is also used by the Tongyong advocates: Tongyong is compatible with Hanyu pinyin, and easy to study. At the same time, it exemplifies the "Taiwanization" (本土化) of society. Conversely, the opposition camp argues that Tongyong is at odds with globalization. In the 1930s, those opposing the creation of a written Taiwanese vernacular argued that if every province were to write in its dialect, the relation between Chinese language and Chinese culture would be undermined. Moreover, this would reveal the smallness of Taiwan.

Accepting Hanyu pinyin as the official Romanization for Taiwan might be the most pragmatic solution. Does this mean that the defeat of Tongyong is to be seen as a defeat of Taiwanese linguistic identity? I do not think so. It merely expresses the dominant position of Mandarin Chinese in the world of Chinese languages. In any case, the development of a Tongyong system is valuable in that it makes people able to challenge the universality of Mandarin Chinese as a unifying factor of Chinese identity.

The debate is not simple. It shows that the building up of a specific ethnic or linguistic identity is a complex process which calls for arbitration between the local and global dimensions. Such a process is always uneasy and transitory. In fact, the debate that started in the 1930s remains undecided up to the present day.

End Linquistic Quarantine

By Allen Yu

Daily communication is one of the biggest problems for foreigners doing business in Taiwan. Not only do few Taiwanese speak English well, but signs and addresses are often incomprehensible to foreign businesspeople. As foreign investment in Taiwan shrinks, romanization has become a significant economic issue. Adopting a romanization that foreigners can understand is important to Taiwan's economic vitality.

Unfortunately, romanization has a long history of confusion in Taiwan. In recent years there has been a drive to standardize romanization. The business community has consistently lobbied for the government to adopt Hanyu Pinyin romanization, the international standard. But after endless meetings and discussions, Taiwan's romanization mess is still as confused as ever. Romanization is vitally important to the foreign business community. Visiting buyers and investors rely on romanized Mandarin for the most basic types of communication: writing addresses on envelopes, reading name cards, and comprehending the island's maps and street signs.

Romanization is a vital tool for business. Considering the economic significance of romanization, the central government's continued failure to adopt Hanyu Pinyin has left Taiwan's foreign business community irritated and dismayed.

Taiwan has two main romanization systems. Taipei City uses Hanyu Pinyin for street signs and addresses. All of the street signs in Taipei have been changed over to Hanyu Pinyin, much to the delight of the foreign business community. Members of ECCT have personally congratulated Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for handling the romanization problem so efficiently. Ma deserves public recognition for his sound leadership on this issue.

On romanization policy, the central government is a sad contrast. Despite years of consistent lobbying for Hanyu by the foreign business community, the central government nevertheless continues to promote Tongyong. No one outside of Taiwan uses Tongyong, and foreigners find it odd and incomprehensible. Even so, many street signs outside of Taipei are being switched over to Tongyong. As a result, foreigners cannot read street signs in areas outside of Taipei. Tongyong is putting Taiwan under linguistic quarantine, cutting us off from the rest of the world.

The problem with Tongyong is simple: no one can read it. More than 98 percent of the world's Chinese speakers live outside Taiwan and all of them use Hanyu Pinyin. It is not just standard; it is universal. It is the system used by the UN, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and governments and universities around the world.

Although less than than 2 percent of the world's Chinese speakers live on Taiwan, the government has invented a completely new system for romanizing Mandarin. Residents of Taiwan's ivory tower claim that foreigners will bother to learn an obscure new system. Of course this is absurd. Foreigners will ignore the system, and Tongyong will become an endless source of misunderstanding between Taiwan and the rest of the world.

The central government has handled the romanization issue very strangely. Instead of asking the foreign community which romanization system they prefer, government agencies have turned to so-called local experts to decide which system is best for foreigners to use.

Even though foreigners have consistently demanded Hanyu Pinyin, "experts" falsely claim that foreigners prefer Tongyong. Taiwan's foreign managers are highly skilled and educated people who are quite capable of deciding which system they prefer. The central government's approach is extremely patronizing to the foreign business community.

Romanization is an important economic issue. The biggest problem facing us today is the hollowing out of Taiwan's economy. Because so many Taiwanese are taking their capital to China, Taiwan is more dependent on foreign investment than ever. But foreign investment is plummeting. To survive economically, Taiwanese need to do everything possible to make this a friendly investment destination.

But how does Taiwan welcome foreign businessmen? The central government decides to use romanization that foreigners cannot read. When foreign visitors go anyplace outside of Taipei, they cannot understand the street signs or maps. They aren't sure how to address an envelope. Many dare not drive, because they are afraid of getting lost among signs they cannot read.

In contrast to Taiwan, the street signs in Shanghai and Guangzhou are completely standard. In China, foreigners can travel and communicate with ease.

You can bet that foreign investors will vote with their feet. More and more investment will go to China, where foreign investors can read the street signs, maps and addresses. Tongyong is an economic scourge that will drive foreign capital away from Taiwan.

Tongyong conveys a clear message to the world: Taiwan doesn't welcome foreign investors. The spread of Tongyong is an economic disaster. The central government must immediately adopt Hanyu and use it whenever Taiwan's people want to communicate with the outside world.

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