History teachers criticize curriculum desinicization

PRESIDENTIAL BLAME: Former president Ma Ying-jeou said replacing Chinese history with East Asian history would cause cross-strait relations to deteriorate further

By Ann Maxon / Staff reporter





A group of history teachers yesterday criticized the new high-school history curriculum, saying it presented a biased and “desinicized” version of national history and vowing to counter it by offering online courses.

“We will work with like-minded people to found an association and set up a Web site to present history videos and works on Taiwanese and Chinese history. By doing so, we hope to ensure that Taiwanese can learn about correct history, in which the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are interdependent,” National Chiayi University professor of history Wu Kun-tsai (吳昆財) told a news conference in Taipei.

Wu called it an “educational movement to save history” from pro-independence politicians bent on desinicization.

Former president Ma Ying-jeou, center, and National Chiayi University professor of history Wu Kun-tsai, second right, and others join hands at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

According to the curriculum guidelines approved by the Ministry of Education in August, which are to be implemented in the next academic year, history would be presented in themes rather than in a strictly chronological manner in textbooks.

While Taiwanese history would be taught under the theme “Taiwan and the world,” Chinese history is to be under the theme “China and East Asia.” There is also a world history theme.

The guidelines have a theme-based narrative and “turned Chinese history into East Asian history” in an attempt to desinicize Taiwan’s history, Wu said.

“We are strongly opposed to the government disregarding historical facts and severing Taiwanese from a rich and beautiful historical legacy that is essential to them,” Wu said.

The history courses offered on the proposed Web site are to cover the erased history young people should know and is based on the replaced curriculum, he said.

“President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said she would maintain the status quo, but refused to accept the ‘1992 consensus.’ As a result, cross-strait relations have been stuck in a standoff,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) told the news conference. “Replacing Chinese history with East Asian history would worsen cross-strait relations by further severing cultural and historic ties. It would in no way benefit Taiwan.”

Ma said that he strongly agrees with the movement organizers and hopes more people would support the cause.

High-school history textbooks should help students form a healthy sense of national identity, Taichung Second Senior High School teacher Wu Shao-hsia (伍少俠) said.

The new guidelines disregard chronological order and subsume Chinese history under East Asian history, when it could have presented a complete history of the Republic of China (ROC) from the perspective of the ROC government, Wu Shao-hsia said.

“It is unacceptable from both the perspective of historical research and national identity,” he said. “I dare not say we are going to correct history, but we have to do what our conscience tells us is the right thing.”

The ministry has previously rejected accusations that the new guidelines were designed to desinisize the nation.

“The guidelines do not desinisize the nation’s history or replace Chinese history with East Asian history. Instead, they enable students to not only learn about Chinese history, but develop a structured and rich understanding of its connections to global history,” the ministry said in a statement in August.

The theme-based approach is an effort to break free from nationalism and other ideologies, and aims to help students develop awareness as global citizens and better appreciate diversity, it said.