Let's get to know more about Taiwan's culture today!
The Taiwanese are a bunch of friendly and happy people. They would be more than willing to help any visitor in distress on directions.
There is an Indigenous Peoples Employment Rights Protection Act that ensures that at least 1% of of the work force at government agencies, public schools and enterprises with more than a hundred employees. Indigenous senior citizens get allowances, the government subsidizes their healthcare and ensure their rights to medical care.
There is a myriad of religion in Taiwan, as with any other places in the world. However, Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism has always been a large part of Taiwan. Taiwanese are open to the different ideologies and are quite unique in this aspect. You see, they would be a converted Christian and yet hold on to their folk beliefs of other cultures. It is evident that these beliefs are strongly rooted in Taiwanese people. Folk religion is also a huge part of them. They have deities who were actually real people whom they decide to worship for their special qualities in which one should aim to have. One example would be Guan Yu from the Three Kingdoms.
The most popular deity in Taiwan which almost every Taiwanese would know is Matsu, the goddess of the sea which watches over fishermen when they go out to sea. Matsu's birthday is a very important religious event for the whole nation as all the Matsu temples hold celebrations to commemorate and honour the goddess.
Despite being primarily a Buddhist nation, the Taiwanese are an accepting bunch of people as they have bars, cafes, bookstores and other places where gays, lesbians and transgenders can hang out. In 2006, Ma Ying-jeou, a mayor of Taiwan then officially waved a rainbow flag and it was the start of an annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Festival.. The rainbow flag was presented to him by San Francisco's mayor Garin Newson.
Arts is rich in Taiwan. They have some of the world's best classical Chinese art. The National Palace Museum in Taipei has some collection of imperial artefacts that were originally housed in the Forbidden City in Beijing. There are various museums in Taiwan which has collections of wonderful collections of classical Chinese art.
The Taiwanese are a bunch of friendly and happy people. They would be more than willing to help any visitor in distress on directions.
There is an Indigenous Peoples Employment Rights Protection Act that ensures that at least 1% of of the work force at government agencies, public schools and enterprises with more than a hundred employees. Indigenous senior citizens get allowances, the government subsidizes their healthcare and ensure their rights to medical care.
There is a myriad of religion in Taiwan, as with any other places in the world. However, Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism has always been a large part of Taiwan. Taiwanese are open to the different ideologies and are quite unique in this aspect. You see, they would be a converted Christian and yet hold on to their folk beliefs of other cultures. It is evident that these beliefs are strongly rooted in Taiwanese people. Folk religion is also a huge part of them. They have deities who were actually real people whom they decide to worship for their special qualities in which one should aim to have. One example would be Guan Yu from the Three Kingdoms.
The most popular deity in Taiwan which almost every Taiwanese would know is Matsu, the goddess of the sea which watches over fishermen when they go out to sea. Matsu's birthday is a very important religious event for the whole nation as all the Matsu temples hold celebrations to commemorate and honour the goddess.
As with every other country, Taiwan has its own sets of religious practices as well! The Taiwanese would visit temples when they need help from the deities.
If they need answers from a deity, they would cast divination block (picture above). The question has to be phrased in such a way that it is a "yes or no" question. After asking the question, the person would throw the blocks on the ground. The answer is "yes" if the blocks end up with one flat side up and one flat side down like the picture above. The answer is "no" if both blocks land on the same side (flat or round).
Next, there are the divination sticks. Watch the video below to get a better idea of how it works!
The person would shake a bundle of fortune sticks in a bamboo or wooden cylinder until one stick falls out. There would be a number on each stick. They would take the stick to someone who would give them an oracle verse based on the number on the stick. There would be someone to explain the verse, and explain the possible outcome according to what you asked for. It is quite an interesting experience!
There is also the burning of incense money, incense sticks and offerings of fruits. The burning of incense money is usually when praying to the spirits of ancestors, during funerals or on festive occasions. The picture below shows a few types of incense paper available.
Incense sticks and fruits are mainly offered to deities in the hopes that they would give them some divine assistance.
Arts is rich in Taiwan. They have some of the world's best classical Chinese art. The National Palace Museum in Taipei has some collection of imperial artefacts that were originally housed in the Forbidden City in Beijing. There are various museums in Taiwan which has collections of wonderful collections of classical Chinese art.
National Palace Museum in Taiwan
The folk arts of Taiwan is unique to them. The temples themselves are works of art with its rich colours and beautiful design. The indigenous groups have wonderful culture of making crafts. The Yami tribe is able to construct a canoe made out of wood without nails or glue. The Bunun, Rukai, Yami and Amis are masters at pottery.
There are Hakka folk songs which which were evolved from the songs that the Hakka predecessors sang while working in tea plantations. The Hakka grand opera was developed from the Hakka traditional opera with tea farming song being the main feature. Like most parts of the world, with the introduction of something new, the old would be forgotten. The Hakka tradition is slowly being forgotten when television programmes were introduced. Lesser people speak Hakka these day and only the older generation of Taiwanese would appreciate these Hakka traditions.
They have puppetry, different types of operas ( Peking opera, Kun opera and Taiwanese opera) as well as other forms of entertainment that would be appreciated only by people of the older generation as the new are simply too fascinated by the influx of newer culture.
Education in Taiwan is highly competitive. According to the National Education Act of Taiwan, it is compulsory for all children to attend school and receive education from the age of six to 15(Preschool to Junior High) as part of mainstream education. The only exceptions are for children with special needs or those with alternative forms of education.
Students attend the Senior High School from the age of 15 to 18. Upon completion of this phase of education, the students can choose to attend either a university or college, or enter a Junior college or institute of technology. They have vocational schools to help students progress in a particular profession of their choice. Some specialisations are business, agriculture, nursing or midwifery. Upon graduation, students can choose to set up their own businesses or continue their education by enrolling into institutes of technology, colleges, junior colleges or universities.
The MOE also offers alternative education for children with special needs and senior citizens. There is also the option of private education whereby students are given a choice of different courses that would help prepare them for the entry examinations for universities. People attend private schools to cultivate hobbies such as flower arrangement or martial arts.
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