Problems of the historical past in Taiwanese history textbooks

Abstract

Taiwan, which was ruled by the Japanese Empire from 1895 to 1945, still remains one of the few regions whose inhabitants do not emphasize the negative aspects of the colonial period. Because of traditionally close relations between Tokyo and Taipei the problems of the historical past have never been on the agenda of bilateral relations, and actualization of these problems was most commonly related with current domestic policy. According to current policy conducted by authorities of the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) interpretation of some historical periods are also usually revised in Taiwanese history textbooks. The article studies the approaches to the interpretation of colonial period of Taiwan history, role of education policy in Taiwan in formation of historical memory about Japanese period and its relation with interpretation of Kuomintang ruling period in 1950–80s. The article analyzes several curriculums of history education accepted in Taiwan in 1990–2010s, studies specific of interpretation of historical past in these curriculums and role of Taiwan local history in the context of general history of China.