Something New in the Curriculum--Taiwan Studies in the Soviet Union

In the USSR, Sinological research has always suffered official interference. Before Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, Sinologists could only onesidedly condemn the Republican government, following the Chinese Communist line. Following Sino-Soviet enmity, because there was no longer any need to consider the Chinese Communist response, "we could finally objectively study the Republic of China," says Karneev Andrei, a lecturer at the College of Asian and African Studies.

Although that may be, in the past because of the cold war confrontation between the US and USSR, and because Taiwan was in the US camp, it was still standing in opposition to the USSR. Thus interest in the Republic of China in the Soviet Union was limited to the "mainland era Kuomintang."

It was only in the 1970's that Soviet scholars began to focus on Taiwan. Since academic liberalization, relevant research has gradually arisen in the last five years.

Young scholars are interested in Taiwan for many objective and subjective reasons. For them, after 1949, China was temporarily divided in two. The Kuomintang and the Chinese Communists were in what amounted to a competition among different systems. "The results show that whether in economic development or political system, the Chinese Communists are far behind," says Ivanov. Whether in economic development, party politics, or assembly systems, there is much worth exploring from the "Taiwan experience."

Naturally the Soviet Union's own environmental factors underlay this perspective. After 74 years of communist rule, the Soviet Union has not become a socialist paradise. On the contrary, the standard of living is lower than in the past. As a result, the younger generation is anxious to learn about the free world led by the US and Western Europe. For scholars studying China, Taiwan, which has been profoundly influenced by the West, has gradually become their best medium to understand the free world.

Because the period of Taiwan studies has been very brief, there are only about ten people mainly studying Taiwan. Moreover, most are young scholars around 30. The topics of their research are mostly in economics, politics, and foreign policy. Although these are no more than a few grains in the sea of Soviet Sinology, Ivanov, who is a research fellow in the China Studies Office of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the AOS, believes that in the next few years the number will only go up. At present, the Association of Sinologists of the USSR, and the Institute of Far Eastern Studies, which focuses mainly on modern China, have both established Taiwan Studies committees. This year the Association published two volumes entitled Studies on New China. The eleven articles in the second volume were all related to Taiwan.

If you really want to find the roots of Soviet interest in Taiwan, in fact several Russians from the military or government passed through Taiwan in the 19th century to investigate the original inhabitants and made records of what they saw and heard on their travels.

At the beginning of this year, Boris Riftin, a Soviet Sinologist who was invited to Taiwan, brought Studies of the Tsao Language and A Tsao Language Dictionary, by the great 19th and 20th century Russian Orientalist Nevsky, with him. Nevsky lived for a long time in Japan and specialized in linguistics and popular literature. In order to explore the relationship between the language of Taiwan's aborigines and other Asian languages, in 1927 he came to Alishan in Taiwan to do research and compiled these two books.

Tamkang University Chinese Department lecturer Pu Chung-cheng, himself a Tsao, discovered that in the 1300-plus word dictionary compiled by Nevsky, there are many words that even Tsao themselves no longer know. "I never imagined that the first Tsao dictionary would be written by a Russian," say Pu, who looks on these two books as being as valuable as jewels.

The budding wave of Taiwan studies which began after the late 1970's has still not--in the eyes of Soviet scholars themselves--produced any major results. "Most works simply concretely describe the development process in Taiwan in various areas," says Karneev Andrei, fluently citing a Chinese expression: "We've merely scratched the surface, like a dragonfly flitting on the water."

The main reason is of course the long-term gap caused by political factors. For almost forty years, there were almost no contacts between the Republic of China and the USSR. Naturally there are numerous difficulties for the first group who wish to study Taiwan. M. V. Kryukov, who studies ethnology and oracle bone writing, notes that in the past there were no opportunities to establish relationships with any place except for mainland China. For example, Taiwan has many writings, oracle bones, and important data, but there is no way for Soviet scholars to get access. Thus some studies are not up to the level of Western scholars who are free to come and go as they please.

Stanislaw Kuczera of the Institute of Oriental Studies once found out through another source about Taiwan University professor Sung Wen-hsun's work about 15,000-year-old neolithic bones discovered in Tso Chen in Taiwan. Because it was related to his own research topic, he wanted to find out about the situation in detail and to meet Sung Wen-hsun, but he has yet been unable to do either.

Prior to the end of the Cultural Revolution, almost no information about Taiwan entered the Soviet Union. Thereafter one could get Taiwan data through Hongkong, Singapore, and US sources, but the channels were still not smooth. Three or four years ago, Kuczera tried ordering 30 or so books published in Taiwan through Moscow's national publishing house. "In the end, I didn't even get one," he laments.

Even if you can get information from Taiwan, the younger generation have all studied simplified characters, so it takes a great deal of work to digest the material. Of course, it is not necessary to only consult Taiwan materials to understand Taiwan. Especially for younger scholars whose English is generally better than their Chinese, they can read a large number of works by American scholars. In 1981, the USSR and the mainland resumed academic exchanges, so that information about Taiwan could come indirectly through the mainland. This became another way to learn about Taiwan.

However, "the views of foreign scholars are after all one step removed, and to understand Taiwan through the mainland will inevitably be biased," says Dr. Andrei V. Kouzmenko, who studies the Moscow-Peking-Washington relationship. Vera Pushnyakova, a lecturer at Leningrad University, who is the only person in the Soviet Union studying Taiwan literature, says that she disagrees with some of the assessments of Taiwan literature made in the mainland. For example, the Chinese Communists say that nobody wrote in Chinese during the Japanese occupation era, "but I can prove that this is wrong," she says steadfastly.

Because the Soviet economy is weak, assessments of Taiwan--which has created its own economic miracle--have been high in the Soviet media. The young Sinologists Ivanov and Kulikov both hope to come to Taiwan to see for themselves and undertake scholarly exchange.

Under Gorbachev's open policy, they are closer and closer to realizing their wish. In the last two years, Taiwan scholars studying the Soviet Union have gone to the USSR in droves, and Taiwan has repeatedly invited Soviet scholars to visit. Further, there has also been a "Soviet fever" in Taiwan in the past year. Famous Russian ballet troupes have been invited and universities on both sides have established "sister school" relationships; businessmen have gone there in an uninterrupted procession, and the Moscow branch of the China Export Trade and Development Council has handled 1000 Taiwan businessmen in the past year. The two sides have already begun a "close encounter of the first kind."

"But if you really want to understand the Soviet Union, it is necessary to make a great investment in time," says Chiang Yung-ching, a professor of history at National Chengchi University. Seeing the Soviet Union as either an unmitigated disaster, and thereby avoiding it, or giving up all of one's psychological defenses and embracing it, are both incorrect attitudes.

"Soviet scholarship is officially supported; if they really want to learn about Taiwan, they can accomplish much," says Chiang Yung-ching seriously. "If you want to 'know yourself, and know your enemy,' our Soviet studies must also get moving."

[Picture Caption]

Taiwan and the Soviet Union are developing their "close encounter of the first kind." The photo shows Ching Hwa University professor Wang Chiu-kuei and Soviet Sinologist Boris Riftin, who have been corresponding for 18 years and finally got to meet in Taiwan early this year.

The youth ful Sinologist Vera Pushnyakova, the only person in the USSR specializing in Taiwan literature, hopes to get first-hand data from Taiwan.

Economic recession has caused the USSR to seek interactions with market economies. The photo shows the opening ceremony of an international computer show in Moscow in June.

The youth ful Sinologist Vera Pushnyakova, the only person in the USSR specializing in Taiwan literature, hopes to get first-hand data from Taiwan.

Economic recession has caused the USSR to seek interactions with market economies. The photo shows the opening ceremony of an international computer show in Moscow in June.