When families and friends celebrated anthropologist Chen Chi-lu's (陳奇祿) 80th birthday late last month, the event involved more than just blowing out candles on a cake.
An international conference on anthropology was held simultaneously by National Taiwan University's (NTU) Anthropology Department to demonstrate its admiration for Chen, a NTU anthropology professor emeritus.
"The conference was a birthday present from us," said Hsieh Shih-chung (謝世忠), an anthropology professor at NTU and a former student of Chen's, speaking on behalf of all those who Chen had taught. "It's a great opportunity to showcase [to Chen] the fruits of Taiwan's anthropological work which he has helped cultivate over the past half century."
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen, a member of Academia Sinica, is a respected scholar regarded by many as a pioneer in Taiwanese anthropology and historiography. With expertise in anthropology and Aboriginal arts, Chen's specialties and dedication in these fields have gained him numerous honors and awards.
Chen had taught at NTU since 1949 and many of his students have gone on to make a name for themselves in scholastic or cultural fields.
Lee Sha-li (李莎莉), a former student of Chen's, said it was Chen's lively class lectures that enticed many of his students to pursue related fields after they graduated.
"Many of Chen's former students are now either anthropology researchers, scholars or specialists working for the National Palace Museum, National Taiwan Museum, National Museum of History and places like that," said Lee, the head of the Exhibition Section at the National Palace Museum.
"It is fair to say that Chen was among the ones who sowed the seed of Taiwanese anthropology decades ago, which has resulted in today's anthropological development and progress in Taiwan," Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀), chairwoman of the Council for Cultural Affairs, told the Taipei Times.
"In fact, it was also largely thanks to Chen's effort and dedication that the Council for Cultural Affairs established a firm and solid foundation under his leadership as the council's first chairman back in 1981."
Chen's dedication to the development of Taiwan's cultural arena especially impressed her, Tchen Yu-chiou said.
"Culture is an important national asset. And Chen has done much to introduce this notion to Taiwan through his notable scholastic work."
Other than his research in areas including East Asian prehistory, Chinese ethnohistory, Pacific cultural development and anthropological arts, Chen is also noted for his scholastic contributions to Taiwanese historiography and Aboriginal culture.
Among the numerous books Chen has written are Social Organization of the Thao of Sun Moon Lake, Woodcarving of the Paiwan Group of Taiwan, Old Glass Beads Possessed by the Paiwan Group of Taiwan and Material Culture of the Formosan Aborigines.
Besides conducting anthropological research, Chen also has a talent for drawing; He drew all his books' illustrations.
"Chen's grasp of detail [in his illustrations] is amazing," Pasuya Poitsono, deputy chairman of the Council of Aboriginal Affairs, told the Taipei Times.
"All those Aboriginal items he depicted in his books, such as clothes, buttons, tools and accessories, all bore strong resemblances to the real ones."
Chen said he first became interested in anthropology while working in 1948 as editor-in-chief for the Taiwan Public Opinion Journal (
"I developed a strong interest in the field of anthropology when I was working on a new feature section for the newspaper called `Taiwan's Cultural and Social Customs' (
"Working on that section led me to travel to places in Taiwan and meet many interesting people. It was then that I started to build on a strong curiosity and interest in people and places."
Tsao Yung-ho (
"It was partially through my exposure to Taiwan's Cultural and Social Customs that I became interested in pursuing studies in Taiwanese historiography," said Tsao, a member of Academia Sinica and a longtime friend of Chen's.
Despite his age, Chen seems to have lost none of his appetite for his life's work.
"Even though Chen is now retired," Tchen Yu-chiou said, "whenever the Council for Cultural Affairs has meetings, Chen still offers his advice and suggestions."
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS