Taiwanese people are known for their politeness and tendency to work long hours. They throw themselves into eating and overworking as comfort from painful memories and nagging political questions. Good eats and an office cubicle are tangible and have their own permanence—valuable attributes in an island that is prone to uncertainty in the form of natural disasters and political reckonings as a young democracy continues to figure itself out. It’s not always something that can be done politely.
As I write this, there are three major protests rocking the nation. One is in response to the death of a young man serving in the army who was allegedly being punished too severely by superiors. Another is against the construction of Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant. The third is in response to the demolition of private houses in Miaoli County to make way for planned developments. The path to the resolution of these issues will determine Taiwan’s future, even as some unresolved and unresolvable issues continue to fester.
All Taiwanese bear the scars of history. The native Taiwanese were pushed out of their lands and are still marginalized in society. Taiwanese descended from early Chinese immigrants suffered the capricious taxation whims of the Qing Dynasty of China, then colonization by the Empire of Japan and subsequently the brutal early years of the Kuomintang regime. The mainlanders who arrived in Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War were cut off from families left in China; when contact was established decades later, they found out their relatives had been executed, starved to death and tortured. All Taiwanese can relate to the island’s history on a personal level.
When my father was a boy, he watched American planes bomb Taiwan during World War II as Japanese anti-aircraft guns fired back. As a young man, he served his mandatory military duty for the Republic of China on Kinmen Island, which is about a mile off the coast of China but controlled by the Kuomintang. China bombarded Kinmen with shells that dispersed Communist propaganda leaflets upon impact. The Kuomintang retaliated by blaring their loudspeakers, encouraging the Chinese people to rebel and promising that the forces of Chiang Kai-shek would provide military support to overthrow the Communists.
My mother’s family is from northern China. Her father, my grandfather, was an officer in the KMT, while his older brother was a prominent Communist. If my grandfather’s brother hadn’t died of cholera at a young age, he would have been one of the revolutionaries they used to sing about in the ’50s. When I watched The Sound of Music with my mother, she told me that her family had escaped from China like the von Trapp family, eluding Communists block-by-block, all the way to the boat. Ironically, when The Sound of Music was shown in Taiwanese theaters, the censors chopped the film in half, lest any viewers compare their lives under martial law with that of Nazi Austria.
My parents met in New York, where my sister and I were born. Even though I have never lived in Taiwan for an extended period, my life is a part of the stories of my benshengren-and-waishengren family. These have become the stories of my characters.
I’d like to thank everybody in my family for opening up upon repeated questioning.
Thank you, Uncle Danny, for taking care of Cindy and me in Taipei. Within ten minutes of landing, you handed us a rental cell phone, and less than an hour later you had us feasting.
Aunt Lily, thank you for taking us to Din Tai Fung for an incredible meal that remains current in my memory.
Dennis Cheng, thank you for taking us places in your car and in your stories. I’ll never be able to eat shrimp again without feeling the need to shoot hoops.
Anna Cheng, thank you for your humor and for translating your junk mail.
Amer Osman, thank you for showing me the ins and outs and ups and downs.
Catherine Kai-lin Shu, thank you for hanging out with us in the night market and for providing a bunch of background info. Some of the best “Inside Scoops” you’ve ever filed!
If you’re in Taipei, Jo Lu and NCIS (Northern California Inspired Sushi, natch!) will rock your world. Check out ncisushi.com.
Thank you, unnamed and anonymous people.
Thank you: Juliet Grames, for your insight and encouragement; Bronwen Hruska, for your vision; Paul Oliver; Rachel Kowal; Meredith Barnes; Rudy Martinez; Janine Agro; Amara Hoshijo; and the entire crew at Soho.
Thank you, Kirby Kim, for being game.
Thank you, Cindy, for your love, your careful eye and your brave heart. And thank you, Walter, for falling into a regular sleeping schedule.
Epigraph from Tao Te Ching, translated by D.C. Lau.