Taiwanese Hokkien was forbidden in Taiwan

[@iwandarmadi4509]

I like your video. The situation is somehow similar to Indonesia. I was born to a Hokkien-Teochew mixed family where we used to speak 3 languanges at home (Hokkien, Teochew and Mandarin). However, due to the government's languange policy, all schools has to teach in the national languange bahasa Indonesia. Now the Chinese (as other local dialects) is almost abandoned by the younger generation. It is a regret that I didn't put effort to learn when I was young. When my family spoke in Chinese to me, I replied with Bahasa Indonesia😂 My gandma used to scold me not keeping the Chinese tradition. Now I am trying my best to speak and learn it again.

[@hendrik1082]

Which city do u live in indonesia

[@iwandarmadi4509]

@@hendrik1082 I lived in the small town near Medan city in North Sumatra

[@choonhockong8215]

Yes, it's not too late to learn Taiwan hokkien, similar to China Fujian hokkien. It's a pity many Indonesia Chinese can't speak Mandarin or Hokkien. Loss of Chinese culture. Taiwan should promote their Taiwanese hokkien to the world, own Taiwan identity. In Hong Kong, they use Cantonese as a medium for trade, communication, education. .

[@bb4251]

same in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge.

[@iwandarmadi4509]

@@bb4251I visited Phnom Penh's central market last year and I recognized few teochew/hokkien words the chinese-cambodian speaks there.. 😀

[@yimveerasak3543]

Taiwanese Austronesian heritage should be protected. It is a human right

[@faustinuskaryadi6610]

Just in your dream. Independent Taiwan will be just another Mandarin speaking country, just not under communist rule.

[@dont_listen_to_Albo]

Taiwan should make Taiwanese the national language, and learning it compulsory.

[@faustinuskaryadi6610]

Taiwanese Hokkien is even not native in Taiwan. Also, Hakka descents in Taiwan won't be happy if Taiwanese Hokkien become national language because they have bad relationship with Hokkien people in the past.

[@TaigiTWeseFormosanDiplomat]

Ｗith the native, we are international.

[@faustinuskaryadi6610]

@@TaigiTWeseFormosanDiplomat I don't think Hakka descents in Taiwan will happy with Taiwanese Min-Nan become national language of Taiwan.

[@faustinuskaryadi6610]

@@TaigiTWeseFormosanDiplomat Probably you should promote Atayal instead Taiwanese variants of Minnan as true national language of Taiwan.

[@sktzn6829]

@@faustinuskaryadi6610 well Taiwanese in Taiwan is literally called 台语, I don't think it's farfetched to make it the national language

[@hudsonylin]

Love this video! Useful crash course for folks confused about the whole Mandarin/Chinese/taiwanese terminology and the current situation.

[@squattingtaiwan]

After living in Taiwan for 3 months I decided I had to Taiwanese. It's an awesome language, even though it's so hard to learn :D Love the t-shirt too.

[@thornados4969]

It's based on hokkien, the language of Fujian province.

[@harem_lord-FFM]

@@thornados4969 it is Hokkien, it's not "based" in Hokkien. I don't know why these Taiwan residents be claiming our Hokkien as "Taiwanese". Majority of Southeast Asian Han/Hua ethnic are Hokkien, and we call it Hokkien, not "Taiwanese". Real native Taiwanese are Austronesians. Calling Hokkien as Taiwanese is disrespectful in so many aspects.

[@eruno_]

@@harem_lord-FFM What is and isn't a language first and foremost is based on identity. Serbian and Croatians can literally talk to each other, but they still speak different languages. Taiwanese people speaking Taiwanese (Taigi) identify as exclusively Taiwanese and you should respect it.

[@harem_lord-FFM]

@@eruno_ I don't respect imperialism. And I don't care what Europeans do, that's their business. Taiwan is Austronesian, even the name "Taiwan" from one of the Austronesian tribes in Taiwan island. It doesn't mean Hokkien from Fujian province, China.

[@eruno_]

@@harem_lord-FFM Taiwan is multicultural nation. Everyone who identifies as Taiwanese and respects Taiwanese democratic values IS Taiwanese. No wumao will change this.

[@TaigiTWeseFormosanDiplomat]

Replace the "forbidden dialect" as "forbideen language" in the thumbnail please.

[@anires1195]

they're not wrong though.

[@xenonmob]

@@anires1195they were wrong. and they listened

[@ericloo6576]

Hokkien was widely spoken in Southern and Northern states of Peninsular Malaysia in 1970s. It was the influence of "Speak Mandarin Campaign" from Singapore back in 1979 that influenced ethnic Chinese to abandon Hokkien.

[@eruno_]

I would love to learn Taiwanese!

[@harem_lord-FFM]

there is no such thing as Taiwanese. It's just Hokkien.

[@eruno_]

@@harem_lord-FFM Taiwanese is one of Hokkien languages.

[@harem_lord-FFM]

@@eruno_ Taiwanese Hokkien, is a dialect of the Hokkien language, it is not a language by itself.

[@eruno_]

@@harem_lord-FFM Taiwanese (Tâi-gí) is a language in Hokkien group of languages.

[@harem_lord-FFM]

@@eruno_ Hokkien is a language, of the Sino-Tibetan group of languages. You can't be creating your own reality just because of politics. Hokkien has thousands of years of history in Southeast Asia and the Chinese mainland.

[@johnsavard7583]

And they wonder why the KMT is not popular in Taiwan with the voters. Even though it reformed, and allowed Taiwan to be a democracy in which the DPP could get elected. If the Mainland could be retaken, Xiamen, Canton, and all the other dialect regions, not just the non-Han areas, should get independence.

[@ericloo6576]

KMT was following the Facist ideology until Lee Teng Hui became President.

[@piperlin9751]

Love your shirt. Is there a possible way to get one?

[@TaiwanExplained]

The shirt is from www.taiwantaiwan.net

[@chriya0712]

I think there's a few things that need to be cleared up: 1) The KMT only forbid children to speak their mother tongue AT SCHOOLS. They are free to speak any language after school. One can argue about the methodology, but their goal was to make all children learn Mandarin. In fact, Hokkien language had always been the language of commerce and daily life for most ppl. Hokkien language shows, although limited, had always been part of the national media outlets. 2) The Japanese forced all Taiwanese ppl to learn and speak Japanese - a totally different language linguistically. Taiwanese ppl were also told to abandon their Chinese names and adopt Japanese ones. 3) Not all the ruling KMT ppl spoke Mandarin either, they all had their own Sinic languages from their own provinces back home. Mandarin was just a common Lingua Franca, otherwise nobody would be able to understand one another. 4) Hokkien classified as default "Taiwanese" can be controversial, as there is a large population of Hakka ppl in Taiwan who immigrated to Taiwan nearly the same time as the Minnan ppl.

[@eruno_]

During KMT dictatorship you would be beaten for Speaking Taiwanese - Taigi, not only in school, but in a lot of public places.

[@thornados4969]

@@eruno_ Getting arrested and fine to equivalent to one month average salary.

[@魚餃蝦]

首先部分閩南語文藝活動及學校不僅不教學還禁止就對閩南語傷害非常大了。這直接導致了為了符合升學考量及閩南語無學習必要造成家裡長輩不與年輕一代說，導致年輕一代母語使用大斷代。這都是政府一系列政策導致。 再來我沒要幫日本講話，我很討厭日本。但當時是改了日本名字的人有利益可拿（更好的教育、減稅等），大部分人根本沒改日本名字，我難以在台灣找到經歷過日治時代的老人有日本名字的。 再者台語一詞存續有爭議，但或許你可以去問一下廣東人為什麼把粵語稱作廣東話？為什麼有東北話、四川話？這些地方一樣有非常多其它語言。台語一詞比閩南語出現還早，不過一個歷史上的稱呼罷了。

[@harem_lord-FFM]

We Fujian people in the Philippines are generally opposed to this arrogant claim by Taiwan residents that Hokkien is Taiwanese. Older Hokkien people always cringe when I ask them about Taiwanese, calling their language Taiwanese. I am sure many Southeast Asian and mainland Hokkien people will also be against this idea. Calling Hokkien as Taiwanese is disrespectful in so many aspects. Disprespectful to the Fujian, to the language's thousands of years old history in the mainland and in Southeast Asia and disrespectful to the native Austronesians of Taiwan.

[@michaelyuan3382]

Simply require that all native languages be required subjects to advance to the next grade in schools and universities. And then after training teachers in native languages, require most subjects to be taught in native languages, with Mandarin and other languages as electives. That's the surest way to get the attention of a population obsessed with academic achievement and get them to regain their souls: their own native languages.

[@melzzyzuniga5280]

I am a chindo (Chinese Indonesian/Indo (Javanese and Dutch) descent and my family is from Semarang Indonesia. Hokkien is now spoken only among the elderlies. Javanese and Basa Indonesia is the primary language. English is gaining popular among the young and therefore they can mastrer 3 languages at the same time. It sad to see the demise of Hokkien in my family. As far as i know i think i am the only one who wants to relearn Hokkien.

[@choonhockong8215]

Taiwan and Fujian (Xiamen) are like brothers, share hokkien dialect as with many South East Asia Chinese.

[@thornados4969]

except there are many loaned words incorporated like Taiwanese has japanese and indigenous taiwanese people words included and same can be said in other parts of SE asia.

[@comradara]

Wanwan frogs speaking Taiwanese HOKKIEN (literally the name of a Mainland China provice) and insist they're not Chinese The irony is insane here

[@NetarAlt]

Agreed, Hokkien means Fujian

[@thelias91]

interesting video !

[@maotran351]

English is English with US, Aussie... accents and distinctive vocabularies. Cantonese is Cantonese with various dialects as Hong Kong, Taishan....How can you disrespectful rename a thousand years' language Hokkien by a group of people? Pirates or violation of copyright?

[@harem_lord-FFM]

Exactly, my family are Fujianese people from the Philippines, we have always called Hokkien as Hokkien or Fookien, but now these Taiwan residents are calling it "Taiwanese". The Real Taiwanese native language is Austronesian. These Taiwan residents can be so arrogant to rename a language thousands of years old as they please for politics.

[@benyeo7930]

Totally agreed! Based on locality, the language should be known as Hokkien or even more appropriately as MinNan Yu based on history as well! All others are versions of it arising from slight adaptations due to local and foreign influences - such as in Taiwan and many south East Asian countries! Do not politicize the name of the language! I speak Hokkien as my ancestors were from southern China; and I am a Singaporean and not a Taiwanese as I speak perfectly good Hokkien too! Another good example is most Singaporean speak English but we do not call it as a Singaporean language - only the pigdin version is known as Singlish!

[@wantikjasonchiu4711]

Maybe not actually wearing a sign telling themselves that they won’t speak their own language, and I love the language that is taught in the schools, but it was similar to regional schools that were punished, not speaking the language that is taught by the school, but otherwise their own native language

[@clement2780]

do irish speak irish? belarusians ? welsh? breton?

[@hendrik1082]

Why do u mention Hokkian is a dialect, Hokkian or Fujian in mandarin is a province name not a dialect, it's appropiate to call it Minnan dialect , because there are many dialects in Hokkian/Fujian province

[@TaiwanExplained]

In terms of linguistic classifications, Minnan, or Southern Min, is a family of languages that includes other languages such as Teochew. Hokkien is listed under the Minnan language family.

[@michaelyuan3382]

@@TaiwanExplained I think the objection of @hendrik1082 was using the term dialect, instead of language to describe Taiwanese, giving the impression that you are saying Taiwanese is a dialect of Mandarin and therefore lesser in status and legitimacy. To make it clear, you could have said that both Mandarin and Taiwanese are dialects of larger Chinese language groups. It's just that Taiwanese has not had its own army and navy yet, which is just the Realpolitik and not scientific definition of a language. Both Taiwanese and Mandarin are descended from older types of Chinese. Taiwanese is actually more conservative than Mandarin and retains more features of older Chinese than Mandarin. So in terms of "purity" or "authenticity" or "faithfulness" to older Chinese of the Tang Dynasty and beyond, Taiwanese actually should overtake Mandarin. It just needs to get its own military to back up that legitimate claim.

[@liongkienfai104]

You mentioned/implied that Hokkien vs Mandarin as class signifiers only arose under KMT rule. Does this mean that under Japanese rule there was no such thing as a Japanese-speaking ruling class? Doctors, lawyers, businessmen, farmers, and gangsters alike spoke both Hokkien and Japanese and regarded them equally?

[@TaiwanExplained]

Under Japanese rule, Hokkien or other local languages were not forbidden. Of course schools were taught in Japanese but native languages were spoken. This can be seen in many Taiwanese movies set in the time such as KANO, a story about Hokkien Taiwanese, Japanese and Indigenous students playing baseball together. Because many of the people still spoke Hokkien, many professions such as doctors, lawyers, businessmen, farmers and gangsters spoke languages fitting for their careers. Many principals (high respected jobs) spoke Hokkien as well because they had to communicate with students and parents. There were still measure that the Japanese government did to encourage most Japanization. One such practice is monetary incentive to change people's names from Chinese-style to Japanese names. This is why former president Lee Teng-Hui was known as Iwasato Masao in school. Both times, local languages are not the main language, but the biggest difference would be how much native tongues were punished. Hope this helps.

[@thornados4969]

@@TaiwanExplained Older generations spoke highly on Japanese times than KMT.

[@魚餃蝦]

事實上日本時代可以學習漢文，而漢文是用閩南語來上

[@choonhockong8215]

I would like to learn Taiwanese (minan dialect). I love Taiwanese minan songs, especially those in the late 60s and 70s. Mixture of minan and Japanese songs. Taiwan younger generation should speak Taiwanese (minan hua). Distance itself from Mandarin.

[@xJ9pQw2sR5]

They did they same in Singapore bloody bs. Hokkien is our ancestral language, mandarin is not

[@ta0304]

Do Chinese Singaporeans still speak Hokkien or has mainland China Mandarin completely replaced it?

[@thornados4969]

@@ta0304 mainland Chinese mandarin.

[@eechoylee6532]

Min South or Hokkien South

[@choonhockong8215]

Taiwan should promote Taiwan minan language (hokkien). This is the way to show Taiwan is different from mainland Chinese ( putong hua) and Hong Kong ( Cantonese). Taiwan leaders made the most stupid mistake of killing hokkien.

[@ta0304]

Taiwanese leaders during the white terror did not speak Taiwanese Hokkien.

[@michaelyuan3382]

To be precise, it was the KMT mainland Chinese invaders of Taiwan who killed the Taiwanese people in the 228 incident and repressed native Taiwanese languages and cultures. The native Taiwanese did not kill their own languages.

[@tcplays4371]

I wish I was able to talk to my great grandmother in Taiwanese 😔

[@魚餃蝦]

我教你

[@jakekuo7562]

@@魚餃蝦 你也能教我嗎

[@魚餃蝦]

@@jakekuo7562 可以呀

[@pereirakelvin67]

I studied Mandarin for two i guess it is a horrible language. For hokkien is still the best.

[@eb.3764]

the forbidden LANGUAGE NOT DIALECT

[@達聞東]

漢語族內現在只剩下粵語和官話存活，並且同時粵語仍在繼續消失。 如果中國在日本侵略後分裂，或者是在軍閥時代走向分裂，閩粵吳客湘贛等語言都可以存活，中華世界會變得更多元，極權主義也不會抬頭。 可惜歷史最終沒有那麼走

[@zzleecute6046]

Even the Taiwanese (Minnan dialect/Hokkien)and Hakka dialect are all come from Chinese mainland!! Not to mention the mandarin!!😅

[@michaelyuan3382]

And all homo sapiens tribes come from Africa. So what? Should we all be required to speak Ethiopian and nothing else?

[@jivvyjack7723]

There is no such language called Taiwanese. As the video said, what they were speaking was a Min dialect, Hokkien. All Chinese in Taiwan came from Mainland China. Of course, once isolated for some time, there will be regional differences, both in vocabulary, accents and intonation. Just as the Hokkien spoken in Malaysia and Singapore are distinctly different from the Hokkien spoken on the Mainland or in Taiwan cos of influences from local native languages and other dialects. But the Malaysian, Singaporean and Taiwanese Hokkien are still intelligible to each other. The real Taiwanese would be the natives who were there hundreds of years before the mainland Chinese came in droves in 19th century, peaking after the KMT retreated to the island.

[@faustinuskaryadi6610]

Calling it Taiwanese is actually have root in "I don't want to be associated with Mainland" mentality.

[@jivvyjack7723]

@@faustinuskaryadi6610 They may wish so, but a fact is a fact. They came from the mainland. Their roots are in the mainland. They still have many relatives on the mainland.

[@faustinuskaryadi6610]

@@jivvyjack7723 yes, only Native Austronesian Taiwanese whose ancestral of Malay and Filipino are the one that can say they aren't Han Chinese.

[@TaigiTWeseFormosanDiplomat]

@@faustinuskaryadi6610 You aren't rational either, actually there was no identity as “Han” back then among the civilians, the identity with its vague defs are not based on the rationale, it’s still an arguable topic since most of the people have never or were forbidden to know more and think more about this identity issue, actually in the standard of these “漢Han people人” or “華Chinese people人” interpretation, Korean, Vietnam, Japan and maybe so on can also be included and that doesn’t make any sense as Taiwan being included (BTW Hong Kong either, even today, most of them don’t use the word “Han people” to interpret the history) And before Taiwanese, there was Bânoa̍t閩粵, also called 台人/Tâi people since a scholar in 1853 propose the indentity to resolve the conflict between different ethnos although they all have a smiliar way of living, alright it may just like European holding their Christianity but the war still broke out, and not until tens of years later the conception of Taiwanese being reconigzed due to the Japanese invader, and yes they are the main ethnos of the island and are one of the ancestors of the Taiwanese nowadays.

[@faustinuskaryadi6610]

@@TaigiTWeseFormosanDiplomat 闽粤identity for present day Taiwan sounds artificial because the current Taiwan had been ruled by Mainland origin KMT from 1950s-1996. The Taiwan situation is completely different with Hongkong, because Modern Taiwan is built by KMT nationalist, not by extinct 1853 Tai people.

[@oentoengjahja712]

This case is very stupid, I remember when I was little watching the Boboho film series, it is illustrated in the film Boboho and his friends cannot speak the local dialect, or in this video it is called Hokkien Taiwan, Boboho and his friends will be punished by their school principal. Actually Chiang Kai-shek or Jiang Jieshi was a 'foreigner' from mainland China who became dictator on the island of Taiwan, he made himself the 'emperor' of Taian with the backing of the United States. Of course he wanted the people he ruled to speak Mandarin the same as where he came from (more precisely fled). I am not defending mainland Chinese communism, but western propagandists on German TV or BBC or AUC they say that Cantonese speakers are prohibited from speaking Cantonese as an attempt to kill Cantonese. Hmmm, this is a big joke wkwkwkwkwkwk, I often watch shows on mainland China national TV and songs and actresses or actors who speak Cantonese still get a place. Regarding the trend of reviving the Taiwanese Hokkien dialect, it is an attempt to show a self-identity that is different from mainland China. What an ironic and hypocritical policy. In the past, Chiang Kaishek believed that by becoming a servant of the United States, he would succeed in taking control of mainland China. Now that mainland China has become a force comparable to the United States, of course, it will be impossible for Taiwan with the help of the United States to defeat China. So the Taiwan Hokkien dialect language propaganda wants to become one of the political jargons to show the uniqueness of Taiwanese identity. Isn't it funny!

[@TaigiTWeseFormosanDiplomat]

No, not to the civilians who care about their tradition without a change, only with the tradition ones can be international.

[@spencersedano]

Peruvian speak Spanish

[@cheukguanting123]

Li ho bah?

[@harem_lord-FFM]

Calling Hokkien as Taiwanese is disrespectful in so many aspects.

[@eechoylee6532]

That's Taiwan Version of閩南語Hokkien South

[@bensontam]

Fun Fact: Hokkien is also "Chinese" Dialect. If you want to be completely independent from China, I suggest you use the language spoken by the aboriginal people in Taiwan.

[@johnsavard7583]

They wish to speak their own language. And be independent of the Beijing Coimmunist regime. Not to stop being Han. But people say "China" when they mean Red China, the mainland. So the Taiwanese may say they are not Chinese (as an oversimplified way) to correct people who think the PRC has a (legitimate) claim to Taiwan. But you don't have to be white to live under democracy, or non-Han, Han people can live in freedom too, as Taiwan proves.

[@sktzn6829]

The US wanted independence from the British Empire, yet they still spoke English. A majority of Taiwanese people today are descendants from southern Fujian, where Hokkien is spoken

[@eruno_]

Taiwanese is a language according to Taiwanese and you can do nothing about it. Do you also attack Norwegians by saying their language is Danish because of similarities?

[@eruno_]

​@@sktzn6829 Taiwanese language has differences from mainland Hokkien.

[@sktzn6829]

@@eruno_ I know, but it's still considered a variant/dialect of Hokkien, not a separate language

[@williamg102]

Taiwanesr language should be aboriginal language. The "Taiwanese" you are referring to is Hokkien Minnan dialect of China who numbers over 50-60 millions excluding Taiwan.

[@vintageguitarz1]

Sorry, but "Taiwanese" is NOT the "mother tongue" of Formosa, it Is STILL A MANDARIN Languuage of the "China" Colonialists! The REAL TAIWANESE is the AustrioAsian language that has nothing to do with Mandarin or Cantonese! THAT is the real Taiwanese! PhD Evolutionary Anthropologist, University of California at Berkeley.

[@thornados4969]

He clearly explained but you don't want to listen. Taiwanese is spoken by 80% of Taiwanese people so that's why it's the mother tongue. The Indigenous languages are only 5% and they have different versions and diverse where even among themselves could not understand each other.

[@michaelyuan3382]

Austronesian languages are the mother tongues of the aborigines of Taiwan and should be preserved and promoted at all costs. But Taiwanese Minnan and Hakka are also the mother tongues of the majority of Taiwanese of Han descent, most of whose families have been in Taiwan for hundreds of years, predating the Mandarin speakers by nearly half a millennium, not to mention the history of genocide and oppression by the Mandarin speakers of KMT against the local populations. The Austronesians predate the majority of Han Taiwanese by thousands of years, but there was also a Negrito people who predate the Austronesians. If simply predating another group gives one group exclusive rights to ownership of all heritage in Taiwan, then the "mother tongue" of Formosa should be a Negrito language, which became extinct with its people thousands of years ago. To deny that Taiwanese is the mother tongue of the majority of the people in Taiwan today with awakened nationalistic aspirations is akin to denying English is the mother tongue of the majority of Americans today. You can always dig up archaeologically older groups of inhabitants, but Realpolitik has to intervene at some point. The Taiwanese of Hokkien descent are the majority today in the population of Taiwan and have democratically elected control of the central government, and their mother tongue is Taiwanese. It were time to make Taiwanese the primary official language of Taiwan along with all other native languages.

[@eechoylee6532]

Taiwan Aborigines have 1st right to use the name台語