About Taiwan About the Institute of Sociology
About Committee on Family Research (RC06), ISA
Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan 
Official Website
Academia Sinica, founded in 1928, is the most prominent academic institution in the Republic of China. While affiliated directly to the Presidential Office of R.O.C, Academia Sinica enjoys independence and autonomy in formulating its own research objectives. Its major tasks are to undertake in-depth academic research on various subjects in the sciences and humanities, and to provide guidelines, channels of coordination, and incentives with a view to raising academic standards in the country. In recent years, under the leadership of President Yuan T. Lee, Academia Sinica has been transformed into a modern research institution. Many of the 25 research institutes are now headed by world-class scholars and staffed by highly-trained, motivated, and creative young investigators. Major strides have also been made toward raising the standards of academic research, and Academia Sinica is presently positioning itself to move its research activities to the international level. Aside from placing greater emphasis on opening up new areas of intellectual endeavors, Academia Sinica is also taking a leadership role to launch new initiatives in the applied areas to meet the broad spectrum of societal needs within Taiwan. Towards fulfilling these goals, Academia Sinica has adopted various measures to promote internal integration of research activities in the three research disciplines (mathematics and physical sciences; life sciences; and the humanities and social sciences); to help with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of long-term projects in order to enhance the impact of the research activities; to harness basic research results for applications and technology transfer; to engage the academic and research community within Taiwan toward a modern and forward-looking collective academic vision; to cultivate an intellectual environment that is conducive to the nurturing of young scholars and the recognition of outstanding scholarship in Taiwan; and to promote international cooperation and scholarly exchanges that will accelerate the overall development of academic research in Academia Sinica and the Republic of China. (more) |
Institute of Sociology Official Website
Research Projects
When plans to formalize the Institute were being made in 1999, six major objectives were formulated: to promote indigenous sociological research and subjectivity of sociology of Taiwan: to promote social research in societies close to Taiwan and area studies; to enforce international comparative studies, to systematize the study of important sociological areas; to pursue creative research topics; and to emphasize interaction and cooperation with other sociological communities. Major research themes for the coming years will focus on family study, organization and social network, social change survey, classification and consciousness of the peoplehood of Taiwan, and new social phenomena and problems. The Institute of Sociology Preparatory office was set up on May 1, 1995. After more than four years of preparation, the Institute was formalized by the Presidential Office on January 10, 2000. Since July 1995, sixteen researchers have transferred to the Institute of Sociology from other Institutes of Academia Sinica. In addition, four young researchers have been appointed. Since April 1996, faculty members with common interests have been encouraged to form research groups. Currently, there are four research groups organized for studying: (1) Ethnicity and Class; (2) Family and life history; (3) Organization and social network; and (4) Information and technology society. |
Major Research Accomplishments
In the past five years, the researchers of the Institute have conducted fifty research projects and published 167 papers, presented 154 conference papers, 45 monographs and 18 volumes of conference papers. The Institute also publishes Sociological Abstracts in Taiwan, and Taiwanese Sociology jointly with the Department of Sociology, National Taiwan University. The Institute also organizes conferences or workshops frequently each year. The topics of several of the recent conferences are:
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Established in 1959 Board 1998-2002 Forthcoming activities Publications Membership
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Taiwan is an island country in the East Asia. From the terrestrial globe, off the eastern coast of Asia lay the mountainous island arcs of the Western Pacific. The island chain closest to the continent marks the edge of the Asiatic Continental Shelf, and Taiwan, part of this island chain, is the largest body of land between Japan and the Philippines.
Taiwan, as an island, is 247 mile long and 90 mile at its widest point. With a total area of nearly 14,063 square mile, Taiwan is shaped like a yam or a whale (depend on which angle you take). The Taiwan Strait separates Taiwan from Mainland China, which is about 220 km at its widest point and 130 km at its narrowest.
The most important feature of Taiwan's topography is the central range of high mountains running from the northeast corner to the southern tip of the island. Taiwan lies in the path of severe tropical cyclones known in East Asia as typhoons. An average of three to four typhoons hit Taiwan every year, usually in July through September. The mean monthly temperature in the lowlands is about 60 °F in the winter, and ranges between 77 °F and 86 °F for the rest of the year. The relative humidity averages about 80 percent.
Another significant natural hazard for Taiwan is the earthquake. The largest earthquake in recent year occurred in September 21, 1999. The powerful and devastating earthquake registered a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale. This massive "921 Earthquake" caused deaths of 2,415 people, 11,305 injured, and left 29 still unaccounted for, while more than 5,004 people were rescued from collapsed buildings.
The population density of Taiwan stood at 1,567 persons per square mile, making it the second highest in the world behind Bangladesh. Taipei, which covers 107 square mile, is Taiwan's most crowded urban area with 25,000 persons per square mile. Heavily populated urban areas have grown outside the official limits of major cities, forming large metropolitan areas, which are now home to 68.37 percent of Taiwan's total population. On the other hand, the birth rate has steadily reduced due to increased education, delayed marriages, and comparatively fewer potential mothers between ages of 20 and 34. Since 1984, the population replacement rate has remained below one, dropping to 0.7 in 1999. By 1999, the population growth rate had dropped to 0.75 percent low.
Interestingly enough, among the 284,073 births registered in the Taiwan in 1999, there were 109.47 boys for every 100-baby girl. Since the global ratio of males to females at birth is about 105:100, the ratio in Taiwan reflects the traditional preference among Asian parents for boys over girls. This preference has led to an imbalance between numbers of boys and girls. Many young Taiwanese newlyweds plan to have only one child for economic concern as well as lifestyle preference. In early 1960s, 72 percent of Taiwanese parents favored two children, but the percentage had decreased to 24 percent by 1991. However, the dominant cultural preference of male descendants has resulted in parents’ preference for one boy.
Large tribes of indigenous peoples as well as migrants, mostly Han people, from the Mainland China have been residents in Taiwan for several centuries when Europeans first visited the island in 1590. Portuguese navigators were the first visitors, struck by the beauty of Taiwan’s green mountains rising steeply of the blue-green waters of the Pacific, they named the island Ilha Formosa, or "beautiful island," a name Taiwan has been known in the West for centuries after. Next groups of Europeans arrived Taiwan were the Spanish and the Dutch. In 1622, Taiwan has become an important trading and transshipment center for goods among a number of areas, such as Japan, China, Jakarta, and Holland. In addition to trading, Dutch missionaries were also active in converting Taiwanese into Christianity. Protestant missionaries established schools where religion and the Dutch language were taught. By 1650, the Dutch had converted approximately 5,900 of the island's inhabitants to Christianity.
In 1895, Japan seized Taiwan. Unlike the Dutch, who colonized Taiwan in the 17th century mainly for immediate commercial gains, the Japanese aimed at establishing effective political control over the island at the start of the 20th century. Thus, the Japanese policeman rather than the missionary became the most important tool in the exercise of colonial goals. During its 50-years’ rule of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, Japan developed programs designed to supply the Japanese empire with agricultural products, created demand for Japanese industrial products, and provided living space for emigrants from an increasingly overpopulated home country. In short, Japan was intended to build an industrial homeland and an agricultural Taiwan. Despite the relative success in transforming Taiwan into a society that, economically, was rather modern in comparison with its neighbors, resistance against alien rule never ceased in the island. Liberation from the colonial rule was accomplished vis-à-vis a total defeat of Japan in 1945.
In the post-1949 era, Taiwan has experienced the well-known economic success with consequent significant rise in income and living standards. At the same time, the social transformation following the lifting of martial law in 1987 has steadily occurred. The legalization of labor strikes, street demonstrations, and the formation of new political parties gave rise to the enhancement of freedom and power. To lift restrictions on newspapers and publishing have resulted in an explosion of media growth as well as in a broadening perspectives for an increasingly sophisticated audience.
Over the last half century, Taiwan has completed the process of an industrial transformation from an agriculture society into a service-based modern economy. Figure X shows that back in the 1950s, agriculture had higher sharing in the gross product than industry (32% vs. 21%).
But the importance of agriculture declines rapidly since then, and became almost nil by 1999 (2.5%). The industry sector demonstrates a curve growth by first steadily elevating to almost half of the national gross product in the 1980s (45%-47%), then slowly decreases to approximately one third of the product. Service industry, on the other hand, experiences a continuous growth from 46% in 1951 to 64% in 1999 and has become the major industry in Taiwan.
With the impressive progress of economy, the annual per capital income for each Taiwanese has thus grown from less than U.S.$500 before 1970s to more than U.S.$13,000 since mid-1990s, and is now the 3rd highest in Asia.
In the process of economic development, the reason that Taiwan was able to thrive and sustain a high level of economic growth can be attributed to various effective export-oriented policies adopted by the government since the 1960s. Over the past decade, political democratization and economic liberalization have brought about a more prosperous Taiwan. As a result, the spending power of both the government and the private sector has increased immensely.
Despite the generally lackluster performance of the domestic economy in recent years, Taiwan's hardware information technology industry still enjoys significant growth. Taiwan is now the world’s third largest producer, next to the U.S. and Japan. As to the production of notebook computers, monitors, motherboards, and scanners, Taiwan ranks first supplying over half of the world’s market. The encouraging performance of Taiwan’s high-tech industries in recent decades has brought the dream of developing Taiwan into a “green silicon island” in Asia.
Religion
Religion in Taiwan takes a diverse form in its expression. Firstly, almost all Taiwanese, even those without formal religious belief, engage in religious practices stemming from one or a combination of traditional Chinese folk religions. It is very common for homes and shops to furnish lighted shrine with incense burning to honor a deity, hero, or ancestor. Most families perform filial duties of ancestral worship. At important occasions, such as child getting married or taking the entrance examination, a visit to the temple is expected to bring luck or to solicit divine assistance. Even taxi drivers will put charms, amulets, statuettes or religious slogans inside the car for protection against accidents and harm.
The rituals of many polytheists and non-revelatory religions in Taiwan--such as burning incense sticks, chanting, and the like--have more or less merged with each other.
The latest figures released in 1999 indicate that about 10.8 million people in Taiwan (almost half of the population) are labeled religious believers, about 49000 temples and churches spread around the island.
Religious groups have traditionally been the backbone of community services in Taiwan. Despite different religions, organizations affiliated with specific religions establish or operate hospitals, schools, retirement homes, as well as other social welfare agencies such as mentally retarded homes or rehabilitation centers. In addition to sharing a common concern for the poor and disaster victims, religious groups in Taiwan have also taken the lead in organizing cultural and recreational activities. Whereas the Protestant church has focused on promoting youth activities, Taoist organizations have channeled much of their efforts into preserving and staging traditional Chinese dramas, and Buddhist groups have offered a wide range of self-improvement seminars.
Another important characteristic of the Taiwanese religion is its non-exclusive nature. Most religions currently practiced in Taiwan are for the most part combinations of several religions. Take Taoism for example, which is rooted in traditional Chinese philosophy, has absorbed many aspects of non-Chinese dogmas. Unlike the Islamic, Jewish, and Christianity, which requires believers to worship its own God, most Chinese seldom felt necessary to exclude other faiths from their personal or collective religious life. The popular Taiwan folk deity Matsu, Goddess of the Sea, and Kuanyin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, are often worshiped together in the same temple is an example. This reveals the special character of the Chinese religion that able to accommodate seemingly contradictory beliefs.
People
The population of Taiwan numbers is more than 22 million. Except for an estimated 390,000 aborigines, the people of Taiwan originated from the Chinese mainland. The island's population density is the second highest in the world after Bangladesh, estimated at 609 per square kilometer; the birth rate is 1.27%, while the death rate stands at 0.534%; and average life expectancy is 77 years, with men living an average of 74 years and women 80 years. Taipei and Kaohsiung are the island's major metropolises with populations of 6,400,000 and 2,690,000 respectively.
Cultures
Along with the progression of history, the inhabitants of Taiwan have ranged from aborigines, early Chinese mainland immigrants of Minnan (southern Fujian) and Hakka origins, the Dutch, the Spanish, and the Japanese to the recent immigrants from the Chinese mainland. The local people highly value the preservation of traditional cultures while gradually developing cultures of new shapes.
As a result, not only can you observe the different cultures contributed by aborigines, the local people, and immigrants from the Chinese mainland, but you can also appreciate the historical sites left by the Dutch and Japanese.
The East Coast National Scenic Area
The East Coast National Scenic Area, known as "Taiwan's last unspoiled land", stretches 170 kilometers down the east coast of the island from the mouth of the Hualien River in the north to Shiauyeliou (Little Yeliou) in the south. To the east it is bounded by the Pacific Ocean; to the west rises the Coastal Mountain Range. The land here consists of volcanic rock, classic rock from deep beneath the sea, and shale that has been pushed upward- and is still being pushed upward- by tectonic action. Weathering, erosion, and accumulation have produced a wide range of landforms here, including coastal terraces, sand and pebble beaches, shoreline reefs, inshore islands, and capes along with sea-eroded platforms, trenches, and caves. This varied topography provides habitat for a rich diversity of flora and fauna.
The East Coast is the primary homeland of the Amis aboriginal tribe. Amis villages' dot the coastline, and the harvest festivals that they hold in July and August every year offer visitors an opportunity to gain insights into the culture of this unique people. Before the Amis settled here there were prehistoric peoples who came and went, leaving a rich store of artifacts and ancient sites that can still be seen today. Among the more modern cultural features of the coastline are enchanting temples, churches, and quaint fishing villages. This rich store of natural and cultural assets prompted the Tourism Bureau to establish the East Coast National Scenic Area in 1988, and to engage in the active development of the leisure resources here.
The Hot Tourist Place of East Coast---Hualien
Hualien is very large and its natrual resources plentiful. Each year approximately one-third of the agricultural surplus can be exported. Because of the effective use of waterways and mountain slopes, seedless watermelons, sugar cane, silkworm mulberry leaves, and tea have become Hualien's chief exports.
The Central Government has forests within the county occupying 329,700 hectares. Datefrom: The Discussion and Expectation of the Hualien County's Development Policy High quality logs like red cypress, paulownia are among Hualien's major exports.Others such as bamboo, fir, camphor, and firmiana also enjoy a large volume of exports. Mountain slopes here are very broad so the potential for raising livestock there is very good. Because the Pacific's Black Current flows near Hualien, migratory-swimming fish and deep-water fish abound. For more information, Please visit Hualian official website
Museums
National Palace Museum official website
The largest museum in Taiwan is the National Palace Museum, so named because most of the collection originally belonged to the Ch'ing Dynasty court. To get there from Academia Sinica, take the 620. After about 45 minutes, you will go through a tunnel. After the tunnel, wait until the bus takes a left turn, get off (at the Soochou University Stop), cross the street, and take the 304. This bus ends at the National Palace Museum (across the street and up the wide steps).
Performing Art---National Theatre and Concert Hall
http://www.ntch.edu.tw/english/english.htm
Taipei Fine Art Museum http://www.tfam.gov.tw
Taiwan's first contemporary art museum, TFAM was officially opened to the public on 24 December 1983. Located in Taipei's Yuanshan district, the museum occupies over 20,000 square meters of space, of which 15,000 square meters are devoted to exhibition space.
TFAM is fulfilling its mission to promote contemporary art in Taiwan by planning exhibitions, by collecting artwork from Taiwan and abroad, and by encouraging art-related education and research. TFAM also promotes international exchange, providing a point of contact with the international art scene through its outreach programs within Taiwan and its sponsorship of Taiwanese art exhibitions abroad.
Other Information
Weather: Central Weather Bureau https://www.cwa.gov.tw/eng/
For more information about tourism in Taiwan, where to go and how to get there, check out the magazine Travel in Taiwan http://www.sinica.edu.tw/tit/index.html
or the Travel Guide to Taiwan http://travel.cybertaiwan.com
For more information about travel in Taiwan, try the Travel Bureau of Taiwan http://www.tbroc.gov.tw
Introduction Taiwan