So, a “Taiwanese Hero” could only be a Taiwanese person that act heroically in Taiwan, and not someone who is seen as hero for Taiwanese people? How about a Taiwanese who was a hero abroad? And by the way, who is in fact “Taiwanese”?
(OK, maybe we shouldn’t go further on the last point… 
)
You said it.
Anyway, Dr. George L. Mackay is a Taiwanese hero, it’s just that he’s a really well known one. There are hospitals, roads and parks named after him, and there’s a statue of him in Tamsui. The same goes with Thomas Barclay, James L. Maxwell and William Campbell. Their names can be found in history textbooks and I feel like they need no introduction.
In case of Inoue, Mackay, and numerous missionaries after them, who devoted their lives to the people of this island, and chose or wished to live and die here, they are true Taiwanese, regardless of where they came from.
I don’t think there is one. One that actually resonates in popular culture. All the people mentioned, I’d bet less than 5% are aware of them. You also have controversial figures like former President Lee. Some argue that he opened the door to democracy. True but it is also argued that he was placed into the circumstance. You have both Mr. Lian and Mr. Song eyeing for power. Even with recent figures like Wang Chien Ming. He was considered a national pride then treated like side dish.
My perception of a hero. A figure that resonates through out culture, not occasionally remembered. There is just too much lacking in this culture for one to exist.
My perception of a hero. A figure that resonates through out culture, not occasionally remembered.
That’s a very narrow interpretation of the idea of a hero though. Most Americans probably can’t name a single 911 first responders, but that doesn’t make them any less of heroic.
Ususally heroes are placed into circumstances anyway. They just have the ability to be on the winning side, or have the integrity to be on the right side, and do the right things.
Those heroes that really have their names remembered in a society often are just propped up by propaganda anyway. Koxinga, Columbus and many more are such figures. They had some accomplishments, but no where worthy enough to be commemorated as some type of national hero, especially when you consider the atrocities they caused.
I see what you’re saying. The same goes for everyday common heroes, like 陳樹菊, who was actually recognized in Times. I was going more for a heroic figure, an icon, and I don’t believe one is present. If I were to name a couple. I would say the DPP members who were student activists. The sacrifices they went through for democracy. But too bad most don’t recognize them for their past efforts, instead their green label or mediocre political achievements today.
Your wrong on this point. You don’t need to be born somewhere to be a hero in your time and space. That’s just preposterous.
Taiwan has a short muddled history that doesn’t lend itself easily to national heroes.
The modern day also rakes up so much dirt on folks nobody can be untarnished.
Most famous in the world: international war hero Colonel Sanders:
Sorry, it’s a language issue.
Everyone in Taiwan likes Tom Cruise (or at least used to) .
Does that mean he’s a Taiwanese actor?
Do all those crap pasta restaurants make spaghetti Taiwanese food?
Pretty sure there’s a distinction between “Taiwanese hero” and “Hero to Taiwanese”.
He served under General Motors.
Chen Ching-chiu (陳靜秋): Head nurse at Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital during the Sars outbreak. She (and many others) lost her life to Sars while saving others - you can’t get more heroic than that. (If someone starts a Villains of Taiwan thread then the adminstrators of Hoping Hospital could be high on the list for not providing adequate protection to their workers, covering up the extent of the outbreak, and bungling the response to it)
Mona Rudao (Seediq tribe): led the Revolt of Wushe in Nantou County in 1930 against the Japanese authorities.
Raho Ari (Bunun Tribel): Scaled the peaks of the central range all the way to the source of the Laonung River. At Yusui, they set up a Bunun fortress and fought the Japanese police for more than a decade.
Lin Shulin (Amis Tribe): Resident of Shan Yuan Beach, Taidong. Began and led the protest movement against the combined might of the Miramar Group and the Taidong Council to stop corrupt land development. Succeeeded in uniting aborigines and raising awareness of land rights issues as well as preventing the Miramar Resort from opening on the grounds that it was illegally built.
Usually important personages in a country history will be commemorated in the country money.
For now, Taiwan commemorates these persons in their New Taiwan Dollar
Banknotes:
200: Late President Chiang Kai-shek
100: Dr. Sun Yat-sen
Coins:
20: Mona Rudao
10 and 50: Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founder of Chinese nationalism/Kuomintang
10: Late President Chiang Ching-kuo
10: Chiang Wei-shui, founder of Taiwanese People Party
10, 5 and 1: Late President Chiang Kai-shek
So, for lack a better justification, these people could be considered as “heroes” for many groups living in Taiwan currently.
FYI, there are a bunch of heroic kids and birds on the bank notes as well.
I remember asking my uncle who seems to know anything and everything about everything, about those kids on the bank note. After all these years of being the uncle that you usually don’t ask a question to because he’ll give you a half hour lecture to answer your question, he was stumped. Seriously, who are they?
The baseball team on the 500 bank note is not based on the KANO team? Seriously, who are they?
These from one of many 70’s-80’s Taiwan Little League team that often winning the Little League World Series.
Not sure which one though.
KANO team is from the Japanese pre-WW2 era. So definitely not them.
It’s no specific team, it’s just a tribute to Taiwan Youth Baseball
In that case the pheasant is the real hero
The baseball team on the 500 dollar bank note is the 1998 Nanwang elementary school (南王國小) team from Taidong. Nanwang basically means Puyuma, and most of the kids were Puyuma, but there were also a couple of Altayal kids.
The photo was taken as the team won the 5th Aboriginal Benefit Cup hosted by the TABDA (Taiwan Aboriginal Baseball Development Association), which is formed by a group of Aboriginal professional baseball players and coaches. The team went on to win the Pony League World Series that same year.
The team had a female starting pitcher Lu Guan-zhi (陸冠芝) who could throw over 100 kph. She plays professional golf now.
3 of the players made it into Taiwan’s pro league, however, only Lin Zhi-hsiang (林志祥) is still with the Lions. Tseng Song-wei (增菘瑋) and Huang Jia-ming (黃佳明) were pitchers for the Elephants, but both play for one of the city teams now. Tseng was in the minor league system, having been signed by the Cleveland Indians’ organization.
Actually I like to think it’s meant to commemorate the 1971 through 1974 :Little League teams that were widely accused of cheating.
Sort of a heartwarming tribute to traditional corruption.
Yuan T. Lee（李遠哲）？
I defer to your superior expertise.
