The Construction of 'Others' and 'Us': The Historical Room in the Taiwan Governor Museum in the 1930s

• Main Authors: I-MING HOU, 侯一明
• Other Authors: 張譽騰
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/75332959567494035268

碩士 === 國立臺南藝術大學 === 博物館學研究所 === 98 === Abstract The task of a colonial museum is not only to conserve the objects related to the investigation to the colony, but also to exhibit the investigation result. Though the interpretation of the objects will be changed by the new government after the decolonization, principles of the categorization may be discovered from the exploration of the material evidence. The islanders (the Hans in Taiwan) and the aborigines are “others” for the Japanese; however, the history room (in which the objects of the islanders are exhibited) is not used as an exhibition room for other cultures. This study is intended to explore the categorization of the exhibition room and objects adapted for the colonial museum by way of distinction between others and self. Between the islanders and the aborigines in Taiwan, the Japanese saw the latter as “others”. The aboriginal room in the Taiwan Governor Museum was used as an exhibition room of other cultures. Whereas, the co-exhibition in the history room, which included the objects of the islanders, copied objects from Japan, and commemorative objects about the history of the Japanese rule in Taiwan, revealed the idea of “the same” and that the island was part of Japan. In this case, the importance of the Japanese culture gradually took over that of the islanders’ culture. The conservation of the objects of the Pingpu tribes (acculturated aborigines) in the history room was inevitably caused by the Dutch rule and the special relationship between the Hans and the aborigines during the Qing rule. Those objects were categorized according to the properties of the documentation and the appliances. The crafts made of seashell by the Atayal Tribe (one of the Gaoshan tribes) used to be exhibited in the history room. They were categorized and moved to the anthropology room (the aboriginal room previously) later on by the scholars of Taipei Imperial University; and by which, the image of Gaoshan tribes as aboriginal tribes were restored. After the 8th year of Showa (1933), the exhibition of “Takasago Times” from Japan was held in the history room for the description of Taiwanese history. And the exhibition of “Anthropology Research in the Island” that aimed to distinguish the Han culture from the island led to the vague definition between others and self. In the 8th year of Showa (1933), the scholars of Taipei Imperial University updated the exhibition and established the Taiwan Association of Museums. Ever since then, it moved on to a new era of research scholars planning exhibitions in the museum. After the transition in 1933, the interpretations and research applied to the objects in the history room were presented in different ways. The anthropology used for the categorization of the aboriginal tribes and the academic subject of history was under the influence of the anthropology and the archeology. The distinction between the aborigines and the Hans might be well showed in the exhibition of “The Early History”. The way of researching and collecting used for the exhibitions during the Dutch rule, Spanish rule, the Zheng rule and the exhibition of “Takasago Times” were affected by the historical science, such as the use of overseas data and the reproduction of objects by way of painting and transcription. The interpretations applied to the exhibitions from the Qing rule to the Japanese rule were put into comparison. The research performed on various ways of categorization contains the dialectical process of the coexistence of others and the self in the exhibition. This study concerns the meaning of the distinction between the Hans and the aborigines, and the relationship as well as the distinction between Japan and Taiwan. The museum is an exhibition area of the academic research and the mainstream culture. The way of collecting and exhibition reflects the colonial government’s recognition to the “others” in Taiwan. This study focuses on exploring the relationship among the methods used for the recognition, museum and academic development.