7 lessons I learned about studying history from the first agrarian revolt in Taiwan

Taipei City, Taiwan | Photo by Eric Huang on Unsplash

In 1925, workers clashed with police in the Erlin Sugarcane Worker’s Revolt. Remembering this history means resisting the colonizing bias of History as a discipline. Here’s 7 important lessons:

1. No records of the oppressed means no history of resistance or solidarity — exploited migrants collaborated and co-mingled with indigenous people. The sub-culture they produced, the values they fought for isn’t recorded by history, so it’s difficult to imagine and be inspired by our history of resistance because it’s been erased.
2. Loss of context is replaced by colonizer’s ways of knowing — there is a rich history of spiritual knowledge and other ways of knowing, all of which has been delegitimized and mostly destroyed by white colonizers. The discontinuation of these traditions means we default to understanding our history through the eyes of our colonizers.
3. Modern history is told from the perspective of a white male protagonist — “In a conflict between our group W and someone else, our leader V skillfully and righteously triumphed” versus “We lived amongst ourselves according to our own amazing culture when suddenly various groups attempted to colonize our labor and our resources. We resisted in many ways that continue to today.” History teaches us the stories oppressors tell themselves (usually).
4. The continued non-existence of the history of the oppressed is colonization — Who lacks the time, energy, and resources to tell their history? Indigenous people, migrant labor, and people without access to resources. The few sympathizing white historians who do record these stories lack the empathy to truly tell others’ stories and lack the decolonized awareness to share resources so marginalized folks can tell their own story. More writing isn’t always decolonizing.
5. Mainstream community events actively marginalize and erase the oppressed — Whenever nationalism is celebrated without regard for oppressed folks’ dignity, the relationship between colonizer and colonized is refreshed and legitimized. Colonizers celebrate the defeat of the colonized through nationalism as the right to control others’ resources for their own glory, in what is known as settler colonialism.
6. Listening as an individual or community means seeking consent and permission — For example, in the US we often celebrate “Chinese New Year” rather than the “Lunar New Year.” This practice erases other Asians who celebrate the Lunar New Year and facilitates the legitimacy of Chinese settlers in America to represent Asian America instead of sharing space with Southeast Asians, South Asians, and Pacific Islanders. Instead, we could work together in a way where all communities can celebrate with recognition and dignity.
7. The construction of history as colonial fantasy is similar in all disciplines and institutions — Legitimate scholarship means citing Western history books. Legitimate governance means following Western democratic conventions. Legitimate perspective means communicating as an “individual” with “rights” (as enforced by violent state power based on stolen resources) rather than a community with traditions. Decolonizing your mind and community is so much more than remembering our history.

Like the article? Learn more by listening to the Rad Chinese Podcast and hearing the episode (editing in progress) where we discuss this reading by Lisa Lowe and Hong Kai-Wong on the Erlin Sugarcane Worker’s Revolt.