Tales of migration have been capturing the public’s attention since the Jews left Egypt to find the Promised Land. In Taiwan, one of the foremost novelists and essayists on migration, cultural diversity, and identity is Chih-Hsin Chang. who has a PhD in Taiwanese literature from National Cheng Kung University. Her “Hakka Road Trip Trilogy (客途三部曲)” is a collection of three novels. The first drew on her grandfather’s life in Vietnam, whereas the second was linked to her mother’s migration from her village to New Taipei City. The third was inspired by her father’s experience working at a resort.
“Taiwan’s history is unique—formed through layers of diverse cultures—and my literary journey has long centred on stories of migration and movement,” Chang tells the Toronto Spark. “As I explore the lives of people living on this island, I’ve come to see their stories as intricately linked to global currents and historical forces.”
Chang’s doctoral dissertation, “Rewriting and Dialogue: A Study on Writings by New Immigrants in Taiwan (2004–2015)”, furthered her insights. As part of her research, she interviewed founders and editors of publications created by and for migrant workers, such as Migrante News, 4-Way Voice, and Vietnamese Sisters Quarterly. As part of her creative process, she reconstructs migration stories of earlier times.
“For instance, the novel Weaving draws upon my grandfather’s personal experience and connects it with the Vietnam War and the rise and decline of the global textile industry,” she continues. “Another work, Xiumei, begins with the history of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan. My current novel-in-progress explores the stories of the Plains Indigenous peoples of Taiwan and connects them to the Spanish and Dutch colonial periods, as well as the era of Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) and Qing imperial rule.”
Chang honours Hakka grandmother
Xiumei is named after her Hakka grandmother, who was born during the Japanese colonial period and lived through decades of martial law under the Kuomintang government. It tells stories about her life through food.
“Her youngest son married a Hakka woman from Indonesia, and her second son married a Vietnamese woman,” Each dish in the story not only reflects the historical currents of the times but also connects deeply to Xiumei’s personal life experiences.”
As an example, the first dish in the book, “plain white rice”, ties back to Japanese colonial rule over Taiwan from 1895 to 1945. According to her, it reveals Xiumei’s complex feelings toward Japanese soldiers and Japan itself. It also touches on the harsh realities that she endured as a tea farmer’s adopted daughter.
Another dish, “chicken wine”, represents the period in Xiumei’s life when she was married and having children. In those days, people offered a gift of chicken wine to celebrate the birth of a boy, but not a girl.
“As her children grew up and Taiwanese society rapidly modernized, dishes like ‘seafood fried rice’, ‘pan-fried dumplings’. and ‘grandma’s sandwich’ responded to social changes—such as the arrival of Western restaurants in the small town, and women working in industrial areas with little time to prepare breakfast,” Chang explains. “These shifts in society and the times influenced how food looked and was experienced.”
Xiumei also relies on stories about food to highlight the diversity within her extended family.
“The dishes ‘chicken pho’, ‘Indonesian instant noodles’, and ‘Dragon Palace fruit’ tell stories of Xiumei’s interactions with her daughters-in-law from Indonesia and Vietnam.” Chang noes. “The ‘Hakka women’ here do not only refer to Xiumei’s generation but also include the previous generation and the Indonesian Hakka women who married into the family later on. Together, these different women around Xiumei enrich the diverse expressions of Hakka womanhood.”
As part of Toronto TAIWANfest, Chang will speak at 12:30 p.m. on August 23 at Lakeside Terrace at Harbourfront Centre. Her free presentation, Return Home: The Hakka Table and Journeys 轉屋下：客家人的餐桌與遠行, will be in Mandarin with English interpretation.
Taiwan is far from homogenous
Many Canadians look upon East Asian countries as being ethnically homogenous. They think of China as being filled with Han Chinese or Japan as an overwhelmingly monoracial nation. While Taiwan has a high percentage of residents with Han Chinese ancestry, there are distinct Han subgroups that speak different languages.
The Hoklo people, for example, trace their roots back to southeastern Fujian and speak Hokkien, which is a Southern Min language. Most have family histories dating back many generations in Taiwan, and they speak Taiwanese Hokkien.
Another Han subgroup speaks Hakka. The Hakka people migrated to Taiwan over the centuries from southern Chinese provinces, including Guangdong and Guangxi. They often moved into hilly regions, which is reflected in their music. Then there are the so-called “mainlanders”, a.k.a. waishengren, who moved from China to Taiwan between the end of the Second World War and the end of the Chinese Civil War. These are mostly Mandarin speakers who were part of the Kuomintang’s retreat from China.
Moreover, there are 16 government-recognized Indigenous tribes, which comprise about 2.5 percent of Taiwan’s population.
“My family background is richly diverse—beyond Hakka and Minnan heritage, we also have roods in Taiwan’s Indigenous communities, including the Atayal and Amis Peoples, as well as Vietnam, Indonesia, and South Africa,” Chang says.
“When I was in high school, my a-jîm (the Hailu Hakka word for aunt by marriage) joined our family from Kalimantan, Indonesia,” she adds. “In addition to speaking Indonesian, she was fluent in the Sixian dialect of Hakka, and we communicated primarily in Hakka at home. It felt as if she had simply moved from a nearby village rather than from another country.”
While Chang was in university, another aunt from Tây Ninh Province in Vietnam married into the family.
“At our family reunion dinners, alongside traditional Hakka dishes, we would also enjoy Indonesian and Vietnamese foods—Indonesian fried chicken, Indonesian curry, Vietnamese phở, and spring rolls, among others,” Chang says. “Much of my work begins with my family. I observe their migration journeys and try to understand, as broadly and deeply as possible, the reasons behind their movements. Through this, I’ve learned to view history in a more nuanced and complex way, and to approach questions of identity with a more inclusive and empathetic lens.”
Event details
Toronto TAIWANfest will present Return Home: The Hakka Table and Journeys 轉屋下：客家人的餐桌與遠行 at 12:30 p.m. on August 23 at Lakeside Terrace at Harbourfront Centre. Chih-Hsin Chang will speak in Mandarin with English interpretation. Toronto TAIWANfest takes place at Harbourfront Centre from August 22 to 24.
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