Ginger Lin: The Personal in the Middle of Taiwanese History and Transnational Migration
专访林金枝: 在台湾历史、跨国迁徙与个人之间
在 Bennington College 的第一个学期，我就上了 Ginger 的关于前卫艺术的中文课。尽管 Ginger 是教授，但她却没有教授的权威与距离感，她关心每一个学生，又风趣幽默，是 Bennington 最受欢迎的教授之一。
During my first term at Bennington College, I took Ginger's Chinese class on avant-garde art in China. Although Ginger was a professor, she did not have the authority and distance I was used to from other teachers. Ginger, witty and humorous, cares about each student and is regarded as one of the most popular professors at Bennington.
作为一个在 Bennington 的中国学生，同讲中文的 Ginger 是我在美国这片异土感到一点支撑的人之一。从 Ginger 那里，我收获很多温暖与关怀，同时也通过 Ginger 和她口中叙述的一个个具体的故事，逐渐构建我对台湾这个小岛的理解——一个我原本在中国无法仅仅通过阅读了解的台湾。
As a student from China, Ginger, who also speaks Chinese, is one of the people who help to anchor me in this foreign land of America, giving me warmth and love. Through her, I gradually built my understanding of Taiwan — a small island that I could not solely comprehend through the simple readings I had done back in China.
几周之前，在 Barn 的一间教室里，我作为 (M)otherTongues 的志愿者，采访了Ginger。在一个多小时的对话中，我们聊到 Ginger 来到美国的经历、台湾的殖民历史以及它如今的民主社会。Ginger的故事中勾勒出时代的变迁，这也使其中那些闪现出的小小故事显得格外生动和珍贵。
A few weeks ago, in a classroom at Barn, I interviewed Ginger as a volunteer for (M)othertongues. In a conversation that lasted more than an hour, we talked about her experience of coming to America, Taiwan's colonial history, and its present democratic society. From Ginger's poignant stories, one can gain not only a better understanding of multiple eras of Taiwanese history, but also become intrigued by the vivid and precious little anecdotes of her own life story that shine just as brightly.
Ginger 成长在台湾的东部，在这片有着原住民历史与殖民历史的土地上，Ginger的童年也彰显出台湾历史的纠葛。有趣的是，尽管 Ginger 在 Bennington 教授中文（普通话），普通话却不算是她的母语，Ginger 的母语是闽南话和日语的结合。Ginger 提到在家中，她的母亲说大约30%的日文和70%的台语，因此 Ginger 幼时一直以为日文也是闽南语。直至后来在学校学习日文，她才发现原来自己在家中说的语言是日语。家中的用品——窗帘、桌子都是日文，自己的母亲也曾在日本学校上学，周围的邻居也有着日本名字。
Ginger grew up in the eastern part of Taiwan, where the history of aboriginal peoples and the traces left by colonialism are still evident. Interestingly, although Ginger teaches it at Bennington, Mandarin is not her native language; her native language is a combination of Taiwanese and Japanese. Ginger mentioned that her mother spoke about 30% Japanese and 70% Taiwanese at home, so she always thought that the two languages were one. It wasn't until much later, when Ginger began to study Japanese at school, that she realized that this language was part of what she grew up with. Items in the house — curtains, tables — were all in Japanese, her mother also used to go to Japanese schools, and her neighbors had Japanese names.
这是日治时期在Ginger身上留下的痕迹。1895年至1945年，台湾由日本统治，在台湾历史上被称为“日治时期”。日本对台湾的五十年殖民，在语言、文化习惯上有很大的影响，留下很多日本殖民后的痕迹。1910年，日语在台湾变成“国语”，学生在学校里都要说日语；1937年，中文报纸全面禁止。Ginger后来补充到，“这也是为什么我的妈妈在家说一半日语，一半台湾话/闽南话，我却不知道。”
This is a trace left on Ginger from the Japanese colonial period. From 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was ruled by Japan, known in Taiwanese history as the "Japanese rule period (日治时期)." The Japanese colonization of Taiwan for fifty years had a significant impact on language and cultural customs. In 1910, Japanese became the "national language" in Taiwan, and students were required to speak Japanese in schools; in 1937, newspapers in Chinese were completely banned. Ginger later added, "That's also why my mom spoke half Japanese and half Taiwanese/Hokkien at home, and I didn't know."
1945年，随着第二次世界大战的结束，日本在台湾的殖民统治终结。中国内战中，蒋介石的国民党败退，最终逃至台湾接管该岛。在国民党的统治时期，政府贪腐、通货膨胀、军队纪律等问题都尤为严重。政府垄断了经济决定权，民不聊生，大量中国移民的涌入也加剧了陆台之间的冲突。这些不满情绪最终导致了1947年蔓延全岛的反政府运动，各地爆发军民冲突，这即是台湾历史上著名的“二二八事件”。在这场冲突中，许多知识分子和平民百姓被杀害，这也为1950年代的“白色恐怖”时期拉开了序幕。白色恐怖时期，中华民国政府借由公权力迫害持不同政见者，造成大量的冤死与冤狱。在采访中，Ginger也讲述了在白色恐怖时期她祖父的故事：
我的祖父是一个律师，当时他们在吃饭，一些士兵突然闯进来，把我的祖父拉出去，没有掩饰。这个是我的祖母告诉我的，当时他们在吃饭，他们都很害怕，几分钟之后，他们听到“崩、崩、崩”，我的祖父就死了。
这一段艰难的历史对于来自中国的、比Ginger年轻许多的我来说难以想象。今年年初我去台湾观看了台湾的总统大选，如今走在台湾的街头似乎已难以想象政治迫害是如何在这片土地上曾经上演。Ginger说，“二二八是一段艰难的历史，现在2月28日已成国定纪念日之一，但是年轻人却不甚在乎过去的历史。”
In 1945, with the end of World War II, Japan's colonial rule over Taiwan came to an end. During the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China) retreated and eventually fled to Taiwan, taking over the island. During the Kuomintang's rule, government corruption, inflation, and military discipline were particularly severe. The government monopolized economic decision-making, people were struggling to make ends meet, and the influx of mainland immigrants increased tensions between mainlanders and Taiwanese. Those struggles ignited the people’s outrage, leading to the island-wide anti-government movement in 1947, which triggered armed conflicts between the military and civilians, known as the famous "February 28 Incident" in Taiwanese history. During those turmoils, many intellectuals and civilians were killed, marking the beginning of the "White Terror" period in the 1950s. During this time, the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) persecuted opponents using state power, resulting in numerous unjust deaths and imprisonments. In the interview, Ginger also recounted the story of her grandfather during the White Terror period:
“So my grandpa, he was a lawyer. They [Ginger’s family] were eating dinner, and some soldier came in and pulled him out. And then, no cover, not even a secret, it was open. So my grandma told me, they are eating and they are so scared. After a few minutes, they heard––Bang, bang, bang, bang! My grandpa died."
This difficult and distant history is hard for me, a much younger person from China, to imagine. Earlier this year, I went to Taiwan to watch the presidential election. Now, walking the streets of Taiwan, it seems difficult to imagine how political persecution once played out in this country. Ginger said, "So now we set 2/28 to become a national day. It's a hard history, but most young people, they don't care."
如今的台湾拥有民主，现任总统蔡英文将台湾视作一个民主国家，在她的任内，台湾通过了同性婚姻法律、实行了新的军公教（军人、公务人员、公立学校教师）优惠政策、并对国民党的部分党产进行了调查和没收。“她很棒，因为她不在乎结果以及别人是如何看她的。”Ginger说，“我一直都是100%关注台湾的政治变化，台湾的民主是幸运的，但也很脆弱。我们牺牲了这么多的生命，许多议员曾被关在监狱中20年或是15年，你能想象吗？对我们这代人来说，没有什么比自由更重要。”
Today, Taiwan has democracy. The current president, Tsai Ing-wen, regards Taiwan as a democratic country. During her tenure, Taiwan passed laws on same-sex marriage, implemented new preferential policies for military and civil servants, and investigated and seized part of the Kuomintang's party assets. "She's amazing because she doesn't care about the consequences, how people think about her," Ginger said. "I always pay 100% attention to Taiwan's political changing situation. Taiwan's democracy is very lucky and also fragile. Very fragile because we have so many people that sacrificed their lives. And now a lot of senators, they used to be in jail for 20 years, 15 years. Can you imagine? For my age, nothing is more important than freedom."
Ginger成长的东部也是大量原住民居住的地方。从小和原住民朋友玩耍，Ginger儿时会说原住民语言。然而，当谈及台湾政府的原住民政策时，Ginger指出，台湾的原住民面临着来自中国、日本、荷兰以及台湾本地的多方面压力。尽管现在有更多的政策来保障他们的权益，例如大学入学优惠政策以及给予原住民一定席位的立法委员（山地原住民3名，平地原住民3名），在台东、花莲也有很多原住民文化保护基地，但是对于原住民的保障仍然远远不够，尤其是他们的语言正在消亡。“很多原住民年轻人已经不会说他们的语言了，这让我感到难过，他们应该坚持说他们的语言。”Ginger说，“我曾经也说原住民语言，但现在我已经忘记了，他们也是。”
The eastern region of Taiwan, where Ginger grew up, is also a place where many aboriginal people live. She used to play with her aboriginal friends when she was young and could speak their language. However, when it comes to Taiwan's government policy towards aboriginal people, Ginger said that aboriginal people in Taiwan have been oppressed by multiple parties — China, Japan, the Netherlands and Taiwan. Even though there are more policies now to protect their rights—such as preferential policies for university admission and reserved seats in parliament, and many aboriginal cultural preservation sites in Taitung and Hualien—it is still far from enough to protect aboriginal rights. Especially since their language is dying out. "And the young people, I met a lot of aboriginal young people, they cannot speak their language. So I feel sad. They should speak their language. I used to speak, but I forgot. And they too, they forgot. "
身在美国，Ginger似乎也不得不做出相似的妥协，当被问到为何选择教授普通话而不是闽南语时，Ginger的回答并没有让我感到意外，“因为没有太多人知道、进而希望学习闽南语、原住民语言。”Ginger提到在中国改革开放后，中国在世界范围内有了更大的影响力，学中文（普通话）成为潮流，彼时人们还没有意识到台湾的存在。Ginger用了一个比喻来解释台湾的处境：如果台湾想出头，中国会把它按在水中。“台湾在各个方面都受到打压，经济、政治，但是台湾人民又是如此好，他们勤奋、安静、低调。”
Living in the United States, Ginger apparently also has to make similar compromises. When asked why she chose to teach Mandarin instead of Taiwanese, Ginger's answer did not surprise me: "That's no choice, because when I came to America and I went to another school, the only choice is Mandarin Chinese. Nobody wanted to learn Taiwanese. " Ginger mentioned that after China's reform and opening up, it has had a greater influence worldwide, and learning Chinese (Mandarin) has become a trend. At that time, people were not aware of Taiwan's existence. Ginger used a metaphor to explain Taiwan's situation: If Taiwan wants to stand out, China will press it down in the water. "We are suppressed in economy, politics, international, any kind of affairs. But Taiwanese people, they are so amazing too. They're just very diligent and very quiet, very low key."
在Ginger的故事中，我看到日本殖民、白色恐怖与中国压迫是如何书写进她的生命中的。而如今的Ginger在美国已二十余载，从台湾带来的历史记忆在美国的环境下给她的身份又多了一层复杂性。
In Ginger's story, I see how Japanese colonization, the White Terror, and Chinese oppression are inscribed into her life. Now, having lived in the United States for over 20 years, adds a new layer of complexity to her experience as a Taiwanese.
Ginger第一次来到美国是1995年，当时她住在Burlington。自己驱车前往西雅图时，自己的车就被砸坏，放在车中的所有爵士和摇滚乐CD都被偷了。采访时，如今的Ginger颇带打趣意味地说，那时自己对美国的印象很不好，又掺杂着很多文化冲击。当时Ginger的丈夫已经在西雅图找到一份工作，然而由于对美国生活始终有恐惧，Ginger对丈夫说：“我想离开。”随后便买了一张机票飞回了台湾，回到了原来的学校教文学与哲学。
Ginger first came to the United States in 1995. At that time, she lived in Burlington, and often drove to Seattle by herself. On the first day, her car was vandalized, and all her jazz and rock CDs in the car were stolen. In the interview, Ginger, now with a hint of humor, said that her impression of America at that time was not good, mixed with a lot of cultural shock. Ginger's husband had already found a job in Seattle at that time, but due to her persistent fear of American life, Ginger said to her husband, "I want to leave," and then bought a ticket back to Taiwan, to return to her original school where she taught literature and philosophy.
随后的几年中，由于保持绿卡的要求，Ginger仍然每年飞到美国，但在美国感受到的文化冲击的恐惧仍然徘徊。然而，和大多数远赴他乡的人一样，Ginger选择再次前往美国并定居的原因是因为自己的孩子。回到台湾的几年后，Ginger有了两个孩子，考虑到台湾竞争激烈的教育环境，Ginger在2005年回到了美国。
In the following years, in order to maintain her green card, Ginger still flew to the United States every year, but the fear of cultural shock she experienced here still lingered. However, like most people who venture to foreign lands, Ginger's reason for choosing to return to the United States and settle down again was her children. After a few years back in Taiwan, Ginger had two children. Considering Taiwan's competitive educational environment, she returned to the United States in 2005.
第二次尝试在美国生活，Ginger说自己仍然会感到文化冲击，可是孩子似乎使一切困难都变得不再那么困难了，“人年纪大了就会不一样，当你有了孩子了之后一切都不一样，你变得更勇敢、更有力量。”Ginger曾思考如何了解美国文化，于是她阅读了许多美国小说，孩子学校要求读什么小说，Ginger便也读。她也观看很多政治节目，以此去了解美国的文化，在这之后，她逐渐发现曾经的文化冲击已经不再那么明显了。
In her second attempt to live in the United States, Ginger still felt culture shock, but her children seemed to make all her struggles seem less difficult. "But it's different when you grow older and you have a kid. You become brave, more brave. And you have more power. You feel, no matter what, I have to overcome everything. " Ginger looked for new ways to immerse herself into U.S. culture, and soon she began to read more American novels. When her children's school required them to read certain books, she read them too. She also watched many political TV shows to understand American culture, and after that, the former cultural shock gradually disappeared.
Ginger 尤其喜欢通过读书了解不同的观点。她喜欢听自己的女儿朗读书。“我的女儿很喜欢读书，我们每天都会读一本书，我坐着，女儿读给我听。”Ginger说自己的女儿很害羞，可是每次朗读起书，她似乎就变得不再害羞了，“她好像在表演，我们都很开心。”
Ginger especially enjoys understanding different perspectives through books. She likes to have her daughter read to her. " My daughter likes to read. So, every day, we will have a book. I will sit in there, and she will read. " Her daughter is very shy, but every time she reads, this shyness disappears. " I can know the book, and she can perform. And so, we both benefit."
作为台湾人在美国，不免面对着种族和中国的双重困扰，一方面是亚裔在美国的疏离感，二是在美国语境中，关于台湾的叙事大多被中国所主导。对于这一点，Ginger说台湾人正在努力被世界看见，台湾拥有世界最好的医疗保险，在新冠时期，台湾将疫情的控制做得及其好，可是台湾依然无法加入世界卫生组织。在纽约和华盛顿，台湾没有大使馆，只有办事处。“我们的办事处人员在办事处外举起了台湾的国旗，但是比尔·克林顿说在这片土地上，我们不容许你举起旗子。”
As a Taiwanese person in the United States, one inevitably faces the double shadow of race and China. On the one hand, there is a sense of alienation among Asians in America, and on the other hand, in the American context, narratives about Taiwan are mostly dominated by China. Regarding this point, Ginger said that Taiwanese people are striving to be seen by the world. Taiwan has the best healthcare system in the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan handled the situation extremely well, yet they still cannot join the World Health Organization. In New York and Washington, D.C., Taiwan has no embassy, only an agency. " One time, our agency director, he's just so happy, he lift up Taiwan's flag, and Bill Clinton threatened the agency, saying, you're not allowed to raise your flag in this land."
台湾曾和多个国家建交，例如危地马拉、哥斯达黎加共和国、缅甸，但是在习近平上台后，他向这些国家施压，迫于中国的压力，台湾无法再和这些国家保持建交关系。Ginger说，“台湾不被允许在公共场合发声，这是为什么没有人知道台湾的原因”。
Taiwan used to have diplomatic relations with several countries, such as Guatemala, the Republic of Costa Rica, and Myanmar, but after Xi Jinping came to power in China, he pressured these countries. Now, Taiwan can no longer maintain those diplomatic relations. "So that's why nobody knows Taiwan, because we are not allowed to speak in public,” Ginger explained.
国际关系的角力使人丧失声音，但是个体却以各种各样的方式让自己的声音被听见。Ginger曾任Albany的Taiwanese American Culture Society的四年的主席，他们已经在纽约州地区组织台湾文化相关活动已有四十年的历史。去年的五月，Ginger就曾邀请我们去Albany的The Egg欣赏来自台湾的舞团的表演。以这样的形式，我们看到在美国，台湾文化如何争取自己的发声权。
The complicated dynamics of international relations silence the Taiwanese people, but individuals strive to make their voices heard in various ways. For four years, Ginger was the chair of Albany's Taiwanese American Culture Society, which has been organizing Taiwanese cultural events in the New York State area for forty years. Last May, Ginger invited us to Albany’s “The Egg” to enjoy a performance by a Taiwanese dance troupe, helping us see how Taiwanese culture in the United States strives for its own voice.
在中国主权倾向日益收缩的环境下，我们不禁思考台湾的未来会是怎样的？这似乎是一个过于复杂的问题，以至于我们好像无法给出答案。然而，与其拷问未来，不如将我们的关注放在周遭具体的人与审视过去上，了解像Ginger这样的个体故事，去探寻这一局面形成的历程。
In an environment where China's sovereignty tendencies are increasingly tightening, the future of Taiwan seems uncertain, a question too complex for us to answer. However, instead of constantly questioning the future, perhaps it is better to shift our focus to the people around us and examine the past. It is important to understand personal stories like Ginger’s, to explore the histories that led to the current situation.
在Bennington，除了前卫艺术，我也上了Ginger的中国与台湾政治课。课堂上，Ginger总是会分享她作为台湾人的观点和经历，她对于台湾的牵挂和民主的关切流露在点滴之中。来自中国也同样关切故土民主社会的我，在她的课堂上找到了一个可以自由表达我的经历和观点的窗口。想到这些，我时常觉得为认识并与Ginger成为朋友感到深深的幸运。
In Bennington, apart from avant-garde art, I also took Ginger’s class on Chinese and Taiwanese politics. In class, Ginger always shares her views and experiences as a Taiwanese, her concern for Taiwan and the democracy is obvious in every detail of her everyday life. Coming from China, I also share a concern for democracy in my homeland. In her classroom, I found a window where I could freely express my experiences and opinions. Having met Ginger and becoming friends with her has offered me deep solace.
作者：Ming Liu
英文编辑：Anne Pötzsch
Writer: Ming Liu
English Editor: Anne Pötzsch