Mother languages celebration highlights Taiwanese history and the connection between faith and cultu

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

3129 Edition

February 13~19, 2012

General Assembly News

Mother languages celebration highlights Taiwanese history and the connection 
between faith and culture 

Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

Written by Lydia Ma

To mark International Mother Language Day, which is celebrated on February 21 
of every year, the Li Kang-Khiok Taigi Cultural and Educational Foundation held 
a mother-language event ahead of time at the Affiliated High School of National 
Taiwan Normal University. Held on February 12, 2012, the theme of the event was 
“Mother Language is the Best” and the chief purpose of the event was to promote 
the sustainability of all different mother languages in Taiwan.

Another reason for holding this event ahead of time was to celebrate the 15th 
anniversary of the foundation and the 20th anniversary of the magazine 
Taiwanese Writing Forum. This magazine, first published overseas 20 years ago, 
is both important and exemplary because it is the oldest Taiwanese language 
magazine in the world. 

In 1997, Li Kang-Khiok Foundation took over the marketing and distribution of 
Taiwan Writing Forum and also began to publish another magazine called 
Taiwanese Bong-Po, which is now mainly circulated in Taiwan. But beginning this 
month, the two magazines will be merged and given a new name – Taiwanese 
Writing Forum Bong News – and the new version will be distributed both overseas 
and throughout Taiwan.

The former General Editor of Taiwanese Writing Forum and current member of 
Presbyterian Church in Canada, Yeh Kuo-chi, was invited to address the crowd 
during the event. Recounting the early days of the magazine, Yeh said though 
the publication of the magazine began in June 1991, an overseas Taiwanese 
language movement had already begun in New York as early as 1975. Since members 
of this movement included members of the Taiwanese independence movement, the 
two movements formed an alliance very quickly and began to collaborate with 
various local Taiwanese churches that welcomed the idea of using their 
buildings as venues for Taiwanese classes and other Taiwanese activities.

This year’s event featured many Taiwanese language and art presentations and 
many organizations that support Taiwanese culture sent delegates to attend the 
event. According to Taiwan Association of University Professors President Chang 
Yan-hsien, the Taiwanese language movement took off and became popular in the 
1990s as many activities promoting Taiwanese culture and language became more 
frequent. 

Chang added that when former President Chen Shui-bian wanted to promote 
Taiwanese programs during his presidency, the KMT-controlled legislature would 
not allocate enough funds for such programs. Now that President Ma has been 
reelected, the budget allocated to promote Taiwanese language across Taiwan has 
been slashed significantly. “If Ma Ying-jeou doesn’t want to promote Taiwanese, 
then, we will do it together,” said Chang. “I believe that we will succeed one 
day.” 

Former PCT General Secretary and current CEO of Taiwan United Nations Alliance, 
Rev. William J.K. Lo, pointed out that language is a precious gift to humanity 
from God the Creator and it enabled people to communicate their emotions and 
thoughts. “Different peoples and ethnic groups have their own unique languages, 
and parents teach their children their own language. The mother language thus 
becomes a precious cultural asset that future generations must protect and pass 
on,” he said.

Lo further explained that it is for this reason that Christians think it is 
important to share the gospel using people’s mother languages. Using the PCT as 
example, he said it currently has more than 1,230 congregations. In these 
churches, sermons, readings from the Bible, singing, praying and preaching are 
done every Sunday in more than a dozen different languages, including 
Taiwanese, Hakka, Amis, Bunun, Atayal, Paiwan, Rukai, Truku, Tao, Tsou, Sediq, 
Puyuma, Saisiyat, Mandarin, Japanese and English. In addition, the Bible 
Society of Taiwan currently publishes Bibles in 10 different local languages 
and bible societies around the world have now published Bibles in 2,508 
languages.

“I’m Hakka. Does God understand the Hakka language? Of course he does. If God 
didn’t understand my prayers uttered in Hakka, I wouldn’t have become a 
Christian,” said Lo during his speech. He urged his listeners to think about 
the relationship between faith and culture and how both are interconnected. He 
added that mother languages are akin to the soul of a culture and actually 
enriches a culture.

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