Characters from East to West 丨 Chen Kongli: Taiwan Studies "Southern Taidou"

Xiamen, 3 Mar (ZXS) -- Topic: Chen Kongli: Taiwan Studies "Southern Taidou"

China News Agency reporter Yang Fushan

Where does the Taiwan issue come from? What is the historical relationship between Taiwan and the mainland? This is a proposition for understanding Taiwan, and it is also a proposition for understanding China.

Chen Kongli opened a window for people to understand Taiwan. This Taiwanese research "southern school titan" recently gave an exclusive interview to the China News Agency's "East-West Question."

The origin of "Chen's theorem"

In 1948, Chen Kongli was admitted to the history department of Nanjing Central University, and later transferred to the history department of Xiamen University due to the war. After graduating in 1952, he stayed on to teach in the Department of History of Xiamen University, and has long been engaged in the research of Taiwanese politics and cross-strait relations, and Taiwan's history.

Since he began his involvement in Taiwan studies in 1962, Chen Kongli has been working hard in Taiwan-related research in mainland China for more than 1987 years. The Institute of Taiwan Studies of Xiamen University (now the Institute of Taiwan Studies of Xiamen University), where he works, is unique in the field of Taiwan-related research in the mainland. Since <>, Chen Kongli has served as the director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Xiamen University, and is known as one of the main founders of Taiwan studies at Xiamen University.

The picture shows Chen Kongli. Photo courtesy of interviewee

In his early days, Chen Kongli was mainly engaged in the research of Taiwan history, and in 1990 he published "Research on the Society of Taiwan Immigration in the Qing Dynasty", and in 1996 he edited "Outline of Taiwan History". Later, he focused on Taiwan's politics and cross-strait relations, and published books such as "Introduction to Taiwan Studies" and "Approaching the Two Sides of the Strait", and in 2021, he published collections such as "Taiwan's Public Opinion and Group Identity", "Heart for the Two Sides of the Strait", "Interpretation of Taiwan's Historical Events", "Cross-Strait Cultural Identity" and other collections.

Among them, "Outline of Taiwan's History" can be described as the culmination of Taiwan research results, and is the first general history of Taiwan written by mainland scholars that spans ancient and modern times. The content of the book involves Taiwan's immigration, politics, economy, culture, foreign trade and other aspects, and the time dimension spans from ancient times to 1988, placing Taiwan's local history in the long river of Chinese history to observe, and finely outlining the ins and outs of Taiwan's historical development.

In "A Study of Taiwan's Immigrant Society in the Qing Dynasty", Chen Kongli put forward the academic thesis that "around 1860, Taiwan transitioned from an immigrant society to a settled society". Wang Yifu, president of the National Taiwan Studies Association, called this statement the "Chen's theorem" in the study of Taiwanese history. Wang Yifu believes that Chen Kongli's academic view, "detailed citation and thorough argument in the book", not only has multiple evidence to prove in the study of Taiwan history, but can also be used to explain a variety of problems in the study of Taiwan history.

It is precisely using Chen's theorem that Wang Yifu explained some inconsistencies in Taiwanese local literature in his monograph. When examining the historical materials of Taiwan's weapon fighting, Wang Yifu found that historical facts can prove the "Chen's theorem".

Talking about the original intention of writing "Research on Taiwan's Immigrant Society in the Qing Dynasty", Chen Kongli said that in the course of his academic exchanges with Taiwan, he found that there were sometimes debates about the view that "Taiwan is an immigrant society", one side said that "after immigrating to Taiwan, it became more and more localized and separated from the mainland", while the other said that "Taiwanese immigrants are becoming more and more mainlandized and more and more like mainland society."

Chen Kongli believes that both views are one-sided, and Taiwan's immigrant society is two-way, both increasingly localized and more and more continental.

After the publication of "Research on the Society of Immigration in Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty", it became a must-read primer for the study of Taiwan. Taiwanese academics also believe that in historical research, mainland scholars are still needed to join in. Therefore, in some universities in Taiwan, this book is also a must-read for the study of history.

Xiamen University campus. Photo by Wang Dongming

A pioneer in Taiwan studies

From 1987 to 1994, Chen Kongli served as the director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Xiamen University, the vice chairman of the Taiwan History Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the academic committee member of the Collaborative Innovation Center for the Peaceful Development of Cross-Strait Relations, and the chief expert of the major theoretical innovation platform. Today, he is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Xiamen University.

In Chen's mind, his teacher, Professor Fu Yiling, is a pioneer in the study of Taiwanese history at Xiamen University. He recalled that in 1962, Xiamen held a commemorative party to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Zheng's successful recovery of Taiwan, and held academic seminars at the same time. After the conference, as the organizer of the academic seminar, Fu Yiling asked him to write a summary of the conference and publish it in Wen Wei Po.

"This can be said to be the beginning of my research on Taiwan," said Chen, and since then he has studied Zheng Chenggong and Taiwanese history, and his book, "An Analysis of Zheng Chenggong's War to Regain Taiwan," was included in the 1965 edition of Zheng Chenggong's Research Papers.

Chen Kongli said that after the seminar, Professor Fu Yiling led everyone to continue to study Taiwan's history. At that time, Taiwan successively published 309 kinds of "Taiwan Literature Series", and Professor Fu Yiling bought 208 of them, and "some teachers of the history department of Xiamen University began to study Taiwan by relying on this."

Chen Kongli studied the Taiwan issue, initially focusing on the study of Taiwanese history. Xiamen University Taiwan Studies also begins with history. After the mainland's reform and opening up, people from Taiwan's academic circles "landed" for exchanges, talking more about politics and less about history. As a result, Chen Kongli, who came from a historical background, also shifted his research focus to Taiwan's politics and cross-strait relations. "Connecting the Two Sides of the Strait," "Taiwan's Public Opinion and Group Identity," and "Cross-Strait Cultural Identity" are the "most satisfying monographs" he has studied in this regard.

Among the cross-strait academic exchanges he participated in, Chen Kongli was most impressed twice. The first was an international symposium on Taiwan held in Chicago in 1986, and Chen Kongli and another professor were invited to participate. At the meeting, Chen Kongli had direct contact with Taiwanese scholars for the first time and conducted face-to-face academic discussions and even arguments. Previously, Taiwan scholars could not come to the mainland, and mainland scholars could not go to Taiwan.

Chen Kongli said that he was very impressed by the seminar, not only because scholars from both sides of the strait met directly for the first time, but also realized that academic discussion means that there must be debate, dare to raise questions, and dare to confront each other.

The second time was in January 1988, when Professor Wang Xiaobo, of Taiwan's "Taiwan History Research Association," sent a letter inviting mainland scholars to attend the conference. At that time, there was no precedent for mainland scholars to attend the conference in Taiwan, so Chen Kongli moved to Hong Kong and was told that he had not lived in Hong Kong for more than five years, did not meet the application conditions, and could not go through the formalities for going to Taiwan. He had to fax his paper to Taiwan in Hong Kong, where he would read it on his behalf. The Taiwan media reported on this under the title "Chen Kong Liwen Arrives at No People, Taiwan Strait Academic Exchange Opens First."

In 1992, Chen Kongli was invited by Soochow University in Taiwan to attend an academic seminar in Taiwan for the first time. When he came into contact with Taiwanese academics and politicians, he found that the two sides had many different views and views. After his return, he began to pay attention to studying the true thoughts and mentality of the Taiwan people on cross-strait issues, and wrote many relevant articles to let the mainland people understand why the thoughts of Taiwan compatriots are different.

In 1987, reporters Li Yongde and Xu Lu of Taiwan's Zili Evening News came to interview Chen Kongli. Photo courtesy of interviewee

A practitioner of the development of cross-strait relations

As one of the academic leaders in the field of Taiwan-related research in the mainland, Chen Kongli actively participates in and promotes the development of cross-strait relations in addition to his busy academic research. Sun Yafu, vice president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, once praised Chen Kongli as "a practitioner in promoting the development of cross-strait relations" and "a pioneer in promoting cross-strait academic exchanges."

As a director of the first Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and a special researcher of the Research Center for Cross-Strait Relations, Chen Kongli has repeatedly provided suggestions for the development of cross-strait relations, covering political, economic, cultural and social aspects.

On April 2006, 4, Lien Zhan, then honorary chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, was awarded an honorary doctorate in law by Xiamen University, the first time that the mainland has conferred an honorary doctorate degree on a Taiwanese person. One of the recommenders who awarded Lien Zhan's honorary doctorate was Chen Kongli.

"Safeguarding cross-strait peace and stability, promoting cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, enhancing cross-strait mutual understanding, and seeking common interests between the two sides of the strait" is Chen Kongli's recommendation for Lien Zhan. Chen Kongli said that he himself had no dealings with Lien Chan and that the reason why he was recommended jointly by four other well-known figures in political and academic circles was mainly because Lien Chan made special contributions to the development of cross-strait relations.

Solid research on Taiwan has enabled the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University to accurately predict Taiwan's election on many occasions, which has attracted the attention of relevant parties on both sides of the strait. Chen Kongli believes that Xiamen University's prediction of Taiwan's election results is different from other research institutions that focus on macro forecasting, and more uses micro forecasting methods, pays attention to the grasp of specific data, and "gets out the specific numbers and the percentages."

Chen Kongli attaches great importance to the study of public opinion in Taiwan. Among the many monographs he has published, his own most satisfying is "A Study of Taiwanese Immigrant Society in the Qing Dynasty", which focuses on historical research, which was published in 2013, "Taiwan's Public Opinion and Group Identity". He said that the book is a relatively forward-looking study and "may have reference value when the two sides of the strait move toward recognition in the future."

In Chen Kongli's view, the issue of identity is the core issue of cross-strait relations. To solve the problem in cross-strait relations, it is necessary to absorb the public opinion on both sides of the strait and reach consensus. Therefore, he concentrated on the issue of identity and, through a relatively comprehensive investigation, put forward a thesis: Cross-strait identity is a two-pronged and two-way mode of interaction.

In 1999, during a discussion with Taiwan compatriots in Thailand, a Taiwan businessman told Chen Kongli: If you want peaceful reunification, you should clearly explain what benefits peaceful reunification has for Taiwan and what benefits it has for the Taiwan people. After that, Chen Kongli began to ponder and think about this issue, and after continuous accumulation, he believed that "we should not only talk about what is good for Taiwan, but also about what is good for the mainland, and everyone can do it." As a result, he wrote an article entitled "Ten Major Benefits of Peaceful Reunification," which produced great repercussions on both sides of the strait.

In 1992, Chen Kongli visited Taiwan and gave media interviews at Taoyuan Airport. Photo courtesy of interviewee

Four things to tell you in a lifetime

In 2001, "Ten Benefits of Peaceful Reunification" won the "Five Ones Project" award for the construction of spiritual civilization in China. Chen Kongli said that this is "a very important point in my life, because my labor has been affirmed by the central government."

In Chen Kongli's eyes, there are four things that can be comforted in his life, the other three are: being awarded the honorary title of National Advanced Individual for Retired Cadres in 2009; In 2011, he won the honor of "Outstanding Builder" for the 30th anniversary of the construction of Xiamen Special Economic Zone; In 2015, he was awarded the "Nanqiang Outstanding Contribution Award" by Xiamen University.

Chen Kongli lived in Xiamen University (Changting) in 1941 when he was a primary school student, and after graduating from the History Department of Xiamen University in 1952, he stayed on to work and has been living, studying and working in Xiamen University. He said that four generations of the family lived at Xiamen University (Chen's father was the director of the library of Xiamen University at the time, and his son and grandson were teachers at Xiamen University), and Xiamen University was his home.

Long-term study and work at Xiamen University has had an impact on Chen Kongli's research on the Taiwan issue. Chen Kongli, who served as president of the Xiamen University Alumni Association for seven years, said that many people in Fujian have ties to Taiwan, and that most of the nearly 7 graduates of Xiamen University who went to Taiwan after 1945 knew each other and were very cordial to each other.

"Xiamen is relatively open and close to Taiwan. After the opening of cross-strait exchanges, Xiamen had relatively early contacts with Taiwanese academics and politicians, and all these have had an important impact on our study of Taiwan. Chen Kongli said.

Although he is over 90 years old, Chen Kongli is still in good spirits and quick thinking. Regarding the outside world's call of an important think tank expert in Taiwan-related decision-making in the mainland, he said: "I have never dared to call myself a think tank expert, I just based on academic research, and wrote out my understanding of Taiwan and my views and opinions after understanding Taiwan, hoping that my research will have certain reference value for decision-making." (End)