英文摘要 |
Mainland Chinese Studies in Taiwan was born in the interaction between politics and academics. It is an area study discipline transformed from early intelligence gathering on Mainland China after 1949. The founding of the Institute of East Asian Studies at National Chengchi University was a landmark in the formation of the discipline, an achievement made possible by academic elite who successfully convinced the top leaders to maximize Taiwan’s unique research advantages in the area and break through political constraints. Since its launch, the IEAS has been a leader in Taiwan’s universities to advance mainland Chinese studies and produced the backbone of the research staff and management personnel in the fields of mainland China and cross-Strait affairs. This article discusses the historic turning point of the discipline in the 1960’s, how the IIR and IEAS began to take the responsibility of research and teaching in the field, the initial structure of TEAS (including faculty, course structure, and students), the contour of the courses (two systems cum four fields), and how the launch of IEAS laid the foundation of Taiwan’s Mainland Chinese Studies. In looking back at the historical development of IEAS, we saw how researchers successfully and fruitfully broke through political constraints and maximized Taiwan’s research advantages. However, even today researchers in the field are still faced with an opportunity structure with inherent advantages and political barriers as in the past, and their discipline can only be advanced through the same devotion and ingenuity as demonstrated by their predecessors. |