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This paper examines the cross-Strait relationship from the theoretical perspective of Joseph S. Nye Jr.’s soft power. It begins with a discussion of China’s grand soft power strategy throughout the global community highlighting the use of three resources of soft power: culture, political values and foreign policies. This paper then transitions into a more specific study of the cross-Strait relationship examining the evolution of Jiang Zemin’s hard power approach to Hu Jintao’s soft power approach. This paper argues, as reflected in opinion polls, Hu Jintao’s new soft power strategy has already had an impact on the Taiwanese public’s perception of China. Taiwanese today, have a significantly more positive perception of China than they did during Jiang Zemin’s era. Furthermore, Hu Jintao’s pragmatic strategy seems to be effective in deterring Taiwanese independence.

The case of the “Temple of 18 Deities” (十八王公廟) is an example which shows that the process of changes in religious culture can be both gradual and sudden. From the first glance it seems that the boom of “Temple of 18 Deities” cult suddenly appeared from nowhere. But the analysis of the temple origin mythology and it symbols shows that the opportunities for such sudden changes were created gradually during the long period of religious culture development when fazes of change and conservation were taking turns endlessly in Taiwan societies. Those opportunities traces into more remote times of gradual development of numerous religious cultures which were brought in Taiwan by multitude of migration waves. The “Temple of 18 Deities” cult conserved many stable religious elements which were created in the period of Eurasian cultural unity and bring us to the Neolith and even Paleolithic epoch. One of the most stable elements in the “Temple of 18 Deities cult is the symbol of a dog. The geographical area of the former dog’s worshiping cults distribution is spread all over Eurasia with the most western point in the British Isles and the most eastern point in Taiwan. The dog symbol in mythologies of many various peoples all over Eurasia is connected to another stable religious element – an idea of the life after death and underworld. The underworld conception origin also should be dated by Paleolithic epoch, because it stability occurring everywhere spreading. Paleolithic hunting religious ideas should be common all over the world, because all the societies passed this faze of evolution in their history.

Children have been marginalised in nationalism studies, particularly in the discussion of education. The process of education was taken for granted while children’s agency and their construction of national discourses were neglected. This thesis was to examine and compare children’s national discourses and those in pedagogical materials in the context of recent Taiwanese nationalism since 2000. This thesis concerned children’s discourses and pedagogical discourses in four areas: (1) the nation; (2) national identity; (3) ethnicity; and (4) being a minority. Data was collected through individual interviews, documentary research and observations. Individual interviews were conducted with a sample of 28 primary school children (aged 8-11) in a selected primary school in Taiwan. The participants were recruited from children of Chinese immigrants, children of Vietnamese immigrants, and children of native Taiwanese to compare their various experiences and perspectives. The findings showed that children’s discourses did not necessarily correspond to pedagogical discourses although they partly match to each other. The nation was portrayed as ‘Taiwan’ consistently in the textbooks and by children, while the ‘Republic of China’ was being ‘forgotten’ by children and marginalised in textbooks. In addition, a Taiwanese identity is prevailing among children. However, children challenged the existing concepts of ethnicity and the language policy at school. Finally, this thesis found that the national discourses in pedagogy was rather exclusive than inclusive. Therefore, the minority groups, such as children of immigrants, Hakka, and the Aborigines, felt being the ‘others’ in the discourses of Taiwanese nationalism. In conclusion, children are not objects of pedagogical national discourses. Instead, the pedagogical discourses rely on students’ interpretation and performance. Therefore, children are active subjects who are able to challenge pedagogical discourses and construct their own national discourses.

This research aims to explore the attempted implementation of mixed ability grouping in junior high schools in Taiwan and the challenges generated by individuals and groups to this policy. The mixed-ability grouping policy in Taiwan has been disputed for nearly thirty years, but the disputes have never been examined from a wider perspective that considers the evolution of the policy and the contexts the policy process resides in. This study thus attempts to understand the process of the mixed-ability grouping policy from a contextualised, politicised, long-term perspective within which not only the ideological and practical debates, but the contexts that shape the conflicts over time, are taken into consideration. The study is grounded in an analytical framework that allows for the exploration of the politically-driven mainstream educational ideologies, the power relationships between policy actors, and the cyclical policy process. The research methods adopted consider the timeframe, the contexts, the multiple policy actors and the interactions among policy actors and between contexts and policy actors within the policy. Documentary analysis is adopted to trace the policy process, the conflicts within, and the political, cultural, economic and societal contexts of the policy from its inception to today whilst a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews are utilized to understand the attitudes and actions of educational authorities and school educators. Case studies are conducted in two junior high schools in order to learn about the dynamics, the conflicts, and the considerations of grouping practice within individual schools. The key findings of this thesis are as follows. First, the mixed-ability grouping policy in Taiwan has existed through two different political regimes, within which the different mainstream educational ideologies and power distribution among policy actors contribute to the distinctive policy process, interpretations of disputes and patterns of conflicts. Second, although the first-line educators recognise the advantages of mixed-ability grouping regarding discipline and resource distribution, their perceptions of pupils’ ability and teaching are in line with the assumptions of streaming, which contribute to educators’ conflicting attitudes and actions towards the mixed-ability grouping policy. Third, the senior high school entry system and the actions of parents and junior high schools together shape a hidden educational market within which the ‘disguised forms’ of streaming, such as the establishment of special classes, are valued by market players. The senior high school entry examination also profoundly influences educators who internalise the values embodied in the examination and perceive pupils’ ability and their own teaching mainly in terms of examination results.

Architectural tectonics and the relationship of structural expression to ornament has been one of the oldest and most consistent themes in western architectural theory. For instance, the discussions of architectonics can be seen in the foundational literature from the Classical period, is present in Neo-classical architectural styles, in debates associated with modernist architecture, and in the latest digital interpretations of architecture. Tectonics and the idea that architecture ought to draw its aesthetic effects from its structural and material composition has, as a consequence, become a normative aspect of architectural theory and practice. Yet, in many situation cultural and geographical contexts this position does not have such a normative status. This thesis examines the legacy of this theme in architectural theory and practice in the particular cultural and geographical context of Japan and Taiwan. It focuses on the colonial cultural relationship between these countries, and to the West, as well as considering the seismic conditions that govern the culture of building around the Pacific West coast – the Ring of Fire. The argument that I will propose is that although the discussion of tectonics in westernised Japan has been scanty, the attitude and strategies the Japanese adopted for designing architecture and considering the relationship between structures and architectural surfaces can be framed differently. The difference between the traditional Japanese approaches to these questions and conventional Western considerations, is, in part, related to the significance of earthquakes to Japanese culture. The two traditions are not isolated. Japan was famously quick to adopt Western technologies and knowledge in the early twentieth century. In the context of architecture and building, this relationship produced a complex hybrid architectural culture in which the Japanese developed their own construction system and their attitude to the relationship between the structures and architectural surfaces. The thesis examines a further layer to this technological and cultural hybrid by examining the relationship between Japan and its colony Taiwan. The thesis argues that Japan’s relationship to the West, and its adoption and hybridization of architectural culture is evident in a complex way through their own colonial relationship to Taiwan. Through reviewing debates on structure and ornament in architecture in the Far East, the thesis adopts the concept of skeuomorph into this theoretical frame. Locating the concept of skeuomorph in this frame and interpreting the Japanese and Taiwanese cases by this concept allows us to reconsider the normative status of architectonic principles in architectural theory, and contribute to an understanding of colonial architectural history in the East Asia.

Freedom of speech is a fundamental human rights. In Article 19 of United Nations  Declaration of Human Rights declared “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”   China claims that the citizens of People’s Republic of China have the right of freedom of speech in Chinese current Constitution. However, Chinese journalists are barely able to express news freely, and the media freedom has become to a serious problem in modern China. On the other hand, Taiwan’s media freedom is considered to be the best in Asia according to Freedom House.   In this thesis, the author will research media freedom in China through a comparative case study, where the differences between Chinese and Taiwanese media will be explored. The thesis looks at how Chinese and Taiwanese media practice media freedom and how the Chinese media is constrained.     As a comparative case study, Chinese and Taiwanese media reports on the Mong Kok civil unrest in 2016 is used since the events in Hong Kong are of interest to both sets of media. Both quantitative and qualitative research method was used to do the data collection, and in analysis of the cases, critical discourse analysis is applied along with Trilling’s three models.   The research shows that the Chinese and Taiwanese media displayed obvious differences in their reporting of the Mong Kok civil unrest, they have different news quantities, article size, photo usage, news angle, key messages and thematic structure, as well as the means of expression. According to the analysis of these differences, the Chinese media freedom was limited to a great extent. In addition, the Chinese media was socially constrained by the deep-rooted sense of Democratic Centralism and Confucian value both in national leaders and citizens.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of Chinese

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Sociology