Internal orientalism on Taiwan: the ROC's Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission and its portrayal of Tibetan Buddhism

ABSTRACT

Tibetan Buddhism has played a shifting role in the official identity discourse of the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. Established for the administration of Tibet, Mongolia, and other frontier regions in 1928, the ROC's Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) continued research and publication activity on Taiwan (1949–2017). A major focus of this work was Tibetan Buddhism. This article examines how MTAC portrayals of Tibetan Buddhism evolved in response to changes in the ROC's legitimating ideology and to Taiwan's shifting political and cultural context. During the martial law era (1949–1987), Tibetan Buddhism was largely portrayed as an exotic religion facing brutal Communist oppression. By the twenty-first century, the MTAC was repositioning itself as a supporter of Tibetan Buddhism within Taiwan. MTAC discourse on Tibetan Buddhism reflects both the growing detachment of ROC politics from Mainland affairs and the persistence of Orientalist views of Tibetans and their culture.

在台湾的中华民国的官方身份话语中藏传佛教所扮演的角色经历过转变。中华民国蒙藏委员会（MTAC）成立于1928年，以负责管理西藏、蒙古和其他边疆地区为初衷，入台后也继续开展研究和出版活动（1949–2017）。其工作的主要焦点之一是藏传佛教。本文考察了MTAC对藏传佛教的描绘是如何随着中华民国的合法性意识形态的变化以及台湾多变的政治和文化环境而变化。在戒严时期（1949–1987），藏传佛教在很大程度上被描述为面临共产主义残酷压迫的异域宗教。到了21世纪，MTAC则将自己重新定位为台湾藏传佛教的支持者。MTAC关于藏传佛教的叙述既反映了中华民国政治与大陆事务的日益脱离，也反映了针对藏人及其文化的东方主义观点的持续存在。

KEYWORDS:

• Internal orientalism
• Republic of China
• Taiwan
• Tibet
• Buddhism
• Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission

内部东方主义:

• 中华民国
• 台湾
• 西藏
• 佛教
• 蒙藏委员会

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A previous paper published as part of the larger project investigating the MTAC includes an extended discussion of MTAC portrayals of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples and the emergence of multiculturalism in Taiwan (Ferrer 2023).

2 The National Taiwan Library is located in Zhonghe District, New Taipei City.

3 The National Central Library is located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei City.

4 The Government Publications Bookstore is located in Zhongshan District, Taipei City and runs an online shop at https://www.govbooks.com.tw/.

5 The Lifanyuan was an imperial agency created to facilitate governance over the outer empire, including Tibet, Mongolia, and Xinjiang (Lan 2017).

6 Hsueh Jen-Yang [薛人仰], born in 1913 in Fuzhou, was a career KMT official, whose previous work included a term as the ROC ambassador to Nicaragua and Guatemala from 1976 to 1981 (Hsueh 1996).

7 Kao Su-Po served as a KMT Legislator for Tainan (2005–2008), before accepting the position of MTAC Chair during the Ma administration in late 2008 (Legislative Yuan n.d.).

8 ROC constitutional scholar and sitting Constitutional Court Justice Hsu Chih-Hsiung (nominated in 2016 by DPP President Tsai) served as the second MTAC Chair during the Chen administration. (Hsiao 2016).

9 Liu Guowei completed his doctoral studies in the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Harvard University in 2002.

10 Yang Jiaming graduated with a Ph.D. from China Culture University's Ethnic and Overseas Chinese Research Institute [中國文化大學民族與華僑研究所].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alessandra Ferrer

Alessandra Ferrer is a visiting scholar at Kyushu University. Her research interests include language-in-education policy, identity politics, and the legacies of imperialism.