Taiwan User Guide

Gebrauchsanweisung für Taiwan

This is a guide book, an illustrative guide to exploring the land and culture;
This is also a history book, a stepping stone to a deeper understanding of Taiwanese society.
Through the perspective of a German "Taiwan expert," explore how Taiwan has developed into what it is today.

Piper Publishing, based in Munich, publishes a series of "Guidebooks" that introduce the characteristics of various countries and cities from the author's personal perspective. Shi Yi, a philosopher and novelist who has lived in Taiwan for 15 years, believes, "If I were to write this guidebook, it would probably be slightly different from other guidebooks."

To help German readers understand Taiwan, the book naturally touches on baseball and cuisine, inevitably praising the beauty of the Central Mountain Range and the Hualien-Taitung Coast. More importantly, it explores Taiwan's political landscape and historical background. While typical guidebooks tend to avoid serious topics, Shih Yi-chien felt that this was essential when discussing Taiwan. The German edition, released in the fall of 2021 and followed in early 2023, has been a critical success and sparked curiosity and interest in Taiwan among Germans.

Why do Taiwanese people need to read the "Taiwan User Guide"?
A German philosopher and novelist takes you on an in-depth look at the "Identity Problem"

While Taiwanese people may not need foreigners to explain Taiwanese culture and history, Shih Yi-chien says the question his Taiwanese friends ask him most often is, "What do you Westerners think of Taiwan?" Some are simply curious, while others make him worry: Are you Westerners completely blind to us?

Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, Taiwan's society has continued to develop and democracy has made considerable progress. This is a great achievement for all citizens. However, on the issue of identity, a societal consensus has not yet been reached.

Through the "Taiwan User Guide," Taiwanese readers can see Taiwan through the eyes of foreign authors, further reflect on the similarities and differences with their own understanding of Taiwan, and thereby gain some new inspiration for "Taiwan identity."

As a German writer who has lived in Taiwan for a long time, I want to share with my compatriots why I consider this beautiful island my second home, while also debunking some of the lies about Taiwan spread by Chinese propaganda. I hope that when Taiwanese readers read this book, they will feel the author's deep love for their homeland and, even more importantly, a sense of pride in it.

I have lived here for more than ten years.
Don’t I ask myself every day why I love Taiwan so much?
Writing the Taiwan User Guide provided me with a great opportunity:
Looking back on my story with Taiwan, reflecting on my experience in Taiwan,
Reaffirming my sense of belonging in this place.

Features of this book
1. German author Shi Yi-chien, a three-time finalist for the German Book Prize, has compiled a guidebook based on his long-term experience living in Taiwan, introducing his beautiful adopted homeland to the world.

2. This book not only provides a tour of national and urban geography, religious beliefs, baseball culture, etc., but also provides an easy-to-understand explanation of the modern historical process of transition from an authoritarian era to a democratic society.

3. Through profound yet insightful writing, spiced with German humor, the book leads Taiwanese readers to rediscover and reflect on the land where they grew up from a different perspective from a Western perspective.

2024-01-05

玉山社

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9789862943847