The Anthropology of Taiwanese Society

The book claims to be the most thorough anthropological study of any Chinese region, for any period of history. It summarises some 20 years of research into Taiwanese history and society. Addressing an issue that is potentially contentious. Is Taiwan an integral part of China, based on history and culture? Or is it more autonomous than any other Chinese region or province, based on its island geography and contact with outsiders? Not all the papers in the book necessarily focus on these questions. But most do. Tracing the local government structure in Taiwan to corresponding analogs on the mainland, for example. Where this correspondence dates back to the Ch'ing period. One aspect that was studied was the recent (to 1981, when the book was published) industrialisation. The internal migration from rural areas to urban was looked at, and seen as being successful in transitioning the overall society to an urban one. Nowadays (2007), one can see in this a precursor to what has happened, and is still happening, on the mainland. As China experiences massive population shifts from its farms.