白話字的起源與在台灣的發展

Abstract

本文以白話字為研究主題，探討白話字從十九世紀至今百餘年來的發展，分析白話字在麻六甲的起源，在中國廈門的形成，以及在台灣從清末、日治時期，到戰後的發展。透過白話字於不同時期的歷史梳理與分析，本文指出，白話字在台灣的發展主要呈現兩條主要的脈絡：一為從1865年開始，由英國長老教會的宣教師所發展的白話字運動 ── 這條主線在教會內穩定的發展，從日治時期延續到戰後，直到1969年國民黨政府全面禁止白話字為止；另一條脈絡源於日治時期的1920年代，白話字運動與台灣文化啟蒙運動相結合，並在戰後1950年代由台灣省議員所接續，此後因為高壓的國語政策而沉寂，直到1980年代才在政治解嚴的風潮下，隨著台語文運動而再次出現於台灣社會。這兩條脈絡顯示出白話字在台灣的發展轉變為：（一）推動者：從西方宣教師轉變為台灣本地知識份子，（二）訴求對象：從長老教會的信徒，擴及至台灣社會大眾，（三）推動目的：從傳揚基督教，達成信仰教育，改變為以普及知識，達成社會教育，（四）認同取向：從對基督教的信仰認同，發展為對台灣民族的認同。從這些轉變的過程顯示出白話字一開始作為西方宣教師創制的文字系統在台灣本土化的痕跡。

從1885年《台灣府城教會報》創刊開始，台灣基督長老教會就開創了以白話字閱讀、書寫、出版、傳播的時代，直到戰後的1969年為止。在長老教會的推動下，白話字已經穩固的成為基督徒社群共通的文字。在1885年至1969年這段台灣的「白話字時代」中，以白話字出版之書籍、刊物，總數量至少近千冊，內容涵蓋了文學藝術、宗教信仰、歷史文化、兒童教育、醫學知識等領域。這些成果顯示，以白話字所構築的知識體系已然健全，並成熟的體現在各領域。白話字除了是教會信徒領受基督信仰的文字工具外，也是台灣人以台語獲取各種現代化知識的重要途徑。

本文的另一個重點，在於指出「白話字傳播圈」的概念 ── 從十九世紀白話字的傳播路線來看，首先是從南洋的麻六甲（1820年代），繼而到中國廈門（1850年代），最後來到台灣（1865年代）。就歷史的進程而言，台灣居於「白話字傳播圈」的末端。然而，經過百餘年來歷史的發展，隨著東南亞華人和中國閩南人的政治情勢、族群結構、語言式微、宗教信仰等主客觀因素，福建話和閩南話的白話字在當地並未有穩定和長足的發展。相較於此，1980年代後，隨著台語文運動的成果，使得台灣在白話字上取得優勢和主導權，逐漸躍居為新加坡、馬來西亞和中國閩南的白話字輸入中心。換言之，台灣從歷史上「白話字傳播圈」的末端，逐漸發展成為具有「白話字傳播圈」中心的條件。 The purpose of this thesis is to study the development of Pe̍h-ōe-jī since the nineteenth century and to analyze its origins in Malacca, its formation in Amoy, and its development in Taiwan from the sunset of the Qing dynasty to the post-war period. The survey results of the development of Pe̍h-ōe-jī indicate that the development of Pe̍h-ōe-jī in Taiwan has two major contexts. The first is that starting from 1865, the preachers of the Presbyterian Church of England led a stable Pe̍h-ōe-jī Movement, in which the development had extended from the Japanese colonial period until 1969, when the KMT government imposed a ban on the Movement. The second context began in the 1920s, when Taiwan was under Japanese rule; the Pe̍h-ōe-jī Movement started to resonate with the Cultural Enlightenment Movement in Taiwan, which was continued in the 1950s by parliamentarians of the Taiwan Provincial Council. However, the Movement became silent after the government enforced its national language policy. It was not until the lifting of martial law in the 1980s when the Pe̍h-ōe-jī Movement experienced a revival in Taiwan society.

These two contexts demonstrate the changes in the development of Pe̍h-ōe-jī in Taiwan: (1) Promoters: The leaders have changed from being Western missionaries in Taiwan to being local intellectuals. (2) Target Audience: Users have expanded from the believers of the Presbyterian Church to the Taiwan public. (3) Purpose: The aim of the Movement has changed from spreading Christianity to popularizing knowledge to facilitating social education. (4) Identification Orientation: The identification with the Christian faith has changed to the development of Taiwan national identity. The process of these changes shows the marks of localization of an orthography in Taiwan that has started from the creation and use of the Pe̍h-ōe-jī Writing System in church activities by Western missionaries.

Beginning with the first publication of Taiwan Prefectural City Church News in 1885, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan had already initiated the age of using Pe̍h-ōe-jī to read, write, publish, and communicate until 1969. The Pe̍h-ōe-jī Writing System, under the Presbyterian Church’s promotion, had established a solid common language within Christian communities. The Age of Pe̍h-ōe-jī in Taiwan, from 1885 to 1969, saw nearly a thousand books and other documents published in Pe̍h-ōe-jī, covering the fields of literature, arts, religion, history, culture, children's education, and medicine, among others. These achievements indicate that the Pe̍h-ōe-jī Writing System had been sound and mature and reflected in many fields of knowledge. At that time, the Pe̍h-ōe-jī Writing System was not only a critical tool for church followers to receive and accept Christianity, but also an important approach for Taiwanese to acquire a variety of modern knowledge.

Another focus of this thesis is to point out the concept of the “Pe̍h-ōe-jī Writing Diffusional Sphere.” Viewing the routes of the spread of Pe̍h-ōe-jī starting in the nineteenth century, the diffusion took place from Malacca (1820s) of Southeast Asia to Amoy (1850s) in China, before finally arriving in Taiwan (1865). According to the course of history, Taiwan is located at the end of the diffusion circle of Pe̍h-ōe-jī. However, after more than a century of development, the Pe̍h-ōe-jī of Hokkien and the Minnan dialects was unstable and unexpansive, resulting from both objective and subjective factors, including political situations, ethnic structures, language loss or obsolescence, religions, and so on, of Chinese in Southeast Asia and of Minnan people in China. Comparatively, with the achievement of the language movement after the 1980s, Taiwan has acquired advantage and dominance in the diffusion of Pe̍h-ōe-jī and has gradually grown into the center for sourcing Pe̍h-ōe-jī knowledge for the people of Singapore, Malaysia, and the Southern Min of China. In other words, Taiwan has gradually developed itself into the center of “Pe̍h-ōe-jī Writing Diffusional Sphere” from the end of a diffusion course.