An identity crisis has swept Taiwan in the past few years, creating waves of political discussion and academic studies in an attempt to understand the phenomenon. To this day, there has been no definitive response to the issue of identity for the Taiwanese people. In the meantime, varying viewpoints on the principle of "one China," as defined by Beijing, but not accepted by Taipei, continue to rage across the Taiwan Strait, contributing to the identity debate. The question most often asked is whether Taiwanese should consider themselves Taiwanese or Chinese, or both, and what political implications should there be if they would decide to adopt one side or the other. The issue is politically charged. Professor Melissa J. Brown presents a rich study on what is identity, drawing on her extensive studies and academic background as an assistant professor of anthropological sciences at Stanford University. Though she states from the beginning that she is making "several bold theoretical claims" by trying to define "identity," Professor Brown non-the-less speaks with an authoritative voice in regards to the subject.

For Brown, identity is defined by social experience rather than by cultural ideas or ancestry. Because Taiwan is competing with the mainland on many issues, including sovereignty and independence, it has taken a different social and political road from that of China. The issue of being Han Chinese is complex and sensitive. There are people in Taiwan who consider themselves Han and others call themselves non-Han. Taiwan was occupied by the Dutch and Japanese. The latter occupied Taiwan for 50 years until the end of World War II. While under Japanese occupation, various groups of Han in Taiwan organized resistance against the Japanese under the banner of "Republic of Taiwan." But the resistance was short-lived. Aborigines in Taiwan also played an important role in the identity search. During the KMT rule, the identity issue was hotly debated. Taiwanese ("bensheng ren") whose ancestors came from the mainland before 1895, the date when Japan began its occupation, are mostly Hoklo and Hakka. They are contrasted with "waisheng ren," or those who came recently from the mainland.

With the democratization process well underway since the 1980s and the economic miracle transforming the island, Taiwanese have become more conscious of their identity.

Brown says it is no coincidence that a new identity in Taiwan has emerged in recent history, merging the aborigines and those with Han ancestry. "This new identity, with its basis in actual social experiences, contributes to the increasing number of Taiwanese who approve of the calculated risk of angering China in order to win international support for Taiwan's sovereignty," she says.

The book presents a broad view of social experience, the culture and identity in Taiwan, with a well-researched study of the Han ancestry dating back many centuries in Chinese history. Confucius and his followers set up the principles defining the Han culture as superior to other cultures. That culture is still present in both the mainland and Taiwan. Brown makes several assumptions, one of which is that if Taiwanese people are culturally Han, thus should be part of the nation of China. This would solve the controversial principle of "one China." Yet, there is no acceptable definition of what is "one China."

Among the theories offered by Brown, is one that states people want to claim the Han identity because of intermarriage, which introduces the cultural ideas that Han culture is superior to other cultures. However, identity changes with migration, intermarriage and the struggle for power in any society.

Brown states that a series of major social, political and economic changes in Taiwan since 1949 have helped to strengthen the Taiwanese identity. The political events in mainland China, from the Cultural Revolution to the massacre of pro-democracy students in Tiananmen Square, have contributed to the debate in Taiwan that the Taiwanese people should have their own identity. Furthermore, the democratization in Taiwan has developed a new, inclusive and national Taiwanese identity. Brown offers the view that Taiwanese consider themselves Westernized, because they have the same democratic experiences as people in Western countries.