Orphan of Asia can be considered a national allegory, as the struggles of a nation during the time of Japanese occupation are exemplified by one of its citizens, Taiming.
Firstly, Taiming finds it difficult to develop a set of values and beliefs because apart from his Taiwanese heritage he is faced with Japanese and Chinese influences. He witnesses his own people adapt to these foreign influences out of necessity, greed, or self-preservation--after all, it would be fatal to resist the Japanese oppressors. He frequently encounters instances of racial discrimination. During the Japanese occupation, he starts a job as a teacher, but there is a “strife between the Japanese and Taiwanese faculty.” This is most evident in the treatment of the janitor, who is used by the principal as “his personal servant, making him chop wood, prepare his bath, and run errands.” Moreover, the principal favors the Japanese staff, assigning them formal, funded trips as well as rare paid leaves, and he denounces the Taiwanese staff because they lack national spirit, as their command of the Japanese language is not satisfactory.
This racial rift soon affects Taiming on a personal level, as he is attracted to a colleague named Hisako. He is well aware of the inappropriateness of their relationship: “For the more she aroused him, the more depressed he felt and the deeper he slid down into the unbridgeable abyss that separated them, he Taiwanese and she Japanese.” However, he does not let go of her and keeps a small spark of hope alive until she tells him what he has tried to ignore: “‘It can’t be. Because you and I are different.’ Taiming did not have to ask what she meant by ‘different.’ She had not forgotten that they belonged to different ethnicities.”
Secondly, Taiming is challenged by traditional and modern views and values. For example, when he is educated by his grandfather, he is always told in “numerous sayings and classical examples to explain how difficult it was to become a bureaucrat. One had to wait at least three years to work for the state, it had always been said.” However, Taiming feels that in the modern world, which is moving at an increasingly faster pace, it is not a good idea to wait for so long.
Taiming’s roots in traditional values become evident when he takes a stance against breaking up the family’s traditional rituals. He thinks this would lead to them degenerating “into mere form, and to cling to formalities, that is, to follow the letter and not the spirit, was a worse offense to their illustrious ancestors.”
On the other hand, there are instances where Taiming openly dismisses the traditional views of the elderly. For example, when a woman called Aunt Xin encounters severe complications during childbirth, the villagers trust in their traditions and do not call for a doctor of modern medicine. Taiming condemns this practice: “These stupid customs had taken the lives of countless mothers and babies. At least, if a real midwife were present, Aunt Xin might still be saved! But these people thought that midwives were for ladies; they believed that mere peasants had no right to ask for such fancy services.”
Another example is his own mother, who during a legal struggle eats “eggs and somen noodles to defend against the encroaching ill luck,” while Taiming considers the more modern and rational approach of actually bringing the case to court. When she asks him to consider taking another wife, he “felt an indescribable sense of resistance to his mother’s tone [...] He did not doubt her genuine compassion, but she was just a foolish elderly woman adhering to the old customs.”
Yet, in his relationships, it is Taiming who holds the traditional views: “After Shuchun graduated, the couple discovered that they held contradictory views regarding her future. The man wanted his wife to settle down and become a good housewife, whereas the woman insisted on pursuing a career.”
Finally, Taiming struggles to find his place geographically. He frequently moves (voluntarily or involuntarily) between Taiwan, Japan, and China, never really settling down. After a series of unfortunate events, Taiming goes insane and simply disappears, but "before doing so, the fisherman had seen him wandering aimlessly by the sea."
When the novel was written, the author may well have shared his worldview with Taiming. However, Wu Zhuoliu also suggested a way out, and from a modern perspective he made the right prediction indeed: When Taiming emphasizes the importance of science and education for the success of Taiwan, one can but marvel at the industrial development of this island, which is now a top global player in terms of science and technology.
