From Old German to Yiddish: Chang Shou-hui Deciphers National Taiwan Library's Crown Jewel [Exclusive Interview]

By reporter Tsao Ya-yen, New Taipei, April 15 (Central News Agency)

Scholar Chang Shou-hui has long specialized in Old German, Jewish culture, and Yiddish. Recently, her team successfully 'decoded' the National Taiwan Library's (NTL) crown jewel—a rare 17th-century manuscript—while also advancing Taiwan-Germany cultural exchanges. Though her work appears diverse, it consistently centers on one core mission: 'enabling different cultures to communicate with each other.'

In May, the National Taiwan Library published the Chinese translation of 'Travels to the East Indies,' with Professor Chang Shou-hui of Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages serving as the lead translator. In a video interview with Central News Agency, Chang reflected on her three-century-long 'connection' with the book. During the 2023 Kaohsiung City Book Fair, she met NTL Director Tsao Tsui-ying, who mentioned that the library held a precious ancient manuscript. Due to its archaic and difficult language, no suitable translator had been found for years, leaving it quietly stored away. 'At that moment, I thought: since my research focuses on lesser-known languages, perhaps I could give it a try.'

The following January, Chang led a team of experts in German, French, Spanish, and Japanese to the library's 'treasure room'—a secure, bank-vault-like space with multi-layered password access and constant temperature and humidity control. Researchers had to wear lint-free gloves to handle the documents. The long-forgotten manuscript, 'Travels to the East Indies,' was written in Early New High German (Frühneuhochdeutsch). 'The moment I saw the original book, I knew this was exactly my field of expertise.'

'Travels to the East Indies' is a travelogue by Albrecht Herport, a 17th-century Swiss mercenary and painter. It contains 69 pages dedicated to Taiwan, documenting the siege of Fort Zeelandia by Koxinga and describing the customs and landscapes of Formosa at the time. It is considered a crucial historical source for studying 17th-century Taiwan.

However, making this manuscript accessible to modern readers was no easy task. Chang pointed out that the text was not only written in Early New High German but also typeset in Fraktur (German Gothic script), with many letterforms vastly different from modern German. The research team often had to repeatedly compare, analyze, and even 'guess' characters to decode the text. 'Today, very few people in Germany can read this language. Those fluent in both Early New High German and Chinese are extremely rare.'

During translation, Chang discovered many fascinating historical details. The book records that during the Dutch siege, witnesses saw a long-haired mermaid appear on the sea surface, interpreted as an ill omen before defeat. Chang speculates that this 'mermaid' might have been Chinese soldiers hiding underwater, their long hair floating on the surface and mistaken for mythical beings. The book also notes that Taiwan frequently experienced earthquakes, sometimes lasting up to three hours. While the accuracy of these accounts is hard to verify, they reveal how foreigners observed and imagined the land at the time.

Yet, the text also contains clear colonial-era biases and stereotypes. Chang noted that descriptions of the 'Southern Continent' and its people often reflect a strong Eurocentric perspective. For example, the author used discriminatory language to describe residents of the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and wrote of 'savages with fleshy stalks growing from their backs' living in Taiwan's mountains. Such narratives not only reflect the limitations of information dissemination at the time but also expose the colonial mindset of judging foreign cultures by European standards.

Chang believes that through critical reading, audiences can better understand how colonial-era knowledge and cultural imaginations were constructed. Precisely because of this, such documents deserve to be read. 'They don't just record history—they also help us understand the perspectives behind historical narratives.'

Beyond Old German studies, Chang is one of the few scholars in Asia specializing in Yiddish, a language developed by the Jewish diaspora. Her expertise stems from a memorable experience during her studies in Germany. When a synagogue near Mainz was being renovated, workers discovered a large collection of ancient manuscripts in the attic. Her advisor, Professor Erika Timm, immediately led students to rescue the documents before they were discarded as trash.

Chang recalls that students first laid damp pages on snow to dry, then carefully cleaned dust and fragments. Gathering around microscopes, they painstakingly pieced together torn pages. After weeks of effort, over 20 ancient books were restored, reconstructing the reading culture of 18th-century German Jewish villages.

Through her deep engagement with German and Jewish cultures, Chang has also confronted issues like the Holocaust and transitional justice. She observes that what impresses her most about German society is its willingness to continuously confront its past. 'In German cities, you often see memorial stones marking where residents were sent to concentration camps and the year they perished.' This 'culture of remembrance' permeates not only museums and memorials but also urban spaces, education systems, and public discourse. Chang believes Taiwan still has room to institutionalize and deepen historical education regarding issues like the White Terror, and that Germany's experience offers valuable lessons.

In recent years, beyond academic research, Chang has served as Honorary Representative for Southern Taiwan at the German Institute Taipei, actively promoting academic, cultural, and educational exchanges between Taiwan and Germany. She observes that since TSMC's investment in Saxony, Germany's interest in Taiwan has significantly increased. From government agencies to local cities, more people want to learn about Taiwan. Meanwhile, Taiwanese culture is gaining recognition among German readers and audiences—Taiwanese literature is being translated into German, and films, shadow puppetry, and performing arts are attracting German attention.

From decoding 17th-century German manuscripts to studying Jewish culture and promoting international exchange, Chang's work may seem to span diverse fields, but it all revolves around one core: using language and culture to make forgotten histories visible again and help the world better understand Taiwan. 'Whether translating ancient texts, studying literature, or promoting international exchange,' she says, 'I'm ultimately doing the same thing—enabling different cultures to communicate and understand each other.' (Editor: Lin Shu-hui)