Introduction

A 1963 op-ed piece in the ruling party newspaper by an American graduate student listing incivilities and breaches of public morality became a call to develop civility in Taiwan that almost immediately spurred the formation by two university students of the China Youth Self-Awareness Movement. It was active for several years, recruiting youths to encourage civil behavior in society, but it was disbanded in 1969 when one of its leaders was arrested for rebellion. This chapter defines and operationalizes civility as it is perceived in Taiwan and China and how it will be applied in this book and enumerates the behaviors regarded as uncivil, noting also that, after Taiwan began its democratization process, its level of civility manifestly increased. It also explains the methodology and sources of information used in the study and outlines the chapters.