00:01Culture Minister Li Yuan takes to the stage to celebrate a pioneer in the world of Taiwan sign language.
00:08Gu Yushan, a director, teacher and advocate for the deaf community.
00:13He's the first winner of a new prize for people who've contributed to Taiwan's unique sign language,
00:19which was made an official national language in 2019.
00:22Gu has been active in the deaf cultural scene since the late 1970s
00:27when he became the first leader of a deaf theater troupe,
00:29putting on performances that entertained non-hearing audiences
00:32and introduced many hearing people to this homegrown way of signing for the first time.
00:38Gu recalls the novelty of those early days.
00:45本来目的是作为听人和龙人之间的沟通桥梁。
00:49听人看得很有趣,龙人的肢体动作表达让他们很喜欢,就开始来学,
00:54也影响报名手语班的人也越来越多。
00:56But Gu didn't stop with the arts.
00:58He went on to found a sign language research association,
01:01teach Taiwan sign language at five universities,
01:04and train other sign language instructors and interpreters
01:07at a time when there was a shortage in many areas.
01:10Throughout, he was an advocate of Taiwan sign language,
01:13which, despite its outside influences, grew organically in Taiwan and developed its own culture.
01:19That's as opposed to a competing signing system based on Mandarin Chinese.
01:26他常常召集大家到全台各地一起交流,
01:30让我们发现台湾首语保存的重要性,
01:34不能被中文首语这些给绑住了。
01:36These days, Gu is still going, working with his son to promote Taiwan sign language through a new signing workshop.
01:46能够提升这些社会意识,让社会大众,让家长们能够看到我们这些聋人精英,聋人典范。
01:53The Culture Ministry plans to present this award for contributions to sign language once every two years.
01:59For many gathered at the awards ceremony, it's a recognition not just of Gu's decades-long dedication to Taiwan sign
02:05language,
02:05it's a recognition of those who use it, who now represent an officially recognized language community.
02:12Luffy Lee, John Venturiest, and Jonathan Kaplan for Taiwan Plus.
02:16Luffy Lee, John Venturiest, and Jonathan Kaplan for Taiwan,
02:16Thank you so much for, everyone.
02:17Thank you so much.
02:19You
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