Taiwan’s History

Taiwan’s History – Jose Period

/ travelqueen4ever / Leave a comment

In the 15th and 16th centuries, European countries expanded their power abroad, opened up new routes to East Asia, discovered a new continent in the Americas, and shortened the navigation distance between Asia and Europe, and the world has since entered the era of great navigation. In the international environment of sea power struggle, Taiwan has entered a historical era. At the beginning of the 17th century, in addition to some sporadic Ryukyu people, Han people, and pirates traveling to and from Taiwan, Western mercantilist countries also began to pay attention to Taiwan. At this time, the Far East Sea has become a situation in which the three European countries are competing: Portugal, which rents Macau, Spain, which colonizes Luzon Island in the Philippines, and the Netherlands, which owns Java, are competing in the Far East for commerce and colonization.

The Dutch’s commercial purpose in the Far East was originally based on the Ming Dynasty. However, due to the competition of the Portuguese and the resistance of the Ming Empire, the Dutch had to turn to Penghu and occupied Penghu twice in 1604 and 1622. However, because Penghu was the territory of the Ming Empire, the Ming government also sent troops twice to drive away the Dutch. In 1604, Shen Yourong sent troops to Penghu to expel the Dutch. After 8 months of winning or losing, the Netherlands finally negotiated a peace. In the negotiation and contract, the Ming government asked the Netherlands to withdraw from Penghu. If it withdrew from Penghu and occupied Taiwan, the opposite “Huawai Island”, the Ming government had no objection. After this negotiation, the Dutch entered southern Taiwan in 1624 and built the “City of Orange”, which was later transformed into the city of Geranzio. Later, due to the Guo Huaiyi incident, the city of Prominja was built in 1653.

In the third year of the Dutch rule of Taiwan (1626), Spain also sent troops from Manila, the Philippines, to occupy northern Taiwan. They successively occupied the chicken coop and the Huwei area, and built the city of Santo Domingo to start colonial and commercial competition with the Dutch in the south, but the situation was not good. In addition, the Spanish rulers built Catholic churches in Jinshan, San Diego and other places, trying to preach to the aborigines. The Spanish priest also studied aboriginal languages and wrote the “Taiwan Island Freshwater Vocabulary” (Spanish: Vocabulario de la lengua de los Indios Tanchui en la Isla Hermosa). In 1642 the Dutch drove out the Spaniards and occupied the second city.

The Dutch ruled Taiwan for about 38 years. In its heyday (1650), its rule included areas dominated by the Jianan Plain, the second Spanish colony in the north and the coastal area of present-day Taitung. The Dutch adopted a method of appeasement, repression, and enlightenment against the indigenous peoples (Formosas), adopted the “Landdag” system, elected elders from each village, and rallied annually to promote the Dutch authorities As for current political measures, local meetings are divided into four districts: North Road, South Road, Tamsui, and Beinan. The elders must swear allegiance to the Dutch authorities and exercise judicial power in the community after possessing the rattan stick granted by the Dutch authorities. The Dutch also widely promoted the Calvinism of Protestantism, and promoted cultural and educational work while preaching. The Newport Document is one of its examples.

At that time, there were also a certain number of Han people who had migrated to Taiwan, and some Han people were recruited to Taiwan for cultivation. The Han people played a role in assisting the Dutch rule in many aspects, including serving as a “social business” (tax-inclusive business), etc. The Dutch East India Company used a bidding method to outsource the commercial transaction rights of a company to the highest bidder, and provided it in four seasons The social business collects taxes to increase fiscal revenue, which is called “Ben Society”. However, due to heavy taxes and no land ownership by the people, the land is Wang Tian and owned by the King of the Netherlands, causing some people in Taiwan to be dissatisfied with the Dutch ruler. In 1652, the Guo Huaiyi Incident broke out due to the reduction in sugar cane production and the increase in the poll tax. In addition, in 1629 and 1636, there were also two large-scale resistance activities of the indigenous people of Formosa, the Madouxi Incident and the Xiaolong Incident, respectively.

In terms of economy, the Dutch introduced many new species, including mango, custard apple, cabbage, soybean, pepper, jackfruit, Luzon tobacco, peas, tomato, etc., and also introduced cattle. The land area unit “Morgen” (Morgen) used by the Dutch at that time was equivalent to “A”, and it has been used today. In addition, the Dutch developed trade in Taiwan and used Taiwan as a transit point. Taiwan became a cargo distribution center for Ming Dynasty, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe and other places. At this time, Taiwan has jumped into an export-oriented maritime trade system, which is different from traditional China’s self-sufficient feudal small peasant economy. However, the Dutch rule in Taiwan was an exploitative rule after all. Around 1650, the annual net income of the Dutch East India Company in Taiwan was about 4 billion Dutch dollars (about 4 tons of gold).

Aboriginal regime – Dadu Kingdom

/ travelqueen4ever / Leave a comment

The Dadu Kingdom is a loose tribal alliance. The area governed by around 1645 is mainly the Dadu River Basin today, approximately from the south of Houli in Taichung City on the north bank of Dajia River to Wuxi (Dadu River) Basin. The Netherlands knew in 1638 that the Dadu Kingdom was the regime that ruled the aborigines in central Taiwan. It is a super tribal kingdom composed of 27 villages of the Babula, Maowuhu, Bazehai, Hongya, and Daukas. In the heyday of the domain, the southern end of the domain was approximately to Lukang, and the north to the south of Taoyuan. The kingdom surrendered after the Dutch invaded by force in 1644. In April 1645, the Dutch convened a local meeting in the south. Ganzaih Alamy of the Dadu Kingdom signed a contract with the Dutch East India Company to express surrender, but it was not until the Netherlands in 1662. Until people left Taiwan, Dadu Kingdom remained semi-independent.

Although the Dadu Kingdom was friendly to the Dutch East India Company, it never submitted to the Zheng dynasty and even stubbornly resisted the Zheng army, leading Zheng Chenggong and others to believe that they were instigated by the Netherlands. In 1661, Zheng Chenggong obtained part of the rule of Taiwan. As a result of the implementation of the “combination of soldiers and agriculture” policy, Zheng Jun was sent to various places to farm, infringing on the space of activities of the aboriginal peoples, leading to several armed conflicts between the Zheng Dynasty and the Dadu Kingdom.

After the demise of the Zheng regime, in 1722 (the 61st year of Kangxi), Huang Shuzheng, who served as the official historian of Taiwan, wrote in his book “Taiwan Shichalu”: “The shape of a big belly mountain looks like a high city of hundred pheasants. Fan Chang is named Big Eyebrow.” Although a few words show that there was indeed a super-tribal kingdom in central Taiwan in the 17th century. In 1731 (the ninth year of Yongzheng), the officials of the Qing court assigned too many labors to the aboriginal peoples, which caused the aboriginal peoples to resist, and the Dajiaxi Society resisted the Qing incident. The following year was suppressed, people of all ethnic groups fled their original places and moved to Around Puli, the Dadu Kingdom finally collapsed.

Great Turtle Kingdom

Also in the 17th to 19th centuries, the area south of Mangxi on the Hengchun Peninsula in southern Taiwan and north of Fenggang River (Nanhui Highway) was ruled by the Great Guiwen Kingdom established by Nanpai Bay, also known as the “Great Turtle”. “Wenshe”, “Neiwen Community” or “Lang Qiao Shang Eighteen Society”. The Miscellaneous Record of the Japanese Army Fenggang Camp records: “From the south to Fenggang’s east back, and from Beiyuan to the east, the west is separated from Fenggang, Chutongjiao, Bengshan, and Jialuotang. The border is not opened, and the number of personnel is unknown.” At present, it is known that the most powerful and prosperous period includes 23 tribes and several Han villages. The main ruling class is the two major suzerain boss families. The leader of the kingdom is called the “head of state” (Mazazangiljan), and has Almost all land ownership. In the early period of the Dutch rule, the kingdom had a friendly relationship with the East India Company, and the officials were very courteous to it. Daguiwen was one of the six official languages of the Nanlu local meeting. Even so, the kingdom still passively resisted local meetings most of the time, often being absent by servants or excuses, and the “head of state” only went to participate in 1644. The officials hope that the three main communities of the kingdom can move down the mountain, and the “head of state” has also continued to use excuses to delay.

At the beginning of 1661, due to the long-term conflicts between the kingdom and the Pingpu Macadao tribe and the Han people, the Daguan authorities launched two large-scale conquests against the Daguiwen Kingdom. The statements of the results of the two sides are very different. Dutch documents record the successful capture of Durkeduk, but the oral history of the Paiwan tribe is that the ancestors almost completely wiped out the Dutch army that invaded the Lion’s Head three hundred years ago. Regardless of victory or defeat, this military action may have a very negative political and military impact on the high-ranking officials who were about to face a decisive battle with Zheng Chenggong that year. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty’s rule of Taiwan, Fenggangying’s Miscellaneous Records (1874) recorded that 23 tribes in the territory and Han villages such as Jintongjiaozhuang and Jialuotangzhuang still paid taxes to the kingdom.

In the Peony Society incident in 1874, Japan sent about 3,600 troops to Taiwan to attack the Eighteenth Society of Langqiao (the Kingdom of Skaroo), and the Japanese troops stationed in Fenggang on the North Road. In June, some members of Langqiao Shangshiba Society (Daguiwen Society) returned to the Japanese army. In August, the two villages of Zhutongjiao and Bengshan Han were attacked and requested Japanese protection, and the Japanese troops went to the north to station troops at Zhutongjiao. At the end of that year, the Japanese troops withdrew from Taiwan, the Lionhead tribe took the opportunity to get out of the grass, and then clashes with the Han people broke out. In 1875, Shen Baozheng asked for further discussion. With Tang Dingkui led the Huai army and thousands of Xiangyong, they advanced from Nanshi Lake to the mountains, and after the fierce battle, they broke through Caoshan and Zhukeng. In April, although the Qing army was disturbed by the epidemic, Tang Dingkui personally supervised the army to forcibly attack the Neishitou Society, and Daguiwen sent troops to assist him, but he was defeated in the fall, and the leader’s brother Alabai died in battle. After the Qing army attacked the Waishitou Society, the chief leader led the crowd to surrender, and all the communities were naturalized.

Early Taiwan – Aboriginal History of Taiwan

/ travelqueen4ever / Leave a comment

During the Pleistocene Ice Age, which is 3 million to 10,000 years ago, Taiwan was connected to mainland Asia several times. When the two places are connected, creatures from the mainland and ancient humans may come to settle in Taiwan. The earliest known humans in Taiwan are primitive human skeletons excavated in the Zuozhen district of Tainan City, and they are called Zuozhen people. However, no corresponding culture has been found in Zuozhen area. However, according to the research on the blood components of Taiwanese by Professor Lin Mali, the “Mother of Blood in Taiwan”, the ancestors of Taiwan’s aboriginal people migrated to Taiwan from Southeast Asian islands and other places before the end of the ice age 15,000 years ago. In addition, in the legends of the aborigines of Taiwan, such as the dwarf spirit offerings of the Saixia or the Paiwan tribe, some stories may be about dwarf blacks (Negritos), but so far there is no Relevant archaeological evidence.

After excavating several archaeological sites, it was learned that Taiwan was already inhabited by humans in the late Paleolithic period (50,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago). Based on the available evidence, the earliest culture in Taiwan is the Changbin Culture (the Baxiandong site in Changbin Township, Taitung County is the most representative), and a large number of rough stone tools and bone horns have been excavated. Although the Changbin culture has a certain degree of similarity with the culture of southern China today, based on current archaeological evidence, it is still uncertain which ethnic group of humans left Taiwan’s Paleolithic culture.

Taiwan’s Neolithic and Metal Age cultures are not highly related to Paleolithic cultures. The more famous ones include the Dazukeng Culture and Shisanxing Culture in Bali District, New Taipei City, Yuanshan Culture and Botanical Garden Culture in Taipei Basin, Taiwan Beinan Culture and other sites in East County. Coins and other objects from China have been unearthed in some of these sites, indicating that some cultures may have contact with regions outside Taiwan. It has been confirmed that the prehistoric culture since the Neolithic Age (beginning 5,000 BC) is the legacy of Taiwan’s Austronesian people.

The Japanese scholar Igawa Kozura once stated: “Today, among the various ethnic groups regarded as aboriginals in Taiwan, there is no shortage of oral inheritances that prove the existence of earlier inhabitants. Since prehistoric times, there have been nearly 20 kinds of inhabited ethnic groups on the island. ” In addition, some cultures may be the ancestors of today’s aboriginals. For example, the Shisanxing cultural people may be the ancestors of the Ketagalan tribe. However, the current archaeological evidence cannot completely determine the aborigines of Taiwan and the Neolithic Age Correspondence between cultures.

Taiwan’s aborigines are diverse and complex. The groups officially recognized by the Republic of China’s research classification during the Japanese rule are: Atayal, Saixia, Puyuma, Ami, Paiwan, Bunun, Tsou, 9 tribes including Rukai and Dawu. After the 21st century, the newly recognized ethnic groups include: Thao, Kavalan, Taroko, Sakilaya, Saidiq, Laalwa, Kanakanafu, etc. Most of these 7 ethnic groups live in the mountains and the Rift Valley of the East Coast today, and their cultural characteristics are still clearly identifiable.

In addition to the officially recognized ethnic groups, there are 8 ethnic groups: Ketagalan, Daukas, Bazai, Babura, Maowuzu, Hongya, Silaya and Monkey Etc., mainly from the traditional so-called Pingpu ethnic group. Taiwan’s aborigines had no written language in the past, so they can only infer the early history of the aborigines from ancient records and archaeological evidence written by outsiders. Important historical documents include Xingang Documents, Dongfan Ji, and Xiao The Story of Long City” etc.

Foreign Relations – China Mainland

Scholars have different interpretations of the political relationship between Taiwan and ancient China, but it is uncontroversial that it was included in the Qing Empire after the 23rd year of Kangxi (1684). Before Kangxi, there were dozens to hundreds of indigenous peoples and tribes on this island, which was later called Taiwan. After the 17th century, there were areas under Dutch and Spanish colonial rule. Ancient China first included Taiwan in its territory and actually ruled. It was the Ming Zheng Dongning regime in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and before Kangxi included Taiwan in the territory of the Qing Dynasty, Taiwan was never regarded as a Chinese territory. Taiwan mentioned here does not include the Penghu Islands.

Ancient Chinese history books, including “Three Kingdoms·Wu Zhi”, “Sui Shu·Liu Qiu Zhuan” and “Chen Tong Kao”, are believed to have records that appear to be suspected of Taiwan. For example, “Sui Shu·Liu Qiu Zhuan” records: “Liu Qiu country is in the sea, when Jian’an County is east, the water travels five days to reach.” The People’s Republic of China and some scholars claim that this is evidence of early connections between Taiwan and China. However, some opinions claim that there is no evidence that these documents describe Taiwan among the many islands in the Western Pacific. Some scholars believe that the historical records are the Ryukyu Islands.

Japan

Since the Muromachi period, the Japanese began to call Taiwan as Takasago, Takasago, and Takayama. In the second year of Bunroku in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1593), Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent an emissary Harada Sunchiro to order the Takayama country to pay tribute, but the emissary failed to return because he could not find anyone who could pass the document to the Takayama country. In the 14th year of Keicho in the Edo period (1609), Tokugawa Ieyasu appointed Harunobu Arima to pay tribute to the land. In the 2nd year of Yuanhe (1616), Tokugawa Ieyasu appointed Nagasaki’s Daikan Murayama to conquer Taiwan, waiting for An’s second son, Murayama Qiu’an to lead two or three thousand people to conquer Taiwan, which was the largest one. It won. In the 18th year of Huan Yong (1641), the national lock-up system was completed, and communication gradually decreased. However, during the Ming and Zheng period, Taiwan and Japan during the lock-up period still maintained considerable trade and political exchanges. The trade volume between Taiwan and Japan reached a peak from 1665 to 1672. See Japanese beggars.

The History of Taiwan

/ travelqueen4ever / Leave a comment
By the way, I’m from Taiwan originally but grew up oversea 😊

I am going to share with the world about the history of my country Taiwan.

Those who have a clear documentary record and can verify the time point can be traced back to three articles written in July 1582 when two Spanish priests and a Portuguese Jesuit were stranded in Taiwan for 75 days due to wind. Taiwan’s letter history began approximately when the Dutch East India Company began its rule in 1624.  However, human activities have already existed in Taiwan before it was recorded in the literature.  The Changbin culture in Taitung 30,000 years ago is the oldest culture in Taiwan known to archaeology, and there are archaeological relics of the Austronesian people in the more recent Neolithic Age.  In fact, Taiwan is also considered to be one of the possible linguistic and genetic birthplaces of the Austronesian peoples due to its location in the northernmost part of the Austronesian language group, and it is also the northernmost of the distribution area.

Taiwan is located between China, Japan and Southeast Asia, and can be used as a berthing and cargo transfer station for ships of various countries.  In the 17th century, there was a super-tribal Dadu Kingdom in central Taiwan, while the Netherlands and Spain colonized the southwest and northwest of Taiwan respectively.  The Dutch expelled the Spanish and ruled most of western Taiwan.  In April 1661, Zheng Chenggong led 25,000 troops and hundreds of warships to besiege the city of Relanzhe, the capital of the Netherlands and Taiwan. The Netherlands signed a surrender on February 1, 1662. Taiwan entered the Ming and Zheng period, during which a large number of Han people emigrated to Taiwan.  In 1683, Ming Zheng Jiangqing general Shi Lang led the Qing army to attack Taiwan, King of Tywan Zheng Keyu surrendered, and Taiwan entered the Qing Dynasty.

In 1894, the Sino-Japanese War between the Qing Dynasty and Japan broke out. The following year, the two sides signed the Shimonoseki Treaty in Shimonoseki, ceding Taiwan to Japan, and Taiwan entered the Japanese rule.

The Second World War ended in 1945, and Japan was defeated.  Japan accepted the Allies’ “Potsdam Declaration” in the “Submission Instrument” and the “Cairo Declaration” in the Potsdam Declaration. The “Cairo Declaration” required Taiwan, Penghu, and Manchuria to be returned to the Republic of China.  On September 2, 1945, Marshal MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, issued the “General Order No. 1”, ordering the Japanese forces in China (except Manchuria), Taiwan and Vietnam north of the 16th latitude to surrender to Jiang Zhongzheng, who represents the Allied Powers.  It also ordered Japan and Japan-controlled military and civilian regimes to assist the Allies in occupying Japan and Japan-controlled areas.  After Chiang Kai-shek appointed General Chen Yi to accept the surrender of the Japanese troops in Taiwan, he then unilaterally announced the restoration of Taiwan.  The United States and the United Kingdom and other allies disagreed with the unilateral announcement of the restoration of sovereignty over Taiwan by the Republic of China, and stated that the handling of Taiwan’s sovereignty must wait for a peace treaty with Japan to be decided.  Japan also stated that the “Submission Instrument” that accepted the “Potsdam Declaration” and “Cairo Declaration” only has the nature of a truce agreement, not the nature of the disposition of territories. It was not until the 1952 “San Francisco Peace Treaty” came into force that Taiwan did not  Leaving Japan.  In the “San Francisco Peace Treaty”, Japan only declared to abandon Taiwan without indicating its ownership. The ownership of Taiwan must be decided by the Allies in the future.

In April 1949, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army crossed the river during the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, fell. On December 7, the government moved to Taiwan.  Since 1991, citizens of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu have elected all the seats of the Republic of China Congress since 1991; since 1996, the President of the Republic of China has been directly elected.  However, those who believe that the Republic of China is illegal in Taiwan, according to international law, argue that the government of the Republic of China cannot be legalized in Taiwan through elections.  The government of the People’s Republic of China, which has never ruled Taiwan, claims its sovereignty.  In addition, Taiwan’s status in international law is also one of the reasons for sovereignty disputes and the Taiwan independence movement.