History of Taiwan

The first inhabitants of Taiwan were aborigines of 'Austronesian' descent who possibly migrated from the Pacific islands including Indonesia, Micronesia, Polynesia as well as the Philippines (their bone structure most closely resemble those of the aborigines on Taiwan). According to the government and international archealogists (through radio-carbon dating), Taiwan has been inhabited by people for over 10,000 years. They also believe Taiwan's links to with mainland China may also be just as old based on several stages of prehistoric tool development that match those of the mainland.

There were two distinct groups of aborigines when the mainland Chinese first came to Taiwan. One lived on the plains of central/south-western Taiwan and the other lived in the mountains (a derogatory term for aborigines in Taiwan literally translates as"Mountain People.") The mountain residents were more violent and engaged in incessant fighting, head-hunting, and ritual tatooing, continuing up to the present century!

Now, 10 major Austronesian-related tribes remain here: the Ami, Atayal, Bunun, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiat, Shao, Tsou, and the Yami. Each tribe has its own distinctive dress and customs. Their languages are related, yet different. This fact has even led some to speculate that Taiwan may have been the central homeland from which these cultures spread out to the other islands.

Today, the aborigines make up less than 2% of the population of Taiwan (about 350,000). During the constitutional amendment process in the Second National Assembly session of 1992, the issue of what name they should go by came up. The aborigines wished to be classified as 'yuan chu min' ('original inhabitants'), rather than the customary shan pao (mountain compatriots, or more colloquially, 'mountain people'). The feeling from the view of the tribal people was that the term "original inhabitants" is less discriminatory. Some aboriginal tribes are insisting they be classified as 'new' aboriginal tribes since they claim to have their own distinct dialects and rituals and were previously mis-classified as an existing group, and the government is currently reviewing these claims, so there may be newly classified groups in the near future.

Ancient Chinese historical records which refer to Taiwan seem to show that the island was known as the Land of Yangchow (before the rise of the Han dynasty) in 206 BC. According to the Shihchi, some experts believe an early attempt to explore the island which was referred to in the text as Yichow. The first recorded attempt to establish a Chinese claim to Taiwan supposedly took place in AD 239 when the kingdom of Wu sent a 10,000 troop expeditionary force to Taiwan according to the ancient Sankuochi, or the History of the Three Kingdoms.

A forgotten protectorate of the Chinese Empire by 1206, a eunuch magistrate and sailor from the Ming court in the early 1400s, Zheng He, recounted his "discovery" of the island to the emperor of China. The name Taiwan was the name used in the record books, which literally means Terraced Bay. However, an imperial directive prevented citizens of the Ming empire from emigrating anywhere, including Taiwan.

Mainland Chinese Migration  (1500A.D. - 1517A.D.)

After the 15th century, significant Chinese populations migrated from the Fujian province of mainland China in growing numbers (this is the closest province to Taiwan and the reason the Taiwanese dialect of spoken Chinese is so similar to the Fujian.) Minnan is the nickname for the Fujian province as the Min river ran directly through this southern ('nan' in Chinese) province.These original migrants were most adept at agriculture and farming and thus forced the aborigines eastward into the mountains and rugged east coast of Taiwan. Because of the Fujian's closeness to the water, they have been some of the most traveled and widespread of all the Chinese people, having settled all over South-East Asia.

Similarly, a growing group of ethnic Chinese called the Hakka, (literally 'guests' in Chinese because of their constant migration which forced them into territories not their own) also came from the Fujian province (they originally came from the Henan province in northern China in the Yellow River area but later migrated to Guangdong and Fujian provinces to avoid feuds and persecution in their homelands.) Now, the Hakka are a minority in Taiwan, having settled in the valley north-east of Kaohsiung, around a town called Meinung (population around 50,000) among other places. The Hakka dialect is very similar to Cantonese and they call themselves 'Ngai' which means 'me.' Another reference they use is the word 'bendi ren' or 'this-place or native person.' They use this to differentiate themselives today from the mainland refugees who arrived after 1949 and are referred to as 'weisheng ren' or 'outer-province people' by many old-timers.

European Colonialism (1517 - 1894)

In 1517 the first Europeans, Portuguese sailors, landed on Taiwan's shores and were so amazed by Taiwan's lush, tropical environment that they called it 'Ilha Formosa' or 'Beautiful Island.' Taiwan has since been the preferred name (one meaning is 'Terraced Bay') but older Western generations still refer to Taiwan as Formosa. Another name Taiwan was referred to in the past was 'Bao Dao' or Treasure Island because of the myth of vast treasures which were allegedly hidden on the island by pirate.

Legend has it that the pirate 'Sinbad' was actually a Chinese muslim of Eurasian descent (ethnic Hui) born in China's Yunnan Province and was also known as Cheng Ho, Ma Ho, and Ma Sanbao. Throughout the Ming dynasty, soldiers were sent to South-West China to push out the invading Mongols and one technique they used to threaten the local villages with was castration of male children. Ma  Sanbao endured this misfortune and was eventually chosen as  a eunuch servant for the Ming emperor because of his innate intelligence. He allegedly grew to the height of 2.44m/8ft. tall due to this lack of male hormones. By the age of 25 he was running the imperial palace and responsible for thousands of eunuchs.

China at the time had more ships than the rest of the world combined and was well known for it's navy and incredible war junks (ships) which were all-white and had tiger heads and dragon eyes painted on the bows to frighten enemies. The sailors also wore tiger masks to also appear more threatening. China . Cheng Ho (Ma Sanbao) was commissioned by the new Chinese emperor Yongle (1405) to lead his first fleet of 317 ships and later would go on to lead 7 expeditions over 28 years. (The 5 story Maritime Museum at Tamkang University, which is in the shape of a ship itself, has an incredible re-creation of Cheng Ho's treasure boat- http://www.tku.edu.tw/English/.)

After Yongle's death, the Ming dynasty went downhill and all records of Cheng Ho's accomplishments were destroyed on purpose by his rivals so nobody knows what became of him after the 7th voyage. His exploits are familiar to some Taiwanese but he has many avid fans in other parts of the region where temples bear his name, including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Sindbad is known and still referred to as far away as the Arabian peninsula.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, Taiwan became a haven for pirates and traders (...depending on their current economic fortune, in bad times, they were called 'pirates', in good, 'traders') who operated outside of political control, self-governed along village or clan bloodlines.

The Japanese attempted to take over control of Taiwan in 1593, after the warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi unsuccessfully tried to annex China by going through Korea. However, Taiwan was too much for the warlord to handle as the occupants proved too unruly.

The Dutch invaded Taiwan 1624 after failing to annex Macao from the Portuguese and after giving up aspirations for the Pescadores (currently the offshore islands of Penghu) due to an ultimatum from the Chinese court. Following the imperialist tradition of the time they established the first capital on Taiwan in the city now known as Tainan (literally means 'Southern Taiwan') on the southwestern coast of Taiwan. Imposing heavy taxes and labor requirements on the island's occupants and importing missionaries with the emphatic goal of converting them to Christianity, the Dutch didn't endear themselves to the native population. The Dutch East India Company gained exclusive commercial rights to the island, and imported opium from Java (then a part of the Dutch East Indies.) Allegedly, the habit of mixing tobacco with opium and smoking it was taught to the locals by the Dutch in Taiwan, which then spread to the mainland and 200 years later would figure prominently in the fall of the Qing dynasty and the trigger for war between China and Britain.

Two years later, in 1626, the Spanish invaded a cape in the northeast (close to Keelung) and later built a fort in Tamshui. They controlled Northern Taiwan for a short time before being pushed out by the Dutch in 1641/2. The Taiwanese had no real defense against their invaders, and thus a tacit harmony existed between the invaders and the local population for a short time. Trying to institute a poll tax,  the locals revolted in frustration in 1652 and was easily suppressed, after the slaughter of 6,000 islanders.

Previously on the mainland, a Taiwan-based pirate named Cheng was appointed by the last Ming emperor to repel the invading Manchu attack on Beijing. Although now considered corrupt, the Ming dynasty had reigned for 276 years, under 26 emperors. Nevertheless, Beijing was quickly overcome by the assalting Manchu armies upon which the emperor hung himself, ending a glorious era in humiliation. Cheng, meanwhile, was able to maintain his Ming army and took a Japanese wife with whom he had a son.

His son inherited the Ming background and was named Chengkung, aka Koxinga, 'Lord of the Imperial Surname'. Koxinga continued fighting the Manchu (soon-to-be-Qing dynastic rulers) on the mainland from 1646 until 1658. He almost succeeded in recapturing the capital of Nanjing but the Manchu finally forced him to flee to Taiwan in 1661 with 35,000 troops in 400 war boats and victoriously pushed the Dutch from their headquarters in Tainan. (Strangely foreshadowing Chiang Kaishek and his Nationalist's retreat from the mainland 3 centuries later.)  In 1662, Koxinga sailed down the coast with 30,000 armed men and took on 600 Dutch settlers and forts, capturing Fort Zoolandia, near present-day Tainan, and allowed the Dutch governor and his surviving officers to flee the island unharmed. Establishing Taiwan's first formal Chinese government in Anping, Tainan, Koxinga turned Taiwan into a Ming enclave and instituted important cultural/artistic & commercial improvements and reforms during his short reign and until his sudden death at age 38 in 1683, only a year after his conquest. Centuries later, he is still revered in Taiwan as a 'chuntzu' or perfect man and national hero.

His son and grandson continued to rule Taiwan for one year after Koxinga's death and had hoped to retake the mainland from the Manchus as well, but the Manchu armies sacked Taiwan. The Qing court instituted 'prefecture' status on the island, but it was untenable at best.

Over the next 200 years migration increased from the Fujian province to Taiwan and Taiwan remained a county of Fujuian province from 1684 until 1887 when it became a province of China with a population estimated at 2.5 million.

Japanese Colonialism  (1894 - 1911)

In 1894, a dispute between the Japanese and Korea led to the Sino-Japanese War. Taiwan was far enough removed that it wasn't really involved in the warfare, but when China was defeated by Japan in 1895, Taiwan became its property.

Late the same year, the Taiwanese rebelled and proclaimed Taiwan independent; The Formosa Republic. The rebellion which led to the first republic in Asia was harshly put-down by the Japanese. Taiwan was now under the control of the Japanese and remained so for the next 50 years until 1945.

The Republic of China (1911 - 1949)

The Qing dynasty was brought down in 1911 by a man who was to become the greatest leader China ever had, and the first president of the Republic of China (ROC), Dr Sun Yatsen (see the movie 'The Last Emperor'). Sun Yatsen was not power-hungry and demurred to the next ruler of China, Yuan Shikai, but unlike Sun Yatsen, Yuan Shikai didn't favor a democratic China and tried to make himself the next emperor but was unsuccessful and died of cancer in 1916.

A period of civil war began in China with rival warlords jockeying for power until the KMT (Kuomintang, Nationalist Party) took control. The Nationalist army was led by Chiang Kaishek (aka 'Generalissimo') who would ultimately become the leader of Taiwan.

Unfortunately, the KMT soon found itself threatened from the Communist rebellion within China itself, and from Japan and it's growing military on the outside. In 1931 Japanese forces occupied Manchuria on the northern border of China and in 1937 they invaded the mainland.

At the start of WWII, Japan drafted tens of thousands of Taiwanese into the army, many of whom were killed or wounded. The Western Allies bombed military installations in Taiwan but luckily didn't do too much damage to Taiwan in general (compared to Japan.) However, the economy took a major nose dive, as did that of China and Japan.

The Japanese left a legacy of law and order, economic and educational development, but it also ruled with an iron hand. This efficiency helped develop Taiwan's roads, railroads, schools and hospitals, but left many horror stories of rape, torture and heavy-handedness. However, even today many of Taiwan's older generation still speak Japanese in addition to their native tongue.

After Japan's defeat in WWII, under the terms of the Yalta Agreement China, under control of General Chiang Kaishek, regained control of Taiwan. Unfortunately the Taiwanese were not as excited as they should have been considering the overthrow of the Japanese because of the horrible events which followed. General Chen Yi was sent to Taiwan under Chiang Kaishek's orders to become Taiwan's governor, but his corruption and incompetence led to riots on February 28th, 1947 when somewhere between 10,000-30,000 civilians were killed during the repressive clampdown which followed. The press was totally restricted from reporting this even and only a handful of reports even reached the Western world (who didn't really care anyway).

Martial law was instituted island-wide after that day and continued for almost the next 40 years (it was finally lifted 38 years later just before the death of President Chiang Chingkuo, the son and successor of Chian Kaishek, in 1988.) The incident is now remembered as '2-28' or 'Remembrance Day' and is a national holiday in Taiwan.

China vs. Taiwan (1949 - 1988)

Back on mainland China in 1949, the communists were finally able to take control from the KMT and established the People's Republic of China (PRC). The KMT fled to Taiwan along with 1.5 million Chinese (including 600,000 soldiers and China's most important artifacts and national art treasures which are now housed in the impressive National Palace Museum in Taipei.)

While fleeing the mainland, the KMT managed to retain control of 3 small islands just of the mainland, Kinmen ('Golden Gate' also called 'Quemoy' in Chinese), Matsu, and Wuchiu and they are still under the control of Taiwan to this day. The communists in China were planning to invade Taiwan but the Korean War prevented this as they tried to prevent the 'Imperialists' of America from gaining another foothold (after Japan) in Korea. The US sent its 7th fleet into the Taiwan Straits to prevent any invasion the communists might try.

The population soared from approximately 6 million in 1946 to 7.5 million in 1949. In 1950, disgraced former governor Chen Yi was executed on the orders of Chiang Kaishek. The KMT planned to stay only temporarily headquartered in Taiwan while planning to 'retake' the mainland from the communists so political opposition of the KMT by the Taiwanese was strictly prohibited and was the reason martial law was instituted in 1947. These policies encouraged hatred of the average Taiwanese citizen for the KMT rulers, but after a successful land-reform program was introduced in the 1950's (a more equitable distribution of income was the result, making Taiwan unique in compared to most Asian countries) and rapid industrialisation in the 1960's, Taiwan soon became one of the wealthiest economies in Asia.

In October 25th, 1971, the ROC lost its seat in the United Nations to China. In January 1979, under President Jimmy Carter's rule, the US withdrew recognition of the ROC in favor of the PRC government on the mainland. Taiwan was also suspended from the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1972, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1980 and have thus far prevented Taiwan from joining the World Trade Organization (WTO.)

Since then, most countries (except for 20 small countries, who who do it to receive financial aid from Taiwan; 'dollar diplomacy') have withdrawn diplomatic recognition of Taiwan or faced China's economic wrath through withholding trade with China since the PRC leadership won't allow a nation to have diplomatic relations with BOTH Taiwan and China simultaneously since they consider Taiwan to be a 'renegade province' of China. The 'capitalist' world, however, continues to maintain unofficial economic ties with Taiwan.

Taiwan participates in the Olympic Games as 'Chinese Taipei,' and are not allowed to raise their flag or play the ROC national anthem. Taiwan's major airline, China Airlines, also was forced to change its logo of the ROC flag on the side of its planes to a plum flower.

China continues to keep military pressure on Taiwan and a series of missile launches on the 3 offshore islands (Kinmen, Matsu and Wuchiu) were relentless up until 1995. China claims that sales by other countries of military hardware to Taiwan are 'interference in the internal affairs of China'.

Chiang Kaishek died in 1975, at the age of 87, leaving his wife, May Ling Soong behind. She moved to New York, USA where she lived until her recent death on October 24th, 2003 (b.1898) at the age of 105 (106 by Taiwanese standards of counting -click here for more). Interestingly, she was educated in the U.S. and was the daughter of wealthy businessman Charlie Soong, and her elder sister married Dr. Sun Yat-sen so her death brought a close to a glorious chapter in Chinese history.

Both she and her husband await reburial on the mainland upon such time as Taiwan and China reunify and become democratic (this may be a long wait...). His son, Chiang Chingkuo, became president of the ROC in 1978 after an uncontested election. He was re-elected in 1984 and served a second term till his death in January 1988. (HIs illigitibate son, John Chang, is a well-respected political figure in Taiwan despite never having met either his father of grandfather in person and only recently being officially declared a true relative.)

Political Reform (1986 - 1994)

In 1986, breaking the long-standing tradition against the formation of new political parties (in fact it was illegal to form a new party in this single-party system) the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was created. The KMT, under the direct orders of then President Chiang Chingkuo (possibly to fend off criticism of nepotism), left the DPP alone. A large number of DPP candidates were elected in 1986 and were permitted to take their seats in the legislature, creating Taiwan's first real opposition party.

In 1987, 38 years of martial law came to an end as one of the last acts of President Chiang Chingkuo before his death. The first Taiwanese-born sucessor, Lee Tenghui, was elected President.

In December 1991, President Lee gracefully convinced the 'ageing deputies' to retire (a group of over 460 KMT legislators who were elected on mainland China before the communists came to power and strangely claimed to still be representing constituents on the mainland province of Fujien from Taiwan), having been frozen in office for over 40 years. After The first free election to the National Assembly was held President Lee earned the nickname 'Mr. Democracy.'

Other economic and political reforms soon followed including the lifting of almost all restrictions on the press. Taiwan could now claim that their society was one of the most liberal in all of Asia.

Taiwan, Inc. (1994 -  Today)

Although Taiwan and the ROC leadership soon gave up its position of 'retaking the mainland', China has not reciprocated in giving up its plan to 'retake Taiwan'. The PRC has demanded that there be only 'one China', and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will invade Taiwan if the island ever makes a formal declaration of independence or balks at reunification efforts.

Because of this, the Taiwanese are mindful to refer to their 'country' as the ROC, officially agreeing to the 'one China' policy, while unofficially pushing for independence by slowly and carefully trying to build a global backing on the idea.

In 1994 however, the Taiwanese leadership, uncontent to live with the status quo, lobbied the UN to grant a seat to the ROC. China considered this action a declaration of independence. To make matters worse, Lee Tunghui made a high-profile visit to the U.S. just before his re-election campaign. In response to these incidents, China considered it an 'act of war', threatened to nuke Los Angeles and conducted a series of missile tests in the hope of convincing Taiwanese voters to vote for 'pro-China' candidates in the December 1995 parliamentary elections. During the March 1996 presidential elections, China again conducted missile launchings to frighten voters away from Lee Tunghui, and some missiles landed just 25km off the coast of Taiwan.

Unfortunately for China, the missile tests had the opposite reaction they were hoping for and helped to only increase the independence fervor. In addition, the US brought two aircraft carriers into the area to prevent any attack plans China might of had in mind. President Lee was re-elected with 54% of the vote in a four-way race. Taiwan has also spent a considerable amount of money purchasing defense weapons, boats, and planes from the US among other countries, but no one seriously believes Taiwan could repel an invasion from China by itself.

The KMT has long been associated with corruption and organized crime so when Lee, directly following re-election, unaccountably fired a popular Justice Minister who had been cracking down on corruption, support started to slip for Lee. China's takeover of Hong Kong on July 1, 1997 also brought fear to Taiwan. The 2nd half of the year also saw a growing Asian currency crisis and a recession in most of Asia (but they fared better than other Asian countries.) In 1997, a six-day visit to Taiwan by the Dalai Lama also worsened relationships with China.

In 1998 China tried to offer a truce of sorts with Taiwan by offering to resume talks suspended by China during the 1995 'war games.' In 1999 China once again ceased the talks when Lee Tenghui publicly announced that Taiwan and China had a 'special state-to state' relationship. When the press asked him to explain himself, he said that essentially meant the two sides were separate states. (meaning different countries.)

In 2000, China again raised the level of war retoric in attempt to prevent voters from electing the DPP's Chen Shuibian but again this only served to help elect Chen, although by a slim margin. Following this, China has continued to angrily press Taiwan's leaders to stop the independence agitation and to agree to the policy that Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China, which continues to this day.

However, recently, direct travel links have been opened between China and Taiwan via the offshore islands (but not to foreigners) and business is booming between the two countries and China recently surpassed the US as Taiwan's leading export market (but the trade balance is weighted heavily in Taiwan's favor because of it's industrial experience and advance efficiency) which should help decrease any future threats of war.

Incredibly, Taiwan has undergone a virtual revolution from an agricultural economy to an industrial and information technology-based economy in less than 50 years! Overcoming a shortage of natural resources, a small domestic market, and a very high population density, the dedicated Taiwanese have made Taiwan one of Asia's most powerful 'little Dragons.'

Tamkang Univ. Maritime Museum