Brief History of Taiwan (I)

        During glacial periods in the Late Pleistocene (更新世晚期), the sea levels became so low that some people from southeast Chinese coast were able to walk through Taiwan Strait and settle on the island. They are believed to have been the ancestors of Taiwanese aborigines.

        With the increasing prosperity of East Asia trade during Age of Discovery, the Dutch, with a view to trade with China and Japan, choose Taiwan as their commercial base. In 1623, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) first arrived on Tainan and build Fort Zeelandia. Meanwhile, the Spanish establish a colony in the north of Taiwan and built two fortresses in Keelung and Tamsui, respectively. The result of competition between the Dutch and the Spanish is that the Spanish was driven out from Taiwan in 1642.

         In the 17th century, while the Dutch occupied the south and the Spanish seized the north, the Kingdom of Middag (大肚王國) formed the third political power in the central west plains in Taiwan. The Kingdom was actually a supra-tribal alliance composed of several plains aboriginal (平埔族) tribes, including Papora, Babuza, Pazeh, and Hoanya. It had been independent from other regimes for 100 years until it was overwhelmed by Qing Dynasty in 1732.

         Koxinga (國姓爺), or Zheng Chenggong (鄭成功), was born to a well-known Chinese merchant and pirate Zheng Zhilong (鄭芝龍); he was against the Manchu regime which had overthrew the Ming Dynasty in 1644. He needed a proper place for his "Anti-Qing sentiment (反清復明)," so he led his fleet to Taiwan and defeated the Dutch in 1662. After the takeover of Taiwan, Koxinga established a government (known as Kingdom of Tungning), and refused to surrender to Qing court.

The statue of Koxinga

photo credits to wikipedia.com

         However, after the death of Koxinga's son, Zheng Jing (鄭經), the Qing court dispatched admiral Shi Lang (施琅) to attack Zheng's fleet in Penghu. Eventually, Zheng Keshuang (鄭克塽), the successor of Zheng Jing, conceded defeat and thus Taiwan was annexed by Qing dynasty. Since then, Taiwan was declared part of the territory of Fujian Province...

(To be continued)

The video below provides a overview of Taiwanese history, though some of its historical perspectives are debatable~