Early History of the Indigenous
Tribes 
Prior to 1600, diverse groups of indigenous tribes
were the sole inhabitants of Taiwan, which the natives called
Pakan. These peoples probably migrated from islands in southern
Asia. The languages spoken by the indigenous peoples are of the
Austronesian family; records indicate there were as many as twenty-six
different linguistic groups among the various tribes.
A majority of the tribes lived on Taiwan's plains
in villages that were generally surrounded by bamboo walls. These
walls were built to protect inhabitants from rival tribes. Headhunting
was a byproduct of tribal warfare among some tribes, and also
played a symbolic and spiritual role for many of the island's
inhabitants. To support themselves, the aboriginal tribes engaged
in small-scale farming and hunting.
European Contact and Dutch
Settlement (1517 - 1661)
While the indigenous people called the island
"Pakan;," it was known to Europeans as "Formosa.;"
When a Portugese ship sailed past the island in 1517, the navigator
reportedly commented, "Isla; formosa!" which means "beautiful;
island" in Portugese. For the next several hundred years,
the island was identified as "Formosa;" on most Western
navigational maps. The name "Taiwan;" is believed to originate
from the native Sarayan language. "Tayan;" means "outsider;"
in the aboriginal language; Chinese who came to the island mistook
this word for the island's name - with "tayan;" becoming
"Taiwan;" when converted into Chinese characters.
Aside from influencing the island's name changes,
contact with outsiders had a tremendous impact on the indigenous
peoples. In 1624, the Dutch laid claim to Taiwan, establishing
a trading post near the present-day city of Tainan. In 1633, the
Dutch started building a second fortress in order to establish
a permanent colony on the island. Several tribes opposed this
effort, but attempted revolts in 1635-36 were violently suppressed
by Dutch soldiers; thousands of aborigines were killed in an effort
to force the tribes into submission. While several tribes attempted
to adapt to the expectations of their colonial masters, some retreated
into the island's formidable mountains, out of the grasp of Dutch
control.
To make Formosa a profitable colony, the Dutch
converted large areas of the fertile southern plain into managed
agricultural development. Sugarcane became a major cash crop,
and the Dutch introduced other new plant varieties. In addition,
they imported migrant laborers from China to provide labor for
colonial development. While the island had previously been an
outpost for bandits and pirates from the mainland, some of the
Han workers brought in by the Dutch married indigenous women and
remained. The already diverse cultures of Taiwan would grow increasingly
mixed over the next several centuries.
Click on the thumbnails to see larger images
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| The Dutch settlement in southwestern
region of Taiwan in 1623
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1895: Japanese troops
enter Taipei |
Wood carving of the brutal suppression
of Feb. 28th |
Forming of the DPP on Sept. 28th,
1986. |
The Cheng Period (1661 - 1683)
The period of Dutch colonization coincided with
the decline of the Ming dynasty in China. Manchu invaders established
the Qing dynasty in 1644, but pockets of resistance remained for
several decades. Cheng Ch'eng-kung (known as Koxinga by Westerners)
was the son of a Ming loyalist father and a Japanese mother. Upon
hearing that his father had been imprisoned by the Qing government
and his mother had committed suicide after being raped by Qing
soldiers, he vowed to avenge his parents. Cheng gathered a sizable
pro-Ming army and fought for many years on the mainland in his
attempt to defeat the Qing. In 1661, after suffering several defeats,
Cheng and his army of 25,000 men were forced to flee to the islands
of Amoi, Kimoi and Penghu, off the coast of Taiwan. Having established
these bases, Cheng set his sights on the main island. After suffering
attacks on several settlements, the Dutch agreed to surrender
Taiwan in 1662; thirty-eight years of Dutch rule came to an end.
Island natives welcomed the Dutch defeat. Tired
of paying the high taxes that the Dutch demanded, they welcomed
Cheng as a liberator. Cheng's forces, numbering 30,000, added
greatly to the island's population. In order to provide food and
land for the new arrivals, lands formerly set aside for the Dutch
East Indies Company were privatized. In addition, a family registration
system was created to allow for greater administrative efficiency.
With the Cheng regime entrenched on Taiwan, the
Qing government forced Chinese to withdraw from coastal areas
of the mainland. As a result, the local economies in Fujian and
Guangdong Provinces suffered greatly. This economic decline led
to increased emigration from these coastal provinces, thus increasing
Taiwan's population. As more and more immigrants arrived, the
total amount of cultivated land increased greatly. Taiwan's agricultural
economy boomed during the Cheng period.
Despite the growth of the agricultural sector,
Cheng Ch'eng-kung's son shared his father's goal of overthrowing
the Qing dynasty. To support the Cheng regime's costly military
campaigns, the population of the island was heavily taxed. As
the years progressed, Taiwanese resistance to Cheng rule increased.
In 1683, the Qing government launched a campaign to end Cheng
resistance to Qing rule once and for all. In July of 1683, a force
of 20,000 Qing troops occupied Penghu Island, and in September
they mounted an assault on Taiwan itself. In order to avoid more
bloodshed, the Cheng government agreed to an unconditional surrender.
A new era of rule under the Qing dynasty had begun.
Qing Administration of
Taiwan (1683 - 1895)
While the Qing government was very much interested
in quelling the last bits of resistance to their rule, their interest
in Taiwan was tempered by its negative image as an outpost filled
with trouble-makers. Having defeated the pro-Ming forces on Taiwan,
the Qing government briefly considered abandoning the island altogether.
While they ultimately decided to declare Taiwan a territory of
Qing China, they forced 100,000 Han Chinese settlers to return
to the mainland. In addition, they made sure that soldiers or
administrative personnel assigned to the island were rotated regularly
so they couldn't establish roots. By keeping the island's population
small, they hoped to keep peacekeeping efforts to a minimum.
Despite efforts to limit the population of Taiwan,
settlers continued to arrive on the island. The Qing government
allowed male settlers to work on Taiwan provided they did not
bring their families with them. However, Taiwan's fertile plains
acted as a magnet for poor, pioneering families from the mainland;
"illegal; immigrants" from China's southeastern provinces
arrived in increasing numbers as Qing enforcement of immigration
regulations grew lax. In 1760, the Qing government finally lifted
the restrictions on immigration from Fujian Province, leading
to a dramatic increase in the number of Han Chinese inhabitants.
While the Qing government's policy towards Taiwan can best be
described as one of "benign; neglect," agricultural production
enjoyed steady growth throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
Since there were few native industries on the island, settlers
depended on trade with the mainland. Despite these economic ties
with the mainland, the Taiwanese people developed a strong, independent
identity; rebellions were commonplace throughout the period of
Qing administration. A common saying in regards to Taiwan was,
"a; small rebellion every year, a big rebellion every five
years."
In the mid-19th century contact with Europeans
and other outsiders increased. The treaties China was forced to
sign after the Second Opium War opened Taiwanese ports to European
trade. With increased numbers of ships plying the seas off Taiwan's
coast, interactions between shipwrecked navigators and hostile
natives became a serious issue. In 1871 a boat with sixty-six
natives of the Ryukyu Islands was wrecked off of Taiwan's shore;
of the sixty-six passengers on this ship, fifty-four were killed
by aborigines. In retaliation for this incident and several others,
the Japanese briefly dispatched troops to southern Taiwan in 1874.
In the ensuing peace negotiations, Li Hongzhang told the Japanese
that China "was; not responsible" for the natives. China
paid Japan an indemnity to compensate for the loss of life. The
Japanese considered this an abrogation of Chinese control over
Taiwan. A Qing dispute with the French in 1884 further tested
China's commitment to retain Taiwan. In an attempt to solidify
his control, the Qing government dispatched Liu Ming-ch'uan, a
"Western-style;" reformist. Liu instituted tax reform measures,
reorganized the different monopolies, encouraged foreign investment,
and made limited attempts to improve the island's infrastructure,
including the installation of Taiwan's first short stretch of
railway line. However, these modest measures came too late to
help Qing officials establish a firm claim over the island. When
the Sino-Japanese War concluded in 1895, the Chinese were forced
to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki; among other provisions in the
treaty, China handed over control of Taiwan to the Japanese. Two
hundred years of Qing administration came to a sudden end.
The Taiwan Democratic Republic
(1895)
Founded on May 25, 1895, the Taiwan Democratic
Republic survived for only 148 days. Due to its short-lived nature,
it would be easy to dismiss the Taiwan Democratic Republic as
a mere historical footnote. However, the nature of the struggle
by the Taiwanese against their new Japanese masters was significant.
When the residents of Taiwan received word that
the Qing government had simply surrendered control of the island
without any regard for the fate of native Taiwanese, outrage followed.
Politically, it can be argued that the Republic of Taiwan was
led by a collection of Qing officials seeking only to enrich themselves.
The chosen president of the Republic, Tang Ching-sun, escaped
from Taiwan two weeks after the Republic was declared; reports
suggest that he left with 400,000 liangs of public funds. Similarly,
in October the leading general of the Taiwanese forces, "Black;
Flag Liu," disguised himself as a woman and fled the island
with what was left of the Taiwan Democratic Republic's treasury.
While the political lineage of the Taiwan Democratic
Republic was suspect, the native population's willingness to resist
Japanese occupation was unquestionable. The Japanese made rapid
gains when their forces landed on the northern shores of Taiwan.
In the jungles of the south, however, the Taiwanese put up fierce
resistance, resorting to guerrilla tactics to frustrate Japanese
efforts to claim the island. Estimates claim that more than 14,000
Taiwanese lost their lives in battles of resistance and the massacres
that followed. It is also significant that the island's diverse
groups joined together in their struggle against the Japanese.
For centuries, Dutch and Chinese officials ruled Taiwan using
"divide; and conquer" techniques; it can be argued that
the struggle against Japanese occupation marks the true emergence
of a distinct "Taiwanese; identity."
http://taiwanresources.com/info/history/photo.htm
Japanese Occupation (1895
- 1945)
By October of 1895, the Japanese claimed they
had put down Taiwanese resistance. However, guerrilla attacks
and regular rebellions persisted for more than a decade. The clan,
ethnic and local divisions that characterized interactions during
the period of Qing administration melted away in the face of a
new colonial oppressor.
With the new Japanese administration in place
at Taipei, the Taiwanese discovered that Japanese methods of rule
were distinctly at odds with the way Qing officials had governed.
While Qing officials had viewed Taiwan as little more than a nuisance
to be dealt with as needed, the new Japanese overlords viewed
the island as the new jewel of their colonial ambitions. Having
seen much of Asia carved up between Western powers, Japan set
out to make Taiwan a model of colonial efficiency.
In order to suppress local opposition, the Japanese
created a security system that established collective responsibility
for the "rebel; actions" of a single individual. In addition,
they instituted local youth corps and village associations to
tighten their control over Taiwan. Although these measures were
designed to increase Japanese control while atomizing pockets
of resistance, they further blurred clan and ethnic rivalries
that had allowed previous rulers to "divide; and conquer."
The same can be said of using Japanese as the primary language
of instruction in schools; while language had been a divisive
influence in previous eras, Japanese provided a linguistic "common;
currency" among children schooled in the generations of Japanese
occupation.
The official Japanese policy toward the Taiwanese
population was one of assimilation; in reality, however, the Taiwanese
did not share the economic or political privileges of their Japanese
colonizers. Despite this unequal treatment, the standard of living
improved under Japanese rule. Improvements in public health led
to a dramatic decrease in the number of communicable diseases,
the average income of farmers and other workers doubled, and literacy
rates quadrupled to 80%. In addition, the era of Japanese colonialism
was marked by large-scale internal improvements; the construction
of railroad lines, telegraph lines, commerce roads, harbors and
other projects paved the way for rapid economic development.
With the escalation of the war in China after
1937, the process of "Japanization;" in Taiwan was stepped-up.
All Taiwanese residents were expected to read and speak Japanese,
and they were expected to adopt Japanese names. The "cult;
of emperor worship" was also propagated. As the Pacific War
intensified, Taiwanese subjects were recruited into the Japanese
military and were also drafted to provide labor for the war effort.
Over 200,000 Taiwanese served as soldiers or as civilian laborers
during the war. While Japanese soldiers and their survivors received
pensions from the Japanese government after the war, none of the
Taiwanese who served and died as "Japanese; subjects" were
ever compensated.
On August 15, 1945, Japan officially surrendered,
officially ending fifty years of Japanese colonialism of Taiwan.
As agreed to in the Cairo Declaration of 1943, Taiwan was to be
returned to the Nationalist China. While the Taiwanese were happy
to see the end of Japanese rule, they looked with uncertainty
towards their political return to the "Motherland.;"
"Taiwan; Province"
(1945 - 1949)
Before World War II had ended, Chiang Kai-shek
had an eye cast toward the postwar period. Chiang appointed General
Chen Yi to be Governor of Taiwan, and on October 17, 1945, twelve
thousand Kuomintang (KMT) troops landed at Keelung harbor and
marched towards Taipei. Being accustomed to well-organized Japanese
soldiers, the Taiwanese people were stunned when they encountered
the KMT soldiers. Exhausted from years of war, the Chinese troops
were largely uneducated and corrupt. Immediately after landing,
KMT officials and soldiers began a massive looting campaign in
which everything from personal items to heavy machinery was stolen
and sold on the black market. In addition, inflation was rampant,
unemployment high, and public services had broken down. While
the Taiwanese had originally been open to the possibility of a
"return; to the Motherland," discontentment soon peaked.
On February, 28, 1947, an incident involving police
treatment of a woman selling black market cigarettes triggered
rioting in Taipei and, within days, the rioting had spread throughout
the island. Troops fired on crowds and hundreds of Taiwanese were
killed. While Governor Chen initially told protest groups that
he was open to political reforms, he was merely buying time for
more troops to arrive from the mainland. On March 8, 13,000 well-equipped
KMT troops landed at Keelung and Kaohsiung and immediately began
a killing spree that claimed the lives of thousands of protestors.
At the same time, KMT police rounded up thousands of intellectuals
and suspected dissidents. By the time the carnage ended, approximately
10,000 Taiwanese were dead and 30,000 were wounded. An entire
generation of educated Taiwanese were either killed or intimidated
into submission. "The; February 28 Incident" marked the
beginning of a period of political oppression that would last
until the 1980's.
http://taiwanresources.com/info/history/chenyi.jpg
Republic of China on Taiwan
(1949 - present)
In October 1949, Chiang's Kuomintang forces were
defeated by the Chinese Communists, thus forcing his government
to flee to the island of Taiwan. The Chinese mainlanders who accompanied
Chiang in his flight to Taiwan comprised only 15% of the island's
population, but they were able to maintain themselves in a position
of power over the native Taiwanese population through tight control
of the political system, police, military, educational system
and media. The Kuomintang Party was the only political party that
was legally recognized in Taiwan. Once established on Taiwan,
Chiang's government refused to acknowledge the Communist People's
Republic of China, claiming that the Republic of China on Taiwan
was the only legitimate Chinese government. This marked the beginning
of the so-called "Two; Chinas" period in which both the
People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan
claimed sole political legitimacy. Tensions between these two
governments continue to this day.
In January 1950, American President Harry Truman
announced that the U.S. would not interfere in the dispute between
the "Two; Chinas." However, on June 25, 1950, Communist
North Korea attacked South Korea, signaling the outbreak of the
Korean War. The start of the war led to a change in American policy
towards Taiwan. The U.S. sent its Seventh Fleet to the Taiwan
Strait to prevent further communist encroachment in Asia. For
the next 25 years, Taiwan was considered an important ally in
the Cold War.
Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of the new alliance
with Western governments to declare martial law and a series of
"emergency; provisions" which made Taiwan a virtual dictatorship.
In addition, the Kuomintang created a KGB-styled secret police
agency, which was controlled by President Chiang's son, Chiang
Ching-kuo. Under this series of repressive measures, Chiang's
KMT government was unchallenged by political opposition; elected
members of the Taiwan legislature and other important offices
did not have to run for re-election until after martial law was
lifted in the late 1987.
Despite these repressive measures, resistance
to the Chiang regime broke out periodically. In the 1960's, the
KMT attempted to silence calls for Taiwanese independence. Since
both Taiwan and the Peoples' Republic of China claimed that there
was only "one; China," calls for independence amounted
to capitulation. Until 1972, the Republic of China on Taiwan was
recognized as the only "true;" Chinese government by the
United Nations and other world bodies. When the U.N. recognized
the Peoples' Republic of China, Taiwan lost its seat in the world
body. In 1979, the United States gave diplomatic recognition to
the PRC, thus isolating Taiwan even further. The PRC and Taiwan's
claim that there is only "one; China" remains a sensitive
issue to this day; politicians who call for Taiwan to declare
independence risk a military response by the PRC. The PRC claims
that Taiwan is a "rebellious; province" of China and vows
to reclaim it. As a result, the Taiwan Strait is one of the most
tense strategic outposts in the world.
While Taiwan's political situation has often been
difficult, the country's economic growth has been staggering.
Despite the fact that the country does not enjoy official diplomatic
recognition with most countries, Taiwan currently has the world's
fourteenth largest economy. After establishing itself on Taiwan,
the Kuomintang undertook a massive land redistribution program.
The gains farmers enjoyed as a result of decreased tenancy rates
were offset by the agricultural monopolies established by the
government; the government often paid farmers less than market
price for their crops. In the industrial sector, the government
also played an important role in building the country's industrial
base. The infrastructure that had been constructed during the
Japanese period was a great benefit to the Kuomintang's industrialization
efforts, as was U.S. economic aid. Given its small geographical
area and limited resource base, Taiwan's economic performance
has been astounding.
In 1988, Taiwanese President Chiang Ching-kuo died;
Chiang had been Taiwan's leader since his father's death in 1975.
Vice President Lee Tung-hui became Taiwan's new president and,
in doing so, became the first native-Taiwanese leader of the country.
Since taking over power in 1945, Mainlanders had monopolized most
of the key positions in Taiwan. 1988 also marked the first official
elections to fill vacant seats in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. In
1992, all of the seats in the Legislative Yuan were contested
- the first time such an election had taken place since 1947.
Despite financial and institutional advantages
enjoyed by the KMT, the DPP gradually gained political support.
In 1996, the first free and open presidential election was held
in Taiwan. Although incumbent President Lee Tung-hui easily won
re-election, DPP candidate Peng Ming-min became the first non-KMT
candidate for president. During the election campaign, Peng's
pro-independence stance created concern in the Peoples' Republic
of China; the PRC sent warships into the Taiwan Strait to intimidate
the Taiwanese electorate.
In the 2000 presidential election, Chen Shui-bian
became the first DPP member elected to the presidency; he was
subsequently re-elected in 2004. Chen has also raised concern
in the PRC due to his support for Taiwan independence. The Peoples'
Republic of China continues to assert that there is only "one;
China." Despite Taiwan's increased economic integration with
the PRC, Taiwan's political independence remains one of the most
pressing issues in East Asia.
