Ep. 310 | The History of Taiwan (Part 1)

No topic gets requested more than the history of Taiwan. In this first of a multi-part series, Laszlo looks at the geologic formation of the island and Taiwan's prehistoric past. How the indigenous Austronesian people of Taiwan migrated throughout the South Pacific, the South China Sea, and beyond is also introduced. Several encounters between native people living in Taiwan and visitors from Fujian took place during the Three Kingdoms era and in subsequent dynasties. This will also be looked at. Part 1 will take the story up to the Ming Dynasty.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Jíjí Earthquake	集集地震	Also known as the 1999 Jiji Earthquake that occured 1:47 local time on 21 September 1999. 2,415 people were killed in this quake.
Nántóu County	南投县	Second largest county in Taiwan located in the central part of the island
Táidōng	台东	Also known as Taitung City. Taidong is located on the southeast coast of Taiwan
Fujian Province	福建省	Coastal province in China located on the opposite side of the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan
Taipei	台北	Popularly known as Taipei, it's also written in Pinyin as Táiběi. Today the largest city in Taiwan
Táoyuán	桃源	A special municipality located in northwestern Taiwan, just to the west of Taipei
Xīnzhú	新竹	Also known as Hsinchu, it's a city located on the northwest coast of Taiwan
Táizhōng	台中	Also known as Taichung, the second most populous city on Taiwan, located in central Taiwan
Jiāyì		Also known as Chiayi City, Jiayi is located in southwest Taiwan midway between Taizhong and Tainan
Táinán	台南	Located on the southwest coast of Taiwan, this is where the earliest recorded history began with the arrival of the Dutch in 1624. Tainan was where the Dutch built Fort Provintia and Fort Zeelandia
Gāoxióng	高雄	Major city in Taiwan south of Tainan, near the southernmost point of the island
Yǎngsháo	仰韶文化	A Neolithic Culture in northern China that lasted approximately 5000 - 3000 BC
Lóngshān	龙山文化	A Neolithic Culture in northern China that lasted approximately 3000 - 1900 BC
Èrlǐtóu	二里头文化	A Neolithic Culture in northern China that lasted approximately 1750 - 1530 BC
Xià Dynasty	夏朝	Some suggest the Xia Dynasty and Erlitou Culture are related. It was a mythical dynasty in China that lasted roughly 2070-1600 BC
Bǎiyuè	百越	The "Hundred Yue". These were a number of tribes that populated China south of the Yangzi River.
Yuán	元朝	The Yuan Dynasty founded by Kublai Khan. It lasted 1271-1368
Míng	明朝	The Ming Dynasty, founded by Zhu Yuanzhang. It lasted 1368-1644
Dàbĕnkēng Culture	大坌坑文化	An early Neolithic culture that first appeared in northern Taiwan between 4000 and 3000 BC and quickly spread around the island
Pénghú	澎湖	Also popularly known as the Pescadores Islands. This is an archipeligo of 90 islands in the Taiwan Strait covering an area of 141 square km. The largest city is Magong
Guǎngzhōu	广州	Capital of Guangdong province
Pānyú	番禺	District of Guangzhou and site of the earliest history of the city
Nánhǎi	南海	Literally means South Seas. Refers to the South China Sea and the smaller seas adjacent to this body of water.
Yáo	尧	Mythical Chinese ruler who reigned for 99 years during the third millenium BC
Shùn	舜	Another mythical ruler who succeeded Yao. He lived in the late 3rd millenium
Píngdōng County	屏东县	A county in southernmost part of Taiwan
Yuánzhùmínzú	原住民族	Indigenous people
Gāoshān People	高山族	The indigenous people who inhabited the mountains of Taiwan
Píngpǔzúqún	平埔族群	The Plains Indigenous People
Sānguózhì	三国志	The Record of the Three Kingdoms
Sūn Quán	孙权	One of the principle characters from the Three Kingdoms Period. He went from being King of Wu in 222 AD and Emperor of Eastern Wu in 229. He died in 252
Eastern Wú	东吴	One of the three major states of the Three Kingdoms Period. The other two were Cao Wei and Shu Han.
Wèi Wēn	卫温	One of the officials Sun Quan sent to locate the islands of Yizhou and Danzhou
Zhūgě Zhí	诸葛直	The other official who accompanied Wei Wen to locate the islands of Yizhou and Danzhou
Yízhōu	夷洲	an ancient barbarian country, possibly Taiwan or among the Ryukyu Islands
Dǎnzhōu	亶洲	Mythical island sought by emperors where a certain elixir of life was to be found
Qín Shǐhuáng	秦始皇	First emperor of China and founder of the Qin Dynasty
Xú Shì	徐市	The one who was once sent by Qin Shihuang to find this Island of the Immortals
Zhūyá	珠崖	Ancient name of Hainan
Hǎinán	海南	Island province off the coast of southwest Guangdong
Chén Shòu	陈寿	Author of The Record of the Three Kingdoms
Suí	隋朝	The Sui Dynasty 581-618
Táng	唐朝	The Tang Dynasty 618-907
Sòng	宋朝	The Song Dynasty 960-1279
Emperor Yáng	隋炀帝	The second and final Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, also known as Sui Yangdi
Liúqiú	琉球岛	Name given to islands that may have been Taiwan or may have been the Ryukyu Islands to Taiwan’s north
Suí Yángdì	隋炀帝	See above Emperor Yang
Shī Jiānwú	施肩吾	Tang poet immortalized thanks to one of his poems being included in the Tángshī Sānbǎi shǒu 唐诗三百首 or Three Hundred Tang Poems. He retired to Pénghú and played up the merits of the place
Tángshī Sānbǎi shǒu	唐诗三百首	Three Hundred Tang Poems, one of the best known anthologies of great poems from the Tang Dynasty
Táng Emperor Xiànzōng	唐宪宗	Tang emperor who reigned 805-820
Hokkien	福建	Fujian people, also called Hoklo, the Hokkien came from the southern part of Fujian as opposed to the Hokchiu who came from the north
Hakka	客家	A Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan, Guizhou in China, as well as in parts of Taiwan. Unlike other Han Chinese subgroups, the Hakkas are not named after a geographical region in China. The word Hakka or "guest families" is Cantonese in origin and originally refers to the Northern Chinese refugees fleeing social unrest, upheaval and invasions in northern parts of China who migrated to the south.
Guǎngdōng	广东	Province in southern China, Guangzhou is the capital
Southern Sòng Emperor Xiàozōng	宋孝宗	Emperor who reigned during the Southern Song from 1162-1189
Quánzhōu	泉州	City in southern Fujian
Wōkòu	倭寇	Japanese pirates operating in Chinese coastal waters from the 14th to 16th centuries
Wāng Dàyuān	汪大渊	From 1328 to 1333 he traveled throughout the South China Sea, Java Sea, Andaman Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea…three hundred years before Admiral Zhèng Hé. And he wrote about every place that he visited
Dǎo Yí Zhì Lüè	岛夷志略	“A Brief Account of Island Barbarians”, written by Wang Dayuan
Qī Jìguāng	戚继光	1528-1588, great military leader and Great Wall builder who lived during the Ming
Chén Dì	陈弟	1541-1617, Ming philologist, official and traveler who wrote "A Brief Account of Island Barbarians"
Shěn Yǒuróng	沈有容	1557-1627, Ming Dynasty general
Jīnmén	金门	Known as Quemoy in the West, it's a small group of islands 6.2 miles off the coast of Xiamen and 116 miles from Taiwan
Xiàmén	厦门	Major city in southern Fujian, also known as Amoy
Dōng Fān Jì	东番记	“An Account of the Eastern Barbarians”, hailed as the first detailed account of Taiwan’s indigenous people, their language, customs, description of their person, their society and all kinds of other interesting observations
Yí	夷	Ancient barbarian tribes
Xīlāyǎ	西拉雅族	The Siraya People, who were among the píngpǔ 平埔族 or Plains Aborigine People who lived in the west of Taiwan in the lowlands and coastal plains
Taiouwang	台湾	The name given to the island of Taiwan by the Siraya People

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