INTRODUCTION

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Although Taiwan is a small island with only a short recorded history, it has miraculously evolved into one of the world’s most advanced nations. In political terms, the island has spent periods under the oppressive rule of five alien regimes over the last four hundred years, during which its inhabitants suffered numerous hardships and tragedies. Nevertheless, the island recently gave birth peacefully to the world’s first Chinese democracy, which is an epochal achievement. In economic terms, from being a primitive and self-sufficient economy, Taiwan began to grow rapidly following Dutch occupation of parts of the island in 1624, and has today transformed into one of the most prosperous, industrialized, hi-tech countries in East Asia. With its many twists and turns, Taiwan’s history is like the story of Cinderella, or “a sparrow transforming into a phoenix” as the Taiwanese say.

As for the causes behind this dramatic transformation, Taiwan’s unique geographic location and the resulting turbulent historical experience undoubtedly played decisive roles. The former set the stage for developments, while the latter provided a specific script.

Taiwan’s most significant geographical feature is its location at the middle of a chain of islands in the western Pacific. To the north are the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and Korea; across the Bashi Channel, the chain leads to the south and connects with the Philippines, Borneo, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asia’s territories. It therefore occupied a pivotal position on East Asian sea routes. Oceans are both boundaries that isolate an island’s inhabitants from the outside world, and highways that connect them. This makes islands both isolated and open, and the extent of developments is largely a matter of the inhabitants’ choice. Before 1624, Taiwan was essentially isolated and under-developed. The Dutch introduced a mercantile policy, and maritime trade became the pillar of Taiwan’s economy. This led to rapid developments, which would give rise to Taiwan’s tradition of trade and commerce in future generations, with the result that, today, Taiwan is among the world’s most advanced nations.

A second geographic feature is Taiwan’s separation from the southeastern coast of the Chinese mainland by the Taiwan Strait. With a width of between 130 and 200 kilometers, the island is neither too close to nor too far from China, and consequently, its historical development has been heavily influenced by China, the main focus in East Asia until the nineteenth century. Further, Taiwan is neither huge nor tiny, with an area of 36,000 square kilometers, and it has therefore suffered from the historical ambiguity of being too small for independence but too large to be subsumed within China. Thus, its historical position has oscillated between these two extremes. Even today, the issues of national identity and unification versus independence continue to perplex Taiwan’s population.

A third feature is that Taiwan’s unique topography and climate make it an agricultural paradise. The island is a steep uplift formed by a collision of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea tectonic plates, with the island’s Central Mountain Range forming its backbone, and thus possesses a variety of topographic features such as towering mountains, deep valleys, hills, and plains. With the Tropic of Cancer dividing the island into roughly equal parts, the plains in the south of Taiwan are tropical and those in the north sub-tropical. Mountain climates are similarly diverse, with both freezing conditions at high altitudes and temperate zones below. These unusual topographic and climatic conditions have had a profound influence on the island’s economic development. In general, high temperatures and abundant rainfall make the plains very suited to agriculture, producing a wide variety and volume of grains, vegetables, and fruits. Following the arrival of the Dutch, agricultural produce, led by rice and sugar, became a major and long-term pillar of the local economy. Mountain areas, on the other hand, produced tea, camphor, fruit, and vegetables that grow in temperate and frigid zones. Therefore, despite its small size, Taiwan has a richness and diversity of agricultural produce rarely seen in the world.

One more feature is that Taiwan is surrounded by sea, with the Taiwan Strait to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. As the cold Oyashio Current and the warm Kuroshio Current of the Pacific meet in nearby waters, Taiwan possesses rich and productive fishing grounds, including offshore and deep-sea, which provide the islanders with another source of income.

To sum up, as a productive island that occupies a key position in East Asia’s sea traffic, Taiwan has thrived in agriculture and commerce, and has created a trade-oriented society. It is little wonder, then, that the Chinese called it a “treasure island.” Following dramatic increases in population after World War II, the island’s economic focus gradually shifted to industry. Today, Taiwan has become an industrialized hi-tech country.

Political development of Taiwan has been bumpy, however. Prior to the 17th century, Taiwan’s aboriginal people did not make full use of the island’s advantages, nor did they found a nation-state with which to defend themselves. As a result, alien powers coveted and eventually plundered Taiwan as if it were a piece of jade in the rough. These external threats followed one after another as political power passed from hand to hand. Alien regimes included those of Holland and Spain (1624-1662), Jheng Kingdom (1661-1683), Ching dynasty (1683-1895), Japan (1895-1945), and the Republic of China (1945-).

Alien rule seemed to have become the islanders’ tragic destiny. With such frequent changes of political regime, Taiwan’s political, economic, and cultural histories also became discontinuous, and the attainment of more advanced levels of development was difficult as each regime imposed its culture and systems on the island. This resulted in a confusion regarding national identity and the stagnation of local culture. From another angle, however, it can be argued that it was this historical background that enabled Taiwan to absorb diverse and advanced cultures, and thus progress rapidly. When each alien regime withdrew from the island, its culture remained and became a source of Taiwan’s heritage, enriching the local culture. Taiwan today is a combination of aboriginal, Chinese, Japanese and Western cultures, and can be regarded as a small but exquisite piece of art.

It was against this turbulent—at times tragic—yet ultimately dynamic background that Taiwan’s history was to unfold.
 

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