History of the Island of Taiwan Perspective

The Taiwan Island historiography is a historiographical concept and theoretical framework on Taiwan’s history proposed by Taiwanese historian Tsao Yung-ho in 1990. Drawing on the perspectives of the French Annales School, Tsao integrated disciplines such as history, geography, and sociology to form a holistic approach that takes time as its coordinate axis and places the people living in Taiwan at the center when interpreting Taiwan’s own history. Tsao argued that, from prehistoric times, various groups with different ethnicities, languages, and cultures were active on the island, and the histories they created in Taiwan all constitute part of Taiwan’s history.His perspective has exerted a major influence on both the study of Taiwan’s history and the field of Taiwanese historiography.^[1][2]

This historiographical approach encompasses the overall structures formed by the activities and production of the island’s populations, as well as the diverse relationships Taiwan has established with the outside world through the ocean over a long span of time. It examines Taiwan’s position and role within global currents and international contexts across different historical periods, placing Taiwan’s history within the broader framework of East Asian and Human history, viewing Taiwan’s history from an international perspective. Tsao Yung-ho argued that the study of Taiwan’s history should go beyond the confines of political history, breaking free from Han Chinese views and the confines of the nation-state, and instead advance toward a people-centered and regional historical development to elevate the scope of research. He believed that the concept of ‘Taiwan Island historiography’ would help Taiwan’s historical research break away from the politically driven explanatory models prevalent in academia, allowing the true face of Taiwan’s history to emerge.^[1][2]

Research foundation

Early monograph

Ludwig Rieß, a German historian specializing in Japan studies (who taught at University of Tokyo), authored the work Geschichte der Insel Formosa (ISBN 978-114-923-577-5) based on Dutch archives. Originally published in German in April 1897 in Volume 6, Issue 59 of the Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens (Journal of the German Society for Natural and Ethnological Studies of East Asia in Tokyo), the book is regarded as a milestone in academic historiography on Taiwan Island. Written from a Western perspective, it examines Taiwan through several colonial and migration regimes. The author views the Malays, Dutch, Spanish, Qing, and Japanese as foreign powers and considers the Zheng Jing era as a period of ‘independent statehood’ for Taiwan. In 1898, Yoshikuni Fujikichi translated the work into Japanese, and later Zhou Xuepu translated it from German into Chinese as Taiwan Island History, which was included in the Taiwan Economic History, Volume 3, published in 1956 by the Taiwan Bank Economic Research Office.^[3][4][5]

The Taiwanese modern historian 戴國煇 [zh] once translated the third chapter of the aforementioned book — which specifically introduces the migration of the Hakka to Taiwan — into Chinese under the title “A Jewish German Historian’s View on the Origins of Hakka Migration to Taiwan” (猶太裔德國史家看客家渡臺之原委). This translation was published in issue no. 23 of Han Sheng Magazine (《漢聲雜誌》) in December 1989 and was later included in Tai’s book Taiwan Knots and China Knots (《台灣結與中國結》), published by Yuan-Liou Publishing in Taipei in 1994, on pages 205–215.^[5]

Anthropology German historian, anthropologist, and linguist, Albrecht Wirth (who once taught at the University of Chicago and the Technical University of Munich), consulted a wide range of materials and documents to publish a concise yet detailed monograph on the history and geography of Taiwan titled Geschichte Formosa’s bis Anfang in Bonn in 1898.

This work traces the island’s history from the indigenous peoples’ cultures and histories all the way up to the Japanese colonial period. Using Taiwan’s immigration history as the entry point, Wirth describes the distribution of indigenous ethnic groups on the island, the arrival of Chinese migrants, and the activities of Western colonial powers in Taiwan.

In 1957, 周学普 [zh]) also translated this work into Chinese under the title Taiwan’s History (《台湾之历史》), which was edited and published by the Taiwan Bank Economic Research Office as part of Taiwan Economic History, Volume 6.^[6]

Academic legacy

Following the establishment of Taihoku Imperial University in 1928, Murakami Naoshirō, a Japanese student of Léon van der Loon (Rees), collaborated with Professors Izukawa Shinozō and Seiichi Iwao on studies related to Dutch-Japanese relations and Japan’s overseas diplomacy in the late medieval period. Their research extended to Taiwan under Dutch rule, focusing particularly on the external dynamics of East Asian trade and diplomacy, as well as the missionary activities carried out by the Dutch and Spanish on the island. However, systematic and in-depth research on the internal history of Taiwan during the Dutch colonial period truly began with Murakami’s student at Taihoku Imperial University, Nakamura Takashi, and later, in the postwar period, with Seiichi Iwao’s disciple Tsao Yung-ho.^[1][7][8]

Background of Ts'ao Yung-ho

Ts'ao Yung-ho was a distinguished scholar of early Taiwanese history, widely recognized as an authority on the periods of Dutch Formosa and the Kingdom of Tungning. In addition to his proficiency in Japanese language and Chinese language, he was self-taught and fluent in a range of foreign languages, including Old Dutch language, Spanish language, Latin French language, German language, and Portuguese language. His deep grounding in Southeast Asian and world history enabled him to develop a broad, large-scale historical perspective known as the "Pan-Pacific historical view."^[9][10]

Taiwan as an independent stage of history

Ts'ao Yung-ho believed that history is formed through the dynamic interplay of three elements: people, time, and space—with “space” being the fundamental setting for human life and activity. On this shared stage of coexistence among multiple ethnic groups, various figures appear and disappear across different historical periods, resulting in the continual, phased evolution of history. Yet no matter how the actors change, the stage itself endures. He argued that historical studies of Taiwan had long focused too heavily on Han-centric perspectives and political transitions, without truly recognizing that “the island of Taiwan itself is an independent stage of history.” He emphasized that history must be connected to the land, and thus proposed the concept of a “History of the Island of Taiwan” to frame a more thematic and grounded approach to historical research. “No matter how the historical context changes,” he asserted, “for those who live in Taiwan, their connection to the island always remains.”^[1]

The concept of the "History of the Island of Taiwan" was influenced by Fernand Braudel's notion of total history, as articulated in his work The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II.^[1]

Oceanic character

Ts'ao Yung-ho pointed out that Taiwan’s geographical location lies at the very center of the East Asia island chain. It borders Eurasia to the west, faces the Pacific Ocean to the east, and is situated along international maritime routes shaped by the monsoon system. To the south, the island chains of Southeast Asia reinforce its central position. Since the prehistory of Taiwan, the island has served as a vital corridor for the movement of peoples across East Asia.With the expansion of Europe during the Age of Discovery, Taiwan was drawn into global power competition, and its sovereignty shifted multiple times among neighboring nations.“The island’s maritime geography gave Taiwan a certain degree of maritime character during the periods of Dutch Formosa and the Kingdom of Tungning,” Ts'ao observed, “but unfortunately, it never developed into a cohesive cultural entity.” He believed that now is the ideal time for Taiwan to evolve into a fully realized maritime culture, and that the idea of a “History of the Island of Taiwan” may help lay the foundation for constructing such a cultural identity.^[1]

Context and new pathways

Ts'ao Yung-ho believed that if we could shift our perspective and explore history from the standpoint of the "people of the island of Taiwan," we might be able to open up a new path.^[11]He emphasized: “The diverse ethnic relations and frequent shifts in political regimes have shaped the complex and organic nature of Taiwan's history. This progression—from isolated island to international commercial hub, to an area of agricultural development, followed by a renewed transformation during Taiwan under Japanese rule, and then another transition after Victory over Japan Day—demonstrates the distinct characteristics of each historical phase experienced by the island of Taiwan.”^[1]

Aside from focusing on “people” — the various ethnic groups that arrived in Taiwan at different historical periods — he believed that historical research should also pay close attention to the island geography of Taiwan. Scholars should broaden their perspective and avoid being confined to any single viewpoint. Instead, they should construct a historical framework that is structural, total, and global in nature, situating Taiwan within the broader context of human history. This approach, he argued, would help lay the foundation for a new Taiwanese historiography rooted in the concept of a regional total history.^[1][9]

Ts'ao Yung-ho believed that Taiwan's path to survival lies in the internationalization of the Taiwan issue, with global powers helping to maintain peace in the region, and in establishing Taiwan as a Switzerland of the seas.^[9]

Scholarly resonance

The Pictorial History of Taiwan (From Prehistory to 1945), planned by scholars from Academia Sinica’s Institute of Taiwan History and Professor 周婉窈 [zh] of National Taiwan University’s Department of History in 1994 and published in 1997, also presents the History of Taiwan from a Taiwan-centered perspective. Chou advocates for a locally grounded approach that constructs Taiwanese history through the lived experiences carried by three major human-centered spatial elements of “Greater Taiwan” (Taiwan proper and its surrounding islands): mountains, seas, and plains. These elements serve as the stage on which Taiwan’s historical processes have unfolded and interwoven.Ts'ao Yung-ho’s concept of the “History of the Island of Taiwan” represents the clearest articulation of a new path for postwar History of Taiwan studies. He established a clear landmark, marking a new direction and opening up new horizons for Taiwan historiography.^[12][13][14]

张隆志 [zh], a scholar at the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica, has also pointed out two key characteristics of Taiwan historiography since the 1980s. The first is the advocacy of a Taiwan-centered perspective—an approach that takes the island of Taiwan and the history of its people as the primary focus of inquiry. The second is the democratization of historical knowledge, meaning the diversification and popularization of both the producers of historical narratives and the channels through which these narratives are disseminated.From the new perspectives of East Asian maritime history and localized regional studies, scholars have strived to interpret the island's history and the development of its native society by grounding their work in the lived realities of the land and its people. This includes a heightened emphasis on the historical experiences of Taiwan's Indigenous peoples and marginalized groups, as well as the social differences in Taiwan across dimensions such as ethnicity, gender, and class.^[5]

Impact and recognition

Under the dual perspectives of Taiwanization and internationalization, Ts'ao Yung-ho introduced a new vision of Taiwan through a globally diverse lens. His approach helped Taiwan recover its collective memory and opened up a new historical consciousness and sense of identity for the Taiwanese people.In his essay “The Formation of Taiwanese History and Its Issues,” scholar Wu Mi-cha wrote: “In contrast to the long-standing historiographical tradition of interpreting history through the lens of people (yi ren fan shi), Ts'ao Yung-ho’s 1990 proposition of a ‘History of the Island of Taiwan’ introduced an alternative path—one that interprets history through the lens of place (yi di fan shi).”^[1]

The Taiwan National Museum of History follows a perspective centered on “all the people of Taiwan,” distinguishing itself from traditional historical narratives that often focus on a select few. Its interpretation of Taiwan’s history adopts a locally grounded, Taiwan-centered standpoint, rejecting Sinocentric frontier discourses tied to the Chinese empire. It avoids repeating the pitfalls of Han-centric or ruler-dominated viewpoints, instead reflecting the multiple dimensions of Taiwan’s social structure and embracing the diverse voices within historical knowledge.^[15]

In October 2000, the Ministry of Culture (Taiwan) and Academia Sinica jointly held a two-day international academic symposium titled “Early Modern East Asian Maritime History and the History of the Island of Taiwan—Celebrating Ts'ao Yung-ho’s 80th Birthday.” The conference brought together scholars from Taiwan and abroad to view Taiwan from a global perspective.^[16]

In 2002, Beatrix of the Netherlands, queen from the List of monarchs of the Netherlands, awarded Ts'ao Yung-ho the Royal Dutch Order in recognition of his significant contributions to the study of the 17th-century activities of the Dutch East India Company in East Asia. He was also the first Taiwanese recipient of this honor.^[17]

In 2012, the Government of Japan announced the list of foreign recipients of the Autumn Decorations. Ts'ao Yung-ho, renowned for his significant research achievements in East Asian maritime history and his influential concept of the "History of the Island of Taiwan," was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun.^[18]

Extended creation

Comic history of Taiwan

Starting in 2001, comic artist 杜福安 [zh], who had previously won the National Institute for Compilation and Translation’s Excellence Award for Comics, began creating the Comic History of Taiwan series, consisting of ten volumes. The entire series was edited and overseen by Ts'ao Yung-ho and others as chief advisors. Based on the concept of the History of the Island of Taiwan, the comics situate Taiwan within a global context and portray its history from the perspective of all the island’s ethnic groups since prehistoric times.

Du spent several years completing four volumes: The Birth of the Island, People of the Beautiful Land, The Netherlands and Spain in Taiwan, and The Ming Dynasty Zheng family in Taiwan. He then proceeded to work on The Adventure of the Thirteen Factories, Ancient Taiwan, The Road to Modernization, The Republic of China in Taiwan, and February 28 in Flames.^[19]

He stated, “The concept I want to express through my comics is to transcend the entanglements of political history and portray the History of the Island of Taiwan with Taiwanese people as the true protagonists.” “Even details like clothing patterns and the shapes of boats are carefully and accurately drawn based on historical documents... because it is the history of Taiwan that I am depicting.”“The most difficult part of historical comics is still the verification!”“On the day the Republic of Formosa was established, it was drizzling. There were already umbrellas and rickshaws at the time, firecrackers were set off outside, and many wealthy merchants attended the presidential inauguration.” All of these descriptions were also illustrated in the comics.杜福安 [zh] said he hopes to use exquisite imagery and character narratives to inspire the younger generation of Taiwan to develop an interest in and understanding of history and national identity. Taiwan has long lacked its own historical narrative, while the Chinese government has continually tried to merge Chinese and Taiwanese history. Therefore, he hopes to tell Taiwan’s story from an objective standpoint. “But the Taiwan history I refer to is unrelated to China. Without a history rooted in its own subjectivity, Taiwan can only be forced to accept others’ historical perspectives.”^[20][21]

Taiwan history news

Ts'ao Ming-tsung, author of A Model of Self-Learning: Pioneer of Taiwanese Historical Studies 曹銘宗 [zh], also adopts a Taiwan-centered historiographical perspective that breaks free from the frameworks of political history and nation-states. In 2013, he served as the chief editor of Taiwan History News, illustrated by Du Fu-an, which “reports” Taiwan’s history from ancient times to the present—covering natural, cultural, and contemporaneous international events—using one hundred “news media double-page spreads.”The book is organized chronologically into six volumes, encompassing periods such as prehistory, Dutch and Spanish rule, the Kingdom of Tungning, Qing rule, Japanese rule, and the Republic of China era. It includes editorials, news reports, feature articles, photographs, comics, and advertisements, recreating the politics, daily life, arts, and anecdotes of famous figures from those times. Presented in a news format, it narrates the history of all human interactions with this land since six million years ago, the creation of Taiwan’s multicultural society by diverse ethnic groups, and the pursuit of core human values such as freedom, equality, human rights, and democracy.^[22][23]

He stated that if one adopts a Taiwan independence movement perspective, it reflects a Taiwanese indigenous peoples-centered viewpoint, limiting Taiwan’s history to only four hundred years. However, Taiwan’s history is definitely much longer than four hundred years. The concept of the “History of the Island of Taiwan” begins with the land itself—emerging from the sea—and regards all interactions between living beings and this land as part of Taiwan’s history. This is a more neutral perspective that can transcend politics and objectively account for all ethnic groups, moving beyond the traditional Han-centered viewpoint.

“From the perspective of the History of the Island of Taiwan, the Plains Indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants. But due to political manipulation and the loss of interpretive power over history, many Taiwanese do not understand the Indigenous peoples. In fact, Indigenous peoples, Han Chinese, Hakka, and Mainlanders have experienced shifts in power and intermingling over hundreds of years, living together on this small land. Yet, due to shifting strengths and weaknesses, each harbors untold grievances.”

Although the Dutch came to Taiwan with colonial intentions, they also brought the Indigenous peoples medical care, education, and religion; the relationship between the two was not purely antagonistic. From the viewpoint of Taiwan’s original inhabitants—the Indigenous peoples—Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) represents Han Chinese invasion disguised as development. Han settlers, with numerical superiority, disparaged Indigenous peoples as “barbarians.” When Han Chinese arrived in Taiwan, the migration of the Plains Indigenous peoples was the first to encounter outsiders; they were displaced, migrated within the island, and their numbers sharply declined or they were assimilated.

Han Chinese promoted social progress, but the harm they caused cannot be ignored. Figures like Wu Sha of Yilan or Wu Feng of Chiayi—are they heroes of Han Chinese development, or perpetrators of Indigenous genocide? Ts’ao Ming-tsung insists that both perspectives must be presented simultaneously. “I believe this is historical justice. I hope this book can promote understanding and recognition among ethnic groups, allowing every group in Taiwan to find their own history within six million years of news. The more you understand others, perhaps the more you can consider their perspectives.”^[22][23]

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