Island of Taiwan
220–280 AD
- Wu troops visit an island known as 夷洲, believed to be Taiwan
Early 7th Century
- Sui dynasty sends expeditions to island of “Liuqiu”, possibly Taiwan
1544
- Portuguese sailors pass by, record name of “Ilha Formosa”
- 1645, Dutch have kicked the Spanish out (1642) and the natives, now referring to it as “Dutch Formosa”
1661-1683
- Southern part of island ruled by House of Koxinga, after taking it over from the Dutch. Area referred to as “東寧王國” or Kingdom of Formosa
Qing Dynasty
- Referred to as “a ball of mud beyond the pale of civilization” as Qing empire did not contain islands.
1683
- Qing finally ruled it as “Taiwan Prefecture”, 臺灣府
1895
- Treaty of Shimonoseki turns island over to Japan, who refer to it as “Takasago Koku”
- At this point, the island is still being referred to as Formosa in many places
Sept 1945
- Republic of China establishes Taiwan Provincial Government
1949
- Chaing Kai-Shek establishes the Republic of China on the island after being kicked out of the mainland by the Communist Party.
- “Taiwan” now refers to both the island and non-officially the ROC as a sovereign country.
- However, it can also be referred to as “China” if one believes that this is the legitimate government of China.
- Formosa has largely fallen out of use since around the 20th century, with the modern name of Taiwan derived from the creation of the prefecture in 1683.
Lab 1 