Taiwan Through Time

Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) has fled the mainland with his remaining Ming forces and arrives in Formosa to challenge Dutch rule there.

This concludes my second conversation with Chris. We compare notes on teaching as an expat in Japan and Taiwan, as well as reminisce about university and other elements of South African life.

This first part of my second conversation with Chris focuses mainly on food, with tangents on certain experiences. Please forgive the clunking sounds. Our mugs were placed on the same table as the microphone and our neighbour was being noisy.

This is the third part of my interview with Chris. In our conversation we discuss names, worldly awareness, elements of history and concepts of culture, amongst other things.

This is the second part of my interview with Chris. Our conversation flowed from South African obscurities to drinking and karaoke in Japan.

This is the first part of a conversation with a fellow teacher and South African who spent time living and teaching in Japan. We discuss our experiences as expats in Asian countries, make comparisons between Japanese and Taiwanese society and debate over systems of education.

After the fall of Beijing and Nanjing, various emperors arose across the remnant of the Ming Empire. Each was determined to hold the Qing at bay and rebuild the glory of the Ming.

We take a look at how Li Zhicheng went about trying to manage Beijing, how the population responded to his capture of the city, how Li was undermined by the actions of one of his generals and how his dreams of being an emperor were dashed by the Ming general Wu Sangui.

On the 25th April, 1644, Beijing fell to the forces of Li Zicheng. Who was he, how did he rise to power and how did he lose the capital in under two months?

A short introduction to what Taiwanese society is like from the perspective of a foreigner.

We look at the second Khan of the Jin Dynasty, some of the changes he makes to his empire and the renaming of the Jin as the Qing Dynasty.

We look at the Nurhaci's Banner System, how policies within the Jin Dynasty began changing as the Jurchen people fell on hard times and the important Battle of Ningyuan or Níngyuǎn Zhī Zhàn.

Nurhaci came from the Jurchen tribes of Manchuria, north east of China. In a parallel of King Phillip II of Macedon, Nurhaci unified his people and reworked them into a devastatingly effective military force.

Zheng Chenggong (known to the West as Koxinga) would play a significant role in Taiwan's history. To understand this character better, it's important that we look at elements of his childhood and the political structure of the world around him.

This is the second half of my interview with Marci in which we discuss being a university student in Taiwan and talk about her experiences of Taiwan.

I'm joined by a lovely young lady called Marci who is from Belize, but studying in Taiwan. This is the first half of her interview in which our focus is mainly upon Belize.

I am joined by Matt from Master Football Academy Taiwan who shares his insights on the emerging football culture in Taiwan and how this sport is gaining popularity. There are also tangents, naturally.

As the Spanish governor-general of Manila, Corcuera, drains the Hermosan colony of men and resources to use elsewhere in the East, it leaves the Keelung (Jilung) colony vulnerable to Dutch attack.

A small town surfer goes on a journey.

We are joined by Iain Garner of the Taiwanese-based games publisher Neon Doctrine. He shares with us his insights into the world of game development and Taiwan's unique position in this industry.

In this episode we take a look at the missionary work of the Order of Saint Dominic and their influences upon nothern Taiwan.

It's 2023 (as least as I type this) and for most people Covid-19 is little more than a painful memory. The virus isn't gone and infections still occur, but the existential threat compounded by the ridiculous levels of hygiene theatre that turned the experience in an exercise in virtue-signaling is finally over. People are able to once again breathe easy and get back to living their lives. Yet some things linger still. In Taiwan most citizens still wear face masks. Why? It has less to do with the virus and more to do with the culture on Taiwan.

Suffering constant disruptions to their trade from the Dutch ensconced in southern Taiwan, the Spanish head to northern Taiwan to form a settlement of their own.

As beer was under a government monopoly for nearly a century in Taiwan, the craft beer industry is still a relatively new endeavour. I invited Joe Merrell from Taihu Brewing to share his knowledge and experience of working in this industry.

We look at Spain's history with Portugal and the steps that led them to claim the Philippines and start a colony in northern Taiwan.

We take a look at the indigenous' religion and their priestesses, their connection to their ancestors and how they deal with illness and death. We also explore the creative side of their society, looking at their architecture, their various crafts and their tattoos.

Using the work of anthropologist Janet Blair Montgomery McGovern, we take a closer look at the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, exploring their culture and society.

After two successive governors regularly requesting additional troops to deal with native hostility, Batavia finally relents and sends Hans Putmans troops.

We look at the confrontation between Zheng Zhilong and Hans Putmans known as the Battle of Liaoluo Bay and its aftermath.

Hans Putmans gets installed as the 4th Governor of Formosa and his primary objective is to fix the mess left by Pieter Nuyts; essentially, re-establish trade with Japan and keeping trying to open up China to trade.

In this episode we take a look at the character of Pieter Nuyts (also spelt Nuijts) and the role he played as Formosa's third governor from 1627 to 1629.

Before continuing Zheng Zhilong's story, we take a moment to look at piracy in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding seas, briefly discuss two unlikely samurai and get an understanding of the Chinese concept of the Mandate of Heaven.

A brief introduction to the background of the man who would inherit Li Dan's pirate empire and his radical departure from operating in the shadows, outside of Dutch notice.

The pirate prince who would unite the pirate bands across Southeast Asia into the first Asian multinational conglomerate.

We discuss the concept of empires and look at some of the actions and inter-actions of the Dutch on Formosa, including the massacre at Lamey Island.

We get some insight into the Europeans at the time and of the impression the Taiwanese indigenous were likely to have had of them. This will then set us up nicely for our next episode, when we look at what the Dutch did on Formosa.

This episode is a brief overview of the changes in trade and religion across southern Asia and Far East Asia, giving a clearer picture on the world that the European explorers in general (and the Dutch in particular) were stepping into.

This episode briefly covers the period of Japanese history from the beginning of the Sengoku Jidai to the mid-17th Century,

A brief look at Japanese history from the late classical period up till the Sengoku Jidai in the mid 15th Century.

With the Portuguese dominating European trade in the East Indies and Far East, the actions of one man will bring about the end of the monoploy.

An overview of the Age of European Exploration in the search for Eastern Spices

Continuing to look at migrations to Taiwan spanning the 1100s to the 1400s and how the rise and fall of the Chinese navy affected the development of the region.

In absence of local written records, we construct a timeline of ancient Taiwan from regional records and archaeological evidence.

Let us look at the current ethnic configuration of the island of Taiwan and touch upon a few theories of their origins.

What is the likelihood of war over Taiwan?

A look at the situation Taiwan is in today and a brief overview on how that situation arose.

An introduction to what this series will cover and a tangent on bias in history.