Ini yg kmaren kita omongin....

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Evidence of human life on Taiwan dates back five to ten thousand years ago. Not much is known about the origins of Taiwan's earliest inhabitants except that their language bears more similarity to Indonesian than any Chinese dialect. The island enjoyed relative anonymity until 1206 when Genghis Khan named Taiwan a protectorate of the newly established Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368).

Taiwan remained a quiet backwater until the 17th century when it became caught up in Chinese and colonial politics. The first recognition of Taiwan appeared in a diary entry from a Portuguese ship passing off the coast in 1517. Moved by the beauty of the island, the writer named it "Ilha Formosa" (or beautiful island) which is still used today. In 1624, a Dutch contingent landed in southern Taiwan in an effort to bolster their presence in Asia and began the first colonial occupation of the island by building a fort at the site of modern day Tainan. At that time, only the early inhabitants and a small number of Chinese fishermen from the nearby province of Fujian occupied the island.

Two years later, the Spanish (also known as the red beards) followed, challenging the Dutch presence by claiming Dan Shui in northern Taiwan in 1626 and constructing Fort San Domingo. The Dutch, however, managed to evict the Spanish colonialists in 1641. The Dutch reign was not destined to last, and in 1661, Koxinga (Cheng Cheng-kung) came upon the scene.

Koxinga was the son of a powerful merchant in southern China, loyal to the Ming Dynasty family. Following the collapse of the Ming Empire (1368-1644), Koxinga refused to pledge loyalty to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was forced to flee China. Taking his army of over 30,000 men, Koxinga decided to make Taiwan his operations base for continuing his war against the Qing. After evicting the Dutch, Koxinga resumed his war against the Qing. However, in 1682 the Qing captured Taiwan making it a county of Fujian province. In 1885, following a brief (1884-1885) occupation of northern Taiwan by the French, the island became an independent province of China.

Taiwan was not destined to maintain its new status as a province for long. In 1895, as part of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Taiwan was handed over to Japan as an end to the Sino-Japanese War. After quashing a short-lived civilian revolt aimed at creating Asia's first republic (the Formosan Republic), the new Japanese rulers began a series of major construction projects to integrate Taiwan into the Japanese colonial economy. The remaining indigenous tribes were gradually forced into Taiwan's central mountains as the Japanese systematically built a network of roads, railroads, hospitals, and teachers' universities around Taiwan. Agricultural holdings were consolidated and massive sugar cane plantations were established around the island. The Japanese ruled the island until the end of World War II when the 1945 Yalta Conference returned Taiwan once again into the hands of China.

Returning Taiwan to the Chinese government was not simple since China was in the midst of a civil war. In 1912, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, and the Republic of China was established by Sun Yat-sen. The Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall stands today in commemoration of this political leader. From 1912 through the end of World War II, China was in political turmoil as the Nationalists (Kuomingtang, or KMT) under Chiang Kai-shek waged war with the Communists under Mao Zedong. During the same period, the Japanese also invaded North China. In 1945, when Taiwan was returned, the civil war in China was still raging.

Chiang Kai-shek, busy in Mainland China, sent Governor Chen-yi to Taiwan to maintain order. Famed for his greed and inability to rule, Chen-yi was disliked by the local Taiwanese. On February 28, 1947, this disapproval culminated in a Taiwanese protest now known as the 2-28 Massacre during which the KMT killed thousands of civilians. In 1949, it became clear that the war on the Mainland was lost and Chiang Kai-shek fled with over one million Mainland Chinese (more than half of which were military) to Taiwan. Along with them, many imperial treasures from the Forbidden City were spirited away to Taipei and today can be seen at the National Palace Museum. The KMT became the local government, and one year later, under Chiang's orders, Chen-yi was executed. The KMT established martial law in Taiwan that was to last for another 40 years.

The KMT retreat to Taiwan was much like Koxinga's retreat over 300 years earlier. The idea was to use the island as a base until recapture of the Mainland was possible. In the years that followed, despite regular skirmishes with Mainland Chinese forces, the KMT did not mount major offence. In 1971, a major political defeat was handed to Taiwan when it lost its seat in the United Nations. Chiang Kai-shek passed away in 1975. Today, people can learn more about the former leader by visiting the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chiang Kai-shek's Official Residence.

In 1978, Chiang's son, Chiang Ching-kuo, was elected president in an uncontested race. Unlike his father, Chiang Ching-kuo believed that the future of the KMT lay in developing local roots, and under his administration, a gradual relaxation of the politics began. The thaw continued until 1986, when Chiang allowed the formation of the first opposition party- theDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Following the establishment of the DPP, Taiwan's politics underwent a rapid transformation. Martial Law ended in 1987 and citizens were allowed to send and receive Mainland Chinese mail, as well as request Mainland travel permits for the first time since the 1940s. In 1988, Chiang Ching-kuo died and vice president Lee Deng-hui became the island's first native-born president. Lee immediately undertook a massive reform of the KMT and was re-elected President in 1996 with 54 percent of the votes. The end of the century also marked the end of the KMT's 40 year rule when DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian was elected President on March 18th, 2000.

More..........

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Little is know about Taiwan’s earliest history, however archaelogists believe Taiwan’s link with mainland China is at least 10,000 years old. The archaelogists have identified four stages of prehistoric tool development that match those of the mainland. Two distinct groups of aborigines were living on Taiwan before the arrival of the Chinese. One group lived sedentary agricultural lives on the rich alluvial plains of the centre and southwest. The others were violent people, roaming the mountains, fighting incessantly among themselves, and practicing ritual tattooing and head-hunting, right up to the present century. Although it is not known exactly when the Chinese first began to settle on Taiwan, the first mainland immigrants came from an ethnic group called the Hakka. They were driven from their native home in Hunan province about 1,500 years ago and forced to flee south of the Fujian and Guangdong coasts of the mainland. There, they successfully engaged in fishing and trading activities that eventually brought them to the Pescadores Islands , now known as Penghu, and then later to Taiwan. Today, the Hakka rank among Taiwan most enterprising people.

Koxinga was the first Taiwan Chinese ruler. He was forced to flee to Taiwan from the mainland after failing to recaptured Nanjing from the Manchu. In Taiwan, Koxinga encountered the Dutch, who have been there since the early 1600s. The Dutch, discounted him as a mere pirate, incapable of mounting a serious threat was defeated by Koxinga and force to leave Taiwan in 1662. Taiwan became the personal domain of Koxinga. He gave the island its first formal Chinese government, turning it into a Ming enclave until his sudden death in 1663 at the age of 38, a year after his conquest of Taiwan. Koxinga’s reign was brief but influential. He set up his court and government at Anping, near Tainan and developed transportation system and educational systems. Great strides were made in agriculture. Tainan became the political and commercial centre and Anping grew into a prosperous harbor. Koxinga’s son and grandson maintained rule over Taiwan until 1684, when the Manchu finally succeeded in imposing sovereignty over the island, snuffing out the last pocket of the Ming patriotism. Taiwan officially became an integral part of the Chinese empire when the Qing court conferred the status of fu or prefecture on the island. Taiwan was declared the 22nd province of China in 1886 and the population at that time was 2.5 million.

In 1895, The Treaty of Shimonoseki, written by Japan, ceded Chinese possession of both the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan to Japan. It marked the start of half a century of Japanese rule over Taiwan. The Japanese undertook an intensive modernisation of Taiwan infrastructure. Between 1918 and 1937, Japan consolidated its regime in Taiwan, exploiting Taiwan’s rich natural resources exclusively for the benefit of Japan. Taiwan toiled under Japanese occupation until Japan defeat in World War II. After Japan surrendered, Taiwan was restored to Chinese sovereignty on 25 October 1945, an event still celebrated annually on the island as Restoration Day. However, civil war raged across the vast Chinese landscape for four year after the end of the Japanese occupation.
In 1948, Chiang Kaishek was elected the president of the Republic of China, however war was swinging in favor of the Communists as they took Tianjin and Beijing. On 21st January, 1949, Chiang Kaishek resigned from the presidency. After nearly a year of self-imposed solitude, in December 1949, he returned to lead an exodus of Nationalist soldiers and a rambling entourage of merchants, monks and masters of classical arts across the Taiwan Strait to Taiwan. Still calling his retreating government the Republic of China, Chiang’s army defeated pursuing Communists in a last-stand battle on Quemoy, holding that island ever since. Chiang was determined to reform Kuomintang policies on Taiwan and he governed the island according to Sun Yatsen’s Three Principles of the People, Sanminchui. With the outbreak of the Korean war in 1950, Taiwan was places under the American protective umbrella from possible Communist attacks, and received substantial economic aid too. In 1955, the United States and Taiwan ratified the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty. Chiang Kaishek continued to maintain strict political discipline and social order but he gave enterpreneurs free reign in the economic sphere. At the same time, the island’s population doubled to 16 million people. Chiang died on April 5, 1975. He was succeeded by vice president, Yen Chia-kan however in the next presidential elections the following year, Chiang Kaishek’s son, Chiang Ching-kuo was elected president. In 1971, Taiwan lost its membership in the United Nation organisation and was replaced by the People’s Replublic. In 1978, The United States, announced the recognition of the People’s Repulic of China and ceased official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Chiang Ching-kuo died in 1988 and was succeeded by Lee Teng-hui who was the island’s first Taiwanese born president who is the current president of the Republic.

Nice, but may I know who conducted this research and where the source is coming from ?

I took it from:

www.taipeitw.ags.myareaguide.com/ detail.html?cityguide=history - 76k -

www.regit.com/regitour/taiwan/about/history.htm -

Koxinga's face....

Koxinga's troops marching on fort Zeelandia (rare Dutch Illustration,1669)

The origin of the name "Koxinga" pantes... gue br binun knp bisa berubah sgitu jauh namanya...

The Ming empire fell in 1644, but the coastal
areas of the southeast, princes such as Prince
Fu, Prince Tang, Prince Lu and Prince Gui,
endeavored to fight back and prolong the
political power of the Ming empire. Prince Tang
had influence in Fuzhou, and received the
support of Zheng Zhilong, and since Prince Tang
had no sons to succeed him, Zheng Zhilong
arranged for Zheng Chenggong to serve him, and
so he became known as "Guo-xing-ye," which means
"lord of the royal surname." [The Dutch later
romanized the name as Koxinga]

(BTW, all are from www.twcenter.tw.org

Kutip:
Evidence of human life on Taiwan dates back five to ten thousand years ago. Not much is known about the origins of Taiwan's earliest inhabitants except that their language bears more similarity to Indonesian than any Chinese dialect. The island enjoyed relative anonymity until 1206 when Genghis Khan named Taiwan a protectorate of the newly established Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368).

Indonesian language is the modernized version of Malay thus hundreds of years ago, it has to be Malay, not Indonesian (Indonesia didn't even exist yet). And thousand of years ago, it could be the old Javanese or Sansekerta, or whatever language was used in a smaller kingdoms, or parts of the archipelago, which we all know speaks hundreds of different dialect.

This comparison doesn't sound valid. How can the article claim that language spoken a long time ago (Taiwan's earliest inhabitants) bear a similarities to Indonesian language which didn't even exist yet.

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Double Post

I also find the fact to be 'interesting'. Although I assume that they meant Malay lang. instead of Indonesia, it is still interesting to know how they can derive such conclusion. Do you think there are some 'written' proofs abt that?