Cultural history of Taiwan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The cultural history of Taiwan can be traced back to prehistoric

Prehistory

Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

. Later the development of written language

Written language

A written language is the representation of a language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will instinctively learn or create spoken or gestural languages....

s made it easier to maintain traditions of the Taiwanese culture

Culture of Taiwan

The culture of Taiwan is a blend of Confucianist Han Chinese, Japanese, European, American, global, local, and Taiwanese aborigines cultures, which are often perceived in both traditional and modern understandings...

.

The recorded history of Taiwanese culture mainly stemmed from traditional Chinese culture

Culture of China

Chinese culture is one of the world's oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces...

, despite the influences from other foreign powers. Although the culture of modern Taiwan is significantly affected by Japanese

Culture of Japan

The culture of Japan has evolved greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America...

and American culture

Culture of the United States

The Culture of the United States is a Western culture originally influenced by European cultures. It has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore...

s, the values and traditions of the Taiwanese people

Taiwanese people

Taiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...

are heavily based on Confucianist

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

cultures.

Prehistoric cultures

Table of prehistoric cultures × denotes nonexistence　　o denotes existence
Culture	Development status				Sites
Culture	Pottery	Iron metallurgy	Basic agriculture	Rice cultivation	Yuanshan Site	Chihshan Rock Site	Botanical Garden Site
Hsientao culture	×	×	×	×	○	×	×
Tapenkeng culture	○	×	○	×	○	○	○
Yuanshan culture	○	×	○	○	○	○	○
Chihshan Rock culture	○	○	○	○	×	○	×
Botanical Garden culture	×	○	○	○	○	○	○
Shihsanhang culture	○	○	○	○	○	×	×

The cultures in Taiwan's New Stone Age (began ca. 5000 BCE) were all left by Austronesian people

Austronesian people

The Austronesian-speaking peoples are various populations in Oceania and Southeast Asia that speak languages of the Austronesian family. They include Taiwanese aborigines; the majority ethnic groups of East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Madagascar, Micronesia, and Polynesia,...

. However, there may be other settlers prior to the arrival of the Austronesian people.

In addition, the plains aborigines influenced the beliefs, music, and names, of places in Taiwan. These aboriginal tribes include Ketagalan, Kavalan

Kavalan people

The Kavalan or Kuvalan are an indigenous people of Taiwan, part of the larger Taiwanese aborigine ethnic group. The Kavalan originally inhabited modern-day Yilan County. Most of them moved to the coastal area of Hualien County and Taitung County in the 19th century...

, Taokas

Taokas people

Taokas is one of a number of indigenous ethno-linguistic groups that inhabited the plains of western Taiwan. The Taokas were located in the areas around today's Hsinchu City/Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, and Taichung City region. Several Taokas groups have been historically linked to many revolts...

, and Babuza peoples. However, over the course of three centuries of Han Chinese

Han Chinese

migrations to Taiwan, the distinctive cultures gradually disappeared, creating an integrated cultural blend.

The 1620s saw a major turning point in Taiwan's cultural history due to the introduction of the Sinckan Manuscripts

Sinckan Manuscripts

The Sinckan Manuscripts refers to a series of leases, mortgages, and other commerce contracts written in the Sinckan language; they are commonly referred to as the "fanzi contracts." Some are written only in a romanized script, while others were bilingual with adjacent Han writing...

. The written language was brought to Taiwan by Dutch

Dutch people

The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...

missionaries. The prehistory of Taiwan was brought to an end as a result.

European colonial culture

As a result of Taiwan's strategic position, many foreign powers were interested in establishing settlements in Taiwan. Taiwan was first introduced to European nations in approximately the mid-sixteenth century by Portuguese explorers, who called the island "Ilha Formosa

Formosa

Formosa or Ilha Formosa is a Portuguese historical name for Taiwan , literally meaning, "Beautiful Island". The term may also refer to:-Places:* Formosa Strait, another name for the Taiwan Strait...

," which means "Beautiful Island, and the neighboring islands "Pescadores

Pescadores

The Penghu Islands, also known as Pescadores are an archipelago off the western coast of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait consisting of 90 small islands and islets covering an area of 141 square kilometers....

," which means "Fishermen."

The Dutch East India Company

Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

invaded the Pescadores in 1622. After several battles with Ming

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

forces, the Dutch agreed to retreat to the island of Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, which was not part of the Ming territories. In 1624, the Dutch established a trading post in present-day Tainan City and built its political center at Fort Zeelandia

Fort Zeelandia

Fort Zeelandia may refer to either of three forts, two built by the Dutch and the other renamed by them:* Fort Zeelandia on Formosa * Fort Zeelandia at Paramaribo...

. Due to the shortage of labor, the Dutch attracted Han migrants. As a result, the previous tribal society drastically changed.

The Dutch were not the only European settlers in Taiwan. In 1626, the Spaniards established settlements in northern Taiwan. Fort San Salvador was built in present-day Keelung. Later, they expanded their territory to present-day Yilan and Tamsui, and built Fort Santo Domingo

Fort Santo Domingo

Fuerte Santo Domingo or Fort San Domingo was originally a wooden fort built by the Spanish in 1629 at Tamsui on the northwestern coast of Taiwan.-History:...

, which still exists today. Spanish missionaries converted many aborigines to Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

. However, the Dutch attacked Spanish settlements in northern Taiwan in 1642, drove out the Spaniards, and occupied their territories.

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