Pre 1899 "Did You Know" Taiwan

1. **Did you know?** The indigenous peoples of Taiwan are believed to have settled on the island over 6,000 years ago, long before any foreign influence arrived.
2. **Did you know?** The Portuguese were the first Europeans to discover Taiwan in 1544, calling it “Ilha Formosa,” meaning “Beautiful Island.”
3. **Did you know?** Taiwan was part of the Ming Dynasty’s maritime trade route in the 15th century, with merchants frequently visiting from China and Southeast Asia.
4. **Did you know?** In 1624, the Dutch East India Company established Fort Zeelandia on the southwestern coast of Taiwan, marking the beginning of Dutch colonial rule.
5. **Did you know?** The Dutch controlled Taiwan for 38 years until they were ousted by the Ming Dynasty loyalist Koxinga in 1662.
6. **Did you know?** Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong), a Ming Dynasty general, retreated to Taiwan in 1661 and successfully drove the Dutch out of the island, establishing the Kingdom of Tungning.
7. **Did you know?** The Kingdom of Tungning, founded by Koxinga, was the first Chinese state to be established on Taiwan and lasted from 1662 to 1683.
8. **Did you know?** In 1683, Taiwan was annexed by the Qing Dynasty following the defeat of Koxinga’s grandson by Qing forces.
9. **Did you know?** Under Qing rule, Taiwan was incorporated into the province of Fujian, marking the island’s first direct administrative integration into China.
10. **Did you know?** Taiwan was opened up to Chinese immigration during the Qing Dynasty, leading to the large-scale migration of people from Fujian and Guangdong provinces.
11. **Did you know?** By the mid-1700s, over 100,000 Chinese settlers had arrived in Taiwan, transforming its demographics and agricultural landscape.
12. **Did you know?** In 1787, Taiwan experienced a major rebellion known as the Lin Shuangwen Rebellion, led by local settlers against Qing rule. The uprising was eventually suppressed.
13. **Did you know?** The 1796 White Lotus Rebellion in mainland China inspired some unrest in Taiwan, though it never fully materialized on the island.
14. **Did you know?** Taiwan experienced several pirate attacks in the 18th and 19th centuries due to its strategic position along major sea routes.
15. **Did you know?** The Qing Dynasty officially declared Taiwan a separate province in 1885, making it China’s 22nd province.
16. **Did you know?** The province of Taiwan was governed by Liu Mingchuan, a Qing official who is credited with modernizing parts of the island by introducing railways, telegraphs, and postal systems in the late 1800s.
17. **Did you know?** In 1884-1885, Taiwan was a battleground during the Sino-French War, with French forces launching attacks on key coastal cities.
18. **Did you know?** During the Sino-French War, French forces occupied Keelung for nearly a year, but Taiwan never fell entirely under French control.
19. **Did you know?** Taiwan was ceded to Japan by the Qing Dynasty in 1895 following the First Sino-Japanese War, under the Treaty of Shimonoseki.
20. **Did you know?** Taiwan’s indigenous groups resisted Japanese colonization fiercely. The short-lived Republic of Formosa was declared in 1895 in an attempt to resist the Japanese, though it only lasted a few months.
21. **Did you know?** During the early Qing Dynasty, much of Taiwan was considered wild and untamed, with large portions of the island’s interior remaining under the control of indigenous tribes.
22. **Did you know?** The first Christian missionary work in Taiwan began during the Dutch colonial period, with missionaries converting many indigenous people to Christianity.
23. **Did you know?** The Qing Dynasty built numerous forts along Taiwan’s coastline to defend against foreign invasion, including the **Anping Fort** in Tainan.
24. **Did you know?** Taiwanese aboriginals, particularly the Siraya people, developed unique agricultural techniques, including the cultivation of millet and taro.
25. **Did you know?** The Formosan landlocked salmon, native to Taiwan, was discovered by Japanese scientists in 1895 during Japan’s early colonization efforts.
26. **Did you know?** Taiwan’s first modern harbor, **Anping**, was built by the Dutch and later expanded by the Qing, becoming a vital trade hub for centuries.
27. **Did you know?** Qing authorities built a network of **stone fortresses** across Taiwan in the 19th century to protect against foreign invasions and internal uprisings.
28. **Did you know?** By the 19th century, Taiwan had a thriving tea industry, exporting **oolong tea** to the U.S. and Europe, which helped build Taiwan’s economic ties with the West.
29. **Did you know?** In 1840, during the **First Opium War**, British forces briefly considered using Taiwan as a strategic base but decided against occupying the island.
30. **Did you know?** Taiwan’s indigenous groups, particularly the Atayal people, practiced facial tattooing as a rite of passage, with specific designs indicating one’s age, status, and tribe.
31. **Did you know?** The island of Taiwan was home to more than a dozen distinct indigenous groups before large-scale Chinese migration, with their own languages and cultures.
32. **Did you know?** The Dutch East India Company brought in Han Chinese laborers to help develop Taiwan’s agricultural system in the 17th century.
33. **Did you know?** The Spanish briefly controlled the northern part of Taiwan, establishing a base at Keelung in 1626, but were ousted by the Dutch in 1642.
34. **Did you know?** The Ming Dynasty loyalist Koxinga used Taiwan as a base to plan his campaign to retake mainland China from the Qing Dynasty.
35. **Did you know?** The Dutch East India Company introduced sugar cane cultivation to Taiwan, which became one of the island’s most important crops during the 17th century.
36. **Did you know?** The indigenous Siraya people of Taiwan had a matriarchal society, with women holding significant power over family decisions and property.
37. **Did you know?** Before European colonization, Taiwan’s indigenous people used hunting and fishing as their main sources of food, living a largely nomadic lifestyle.
38. **Did you know?** During the 17th century, the Dutch introduced deer skin trade in Taiwan, exporting thousands of hides annually to Japan and other countries.
39. **Did you know?** Koxinga’s forces, made up of 25,000 men, managed to seize Fort Zeelandia from the Dutch in a nine-month siege in 1662.
40. **Did you know?** The Qing Dynasty originally had little interest in Taiwan, considering it a “ball of mud beyond the sea,” until the Dutch defeat by Koxinga.
41. **Did you know?** The 1683 naval battle of Penghu Islands between the Qing and the Kingdom of Tungning resulted in the Qing annexing Taiwan.
42. **Did you know?** Taiwan’s indigenous people resisted Qing rule fiercely, and many parts of the island remained outside Qing control well into the 19th century.
43. **Did you know?** In the 18th century, Taiwan became a popular destination for Chinese settlers from Fujian and Guangdong, drawn by the promise of fertile land.
44. **Did you know?** The Qing Dynasty implemented the **“Great Clearance”** policy in the late 17th century, forcing Chinese settlers to retreat to the coastal areas to prevent conflicts with indigenous tribes.
45. **Did you know?** Liu Mingchuan, the first governor of Taiwan under the Qing Dynasty, oversaw the construction of the island’s first railway, which opened in 1887.
46. **Did you know?** Taiwan’s first post office was established in **Keelung** in 1888 during the Qing Dynasty, marking the beginning of modern communication systems on the island.
47. **Did you know?** Taiwan was known as one of the leading producers of camphor in the 19th century, which was used worldwide in the production of explosives and medicines.
48. **Did you know?** Taiwan was home to an active smuggling industry during the Qing Dynasty, with pirates and traders taking advantage of the island’s isolated location.
49. **Did you know?** The Qing government conducted its first detailed census of Taiwan in the late 18th century, revealing that Han Chinese settlers outnumbered indigenous people by a significant margin.
50. **Did you know?** The **Battle of Bangka** in 1895 was one of the last major conflicts between indigenous Taiwanese and the Japanese army during their early colonization of the island.