There are many books and articles on Formosa written by Westerners. Additionally, Taiwan has appeared in not a few Western scholarly and literary works. George Psalmanazaar's Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, 1704, is a well-known and marvelous work of "fiction." Taiwan was referred to in The Spirit of Law, 1748, of Montesquieu, and in Adam Ferguson's An Essay on the History of Civil Society, first edition, 1767. In the famous Encyclopedie on Dictionaire raisonne de science, des arts, et des metiers, 28 volumes, 1751-1772, edited by Diderot and d' Alembert, there are several descriptions on Taiwan: on page 435 of volume 6, page 138 of volume 7, and pages 345 and 507 of volume 8. There is a fairly long description of Formosa on pages 351-359, volume 5, of the first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the first volume of which was published in 1797. But the most interesting of all is Robinson Crusoe's visit to Formosa.
According to the famous novel, which was published in 1719, on his second voyage from South America westward, Robinson Crusoe stopped in Taiwan. "When we were thus got to sea, we kept out northeast, as if we would go to the Manillas or the Philippine islands; and this we did that we might not fall into the way of any of our European ships; and then we steered north until we came to the latitude of 22°30, by which means we made the island of Formosa directly, where we came to an anchor in order to get water and fresh provisions; which the people there, who are very courteous and civil in their manners, supplied us with willingly, and dealt very fairly and punctually with us in all their agreements and bargains; which is what we did not find among other people, and may be owing to the remains of Christianity, which was once planted here by a Dutch missionary of Protestants, and is a testimony of what I have often observed -namely, that the Christian religion always civilize the people, and reforms their manners, where it is received, whether it works saving effects upon them or not." (T. Nelson and Sons edition, pages 519-520).
Obviously Alexander Selkirk, a Scotch sailor and the model of Robinson Crusoe, did not visit Formosa. Perhaps several books on Formosa at that time were the source of Daniel Defoe's description of the island. It seems this is an indication of the familiarity of Western people with the beautiful island.
Records of Dutch
Scholarly and literary descriptions of Taiwan were mostly based on the records of the Dutch, who appeared on the island in the first quarter of the 17th century. In spite of its geographical proximity and the fact that Taiwan has had contact with mainland China since early times, and that fragmentary records of Taiwan can be found in old Chinese documents, concrete and continuous records of Taiwan were started only around the time of the Dutch occupation.
It is interesting to note a historical parallel between Taiwan and the island of Manhattan in their relation to the Dutch. During the period of mercantilism, the Dutch East-India Company, which was founded in 1602, sent a fleet to the Far East, and in 1604 made an expedition to the Pescadores, an archipelago off southwestern Taiwan. A ship of the same company, commanded by Henry Hudson, an English captain, discovered the island of Manhattan in 1606. The Dutch started to settle Taiwan in 1624. Two years later the first group of Dutch emigrants were sent to Manhattan and established New Amsterdam in 1626. A few decades later, in 1662, the Dutch in Taiwan were expelled by Koxinga. Two years later, in 1664, the Prince of York, brother of Charles II; defeated the Dutch and occupied Manhattan island. New Amsterdam was then given a new name-New York.
The fact of the occupation of Taiwan by several hundred Dutchmen would be historically insignificant were it not for the presence of a large number of Chinese on the island. These Chinese came to Taiwan from the provinces of Fukien and Kwangtung. According to the first census taken in 1905 by the Japanese colonial government in Taiwan, among the 3,123,000 population of Taiwan, 94.4 per cent was Chinese, 3.6 per cent was aborigines and Japanese accounted for less than 2 per cent. During the half century of Japanese rule, the proportion of Japanese increased somewhat but the Chinese population has never constituted less than 90 per cent of the total.
The native provinces of these Chinese is worthy of note. A survey by the Japanese colonial government in 1926 shows that 83 per cent were from Fukien, 16 per cent from Kwangtung and the remaining 1 per cent from other provinces.
Fukien and Kwangtung are the native provinces of most overseas Chinese. According to a survey of the Overseas Affairs Commission, Republic of China, in 1934, there were 6,030,000 overseas Chinese in the South Seas, of which 69 per cent were from Kwangtung, 28 per cent from Fukien and only three per cent from other provinces. Overseas Chinese migrating from Fukien or Kwangtung were selective in their choice of destination. In Thailand, for example, 88 per cent of the Chinese were from Kwangtung, 10 per cent from Fukien and 2 per cent from other provinces. The picture in the Philippines was just the reverse: 80 per cent from Fukien and 20 per cent from Kwangtung. The Philippines and Taiwan were the favorite destinations of Fukienese.
Population Pressure
Fukien and Kwangtung were remarkable not only as the original homes of so many overseas Chinese, but also for their pirates, chieftains and even kings of the South Seas, and for the custom of drowning girl babies. The four are closely connected; all derive from population pressure. The areas of Fukien and Kwangtung are fairly large and the density of population not high. But both provinces are mountainous and the amount of arable land is small. In terms of good farmland, density of population is high, even higher than in the supposedly crowded provinces of Kiangsu, Chekiang and Anhui.
According to a study, the situation in 1812 was as follows: Density of population to land area was 980 persons per square mile for Kiangsu and 314 persons per square mile for Fukien. In terms of density of population to arable land, however, the area of Chinese mou of paddy field per person was 1.90 for Kiangsu and 0.93 for Fukien. A study by G.B. Cressy in 1934 pointed this out.
History Important
Historical circumstances also are relevant to Taiwan settlement. By the 1550s, after the Ming dynasty had run about two-thirds its course, political and social condition were deteriorating and rapidly grew worse. Fukien was the headquarters of Koxinga and his line. They revolted against the invading Ching dynasty and the province thus became battlefield. This was a region where arable land was scant and where the shortage of food was constant. War was the last straw. People were ready to move out whenever they had the chance.
When Martin de Gioti visited Manila in 1570, he found 40 Chinese living among the aborigines. They had married native women and the community numbered 150. After they arrived in Taiwan, the Dutch found a corresponding situation. In 1624, they found from one to half a dozen Chinese living in tribal villages, and some had married native women. Some of the natives could speak Chinese.
Spanish ship figurehead found on Taiwan shore. (File photo)
Apparently the Chinese in Taiwan had been driven out of Fukien and Kwangtung by population pressure. Because of low productivity and a closed social system tribal societies cannot receive many people. The possibility of continuous immigration is small or non-existent. It is safe to presume there were few Chinese in Manila before De Gioti's visit of 1570 or in Taiwan before the Dutch came in 1624. This was the stage of Chinese migration to tribal society.
It is only when society has high productivity, and trades and communicates with the outside world, that it can support a larger population. Then immigrants can flow in continuously, can propagate and expand. This is a folk society as contrasted with tribal society. Such social change in the Philippines and Taiwan was stimulated by colonialists.
Trading Vessels
The Spaniards decided to establish a trading post and built the city of Manila in 1571. The number of trading ships from China increased thereafter: 10 vessels by 1575. To stimulate further expansion, the Spaniards built the Parian in Manila in 1582, and this led to a tremendous expansion. The number of trading ships from China increased to about 20 annually in the 1580s, 30 in the 1590s, and 40 to 50 in the early 1600s. The amount of trade was about 300,000 pesos annually in the early 1580s, 500,000 in 1586 and 800,000 by the 1590s.
Some of the Chinese that came with the ships remained in Manila. In 1604, more than 4,000 arrived and 457 stayed. In 1606, of the 6,533 arrivals, 1,500 were allowed to stay.
The Parian boomed quickly. In 1588 it had 150 stores and a population of 600. By 1602 these figures had jumped to 400 stores and 8,000 people. At the climax of its prosperity, the Parian had 20,000 people (in 1637) and 1,200 stores (in 1645). This was a far cry from the 40 counted by De Gioti. There might have been other Chinese in the neighborhood, but in a tribal society the number of immigrants could not have been large.
Drawing shows Koxinga (in tent) negotiating peace with Dutch. (File photo)
Population pressure was very high on the mainland of China, and people sought a chance to leave. But the possibility of emigration depended upon receiving areas. If tribal societies survived, only a limited number of people could settle. In contact with Westerners, the closed tribal society was opened, and transformed into a folk society. It was then that the crowded population on Fukien found an outlet in Manila.
The pattern of development in Taiwan was similar. After the Dutch settled on the island, more Chinese came from the main land. The Dutch built the fortress of Zeelandia, but to expand trade they decided to build a town to accommodate the Chinese and Japanese. Construction was completed in 1625 and it was named Provintia. A fire broke out early in 1926, and there was an epidemic in the same year. These events retarded development only briefly. Trade soon prospered and population grew.
Rice Encouraged
As the Chinese population increased, the Dutch found some difficulty in supplying rice. They had imported rice from Thailand and Japan, but to provide for the increasing population they decided to encourage local production.
Sugar was a profitable item of trade for the Dutch. At first it was imported from South China. Then the Dutch decided to produce it in Taiwan. By 1636, the Dutch had subdued the aboriginal tribes and had started to encourage agriculture. This brought about agricultural settlement by the Chinese, which was highly significant for the propagation of the population. A small number of Chinese adventurers and small traders had been scattered among the aboriginal tribes. Chinese were present in Taiwan before the Dutch, but from the sociological point of view, this is not a significant fact. Agricultural settlement means the formation of community and the continuation and propagation of the population; this is the sociologically significant fact.
Available data on the population of Taiwan at that time are very few, and implications of the figures are not clear. Nevertheless, it is possible to ascertain the trend of population growth. The Chinese population in the central area of Dutch occupation present Taiwan and vicinity-was from 10,000 to 11,000 in 1640, around 12,000 in 1648, 15,000 in 1650, 16,000 in 1652 and was about 34,000 in 1662, the last year of the Dutch occupation.
When the Dutch settled in Taiwan in 1624, there were a few Chinese scattered in the aboriginal hamlets. Twenty-six years later the number had soared to 15,000 and 38 years later to 34,000. This increase can be compared to the rapid increase of the Chinese population in Manila after the Spanish settlement.
Consideration of the increases in the area of cultivated land and sugar production will help in understanding population growth of Taiwan. The area of cultivated land in Tainan and vicinity was 3,00 morgen in 1645, 5,617 morgen in 1647 and 8,403 morgen in 1656. Sugar production was 1,244 piculs in 1635, 15,000 piculs in 1645 and 17,300 piculs in 1658.
To expand their profits from trade, both the Spaniards and the Dutch had to have more Chinese in colonies. They had provided special quarters: Parian in Manila and Provintia in Taiwan. The Dutch even supplied ships for the transportation of Chinese from the mainland to Taiwan. The principle of mercantilistic colonizers, however, was to get as much profit as possible from trade. The Dutch had encouraged agriculture in Taiwan, but their object was still to obtain profits from trade.
Conflict Ensues
The Chinese benefited from their contacts with the colonizers but at the same time were exploited, and were variously taxed and ruled, often unreasonably. When the number of Chinese had increased to the extent of being able to challenge ruling authority, tension arose between the two parties. Conflict was inevitable. Trouble broke out in Manila in 1593 and the Spaniards began to limit the number of Chinese. In 1594, 5,000 Chinese were expelled from Manila and in the next year 12,000 more. In 1603, hostilities ensued and 23,000 Chinese were massacred. Despite hatred for each other, relations did not come to an end. The Chinese had to stay in the Philippines to survive, and the Spaniards had to keep the Chinese to make profits. This coexistence lasted for a long time. Conflict occurred again in 1639 and in 1668, and each time many Chinese were massacred. In such circumstances, the number of Chinese in the Philippines was 45,000 before the massacre of 1639, but decreased after that, and was only 25,000 to 30,000 in 1876.
The situation in Taiwan was somewhat similar. Chinese population in Taiwan and vicinity had increased steadily from 1636, when the Dutch began to encourage agriculture. It was 15,000 in 1650 and 16,000 in 1652. Conflict of interests gave rise to tension and 1,800 Chinese were massacred in 1652. Coexistence continued, and the Chinese population had increased to 25,000 male adults by 1661. In the next year, Taiwan was occupied by Koxinga. The mercantile rule of the Dutch came to an end under the different principles of the new Chinese regime, patterns of Chinese migration changed completely.
Differences between the Philippines and Taiwan situations regarding Chinese immigration begin with the end of Dutch occupation in Taiwan. During the mercantile period, there were more Chinese in the Philippines than in Taiwan. But the picture changes completely afterward. In 1863, there were only 25,000-30,000 Chinese in the Philippines, fewer than in 1635, but by 1810 there were more than 2,000,000 Chinese in Taiwan. By 1940 there were 5,500,000 Chinese in Taiwan, and by now there are more than 11 million. The number of Chinese in the Philippines in 1939 was reported to be only 117,000. Autonomous political and social principles prevailing in Taiwan after the arrival of Koxinga were responsible for this tremendous increase in the Chinese population. Here we can clearly see the limiting effect of a mercantilistic colonization upon migration and population increase, even though it has promoted vast growth compared with the tribal society period.