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*''Chinese/Japanese'': 台湾 ''(Táiwān / Taiwan)''
*''Chinese/Japanese'': 台湾 ''(Táiwān / Taiwan)''
Taiwan is an island located off the east coast of China. Home to numerous [[Taiwanese aborigines|aboriginal groups]], Taiwan became a base of operations for [[wako|pirates and smugglers]] and the Portuguese in the 16th century, and the [[Dutch East India Company]] and [[Ming loyalist]] rebels in the 17th century, before being conquered by the [[Qing Dynasty]] towards the end of that century. The island was annexed by Japan in [[1895]], and regained its independence in 1945. Since 1949 it has constituted the territory of the Republic of China.
Taiwan is an island located off the east coast of China. Home to numerous [[Taiwanese aborigines|aboriginal groups]], Taiwan became a base of operations for [[wako|pirates and smugglers]] and the Portuguese in the 16th century, and the [[Dutch East India Company]] and [[Ming loyalist]] rebels in the 17th century, before being conquered by the [[Qing Dynasty]] towards the end of that century. The island was annexed by Japan in [[1895]], and regained its independence in 1945. Since 1949 it has constituted its own independent country, known officially as the Republic of China.
==History==
==History==
A rebellion in [[1721]] in which a man named [[Zhu Yigui]] declared himself King of Taiwan was quickly suppressed. Zhu came to Taiwan from Fujian as an official's servant, and soon afterward declared a rebellion; he and his hundreds of followers seized the prefectural capital and held it for two months before being defeated by a son of Admiral Shi Lang.<ref>Spence, 68-69.</ref> Concerned about the potential for further rebellions or uprisings, the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] subdivided several of Taiwan's counties, such that a greater number of officials would now each oversee a smaller portion of the island; he also permitted men emigrating to the island to bring their wives and children with them, making for a fuller society, and set aside some land exclusively for the aborigines, while opening up allowance for Chinese settlers to rent land in other parts of the island from the aborigines.<ref>Spence, 85.</ref>
A rebellion in [[1721]] in which a man named [[Zhu Yigui]] declared himself King of Taiwan was quickly suppressed. Zhu came to Taiwan from Fujian as an official's servant, and soon afterward declared a rebellion; he and his hundreds of followers seized the prefectural capital and held it for two months before being defeated by a son of Admiral Shi Lang.<ref>Spence, 68-69.</ref> Concerned about the potential for further rebellions or uprisings, the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] subdivided several of Taiwan's counties, such that a greater number of officials would now each oversee a smaller portion of the island; he also permitted men emigrating to the island to bring their wives and children with them, making for a fuller society, and set aside some land exclusively for the aborigines, while opening up allowance for Chinese settlers to rent land in other parts of the island from the aborigines.<ref>Spence, 85.</ref>
As Taiwan gradually became more Sinified - that is, as it gradually became more settled, more controlled by Qing authorities, and more incorporated into Qing society - the island, and its people, came to be rhetorically divided into two categories. "Fresh" or "raw" "barbarians" (生蕃, ''shēngfān'') were those peoples and lands relatively untouched by Qing influence or control, and still uncivilized from the Qing point of view; by contrast, those areas and people who had been "civilized" in the Qing view were known as "cooked" or "ripe" "barbarians" (熟蕃, ''shúfān'').<ref>Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Megumi, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," ''Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô'' 31 (2006), 254.</ref>
===Late 19th century===
===Late 19th century===
Thus it was that nearly two hundred years later, in the 1870s, while there were some very long-established official, mercantile, and agricultural communities & lineages on the island, there were still significant portions of the island where the aboriginal peoples were dominant and where Qing officials had no effective power or control. This set of circumstances would have significant foreign relations impacts as the region moved into the late 19th century.
Thus it was that nearly two hundred years later, in the 1870s, while there were some very long-established official, mercantile, and agricultural communities & lineages on the island, there were still significant portions of the island where the aboriginal peoples were dominant and where Qing officials had no effective power or control. This set of circumstances would have significant foreign relations impacts as the region moved into the late 19th century.
In [[1871]], a number of [[Miyako Islands|Miyako Islanders]] became shipwrecked on Taiwan, where they encountered and were [[Taiwan Incident of 1871|killed]] by a group of Taiwanese aborigines. The [[Meiji government]] responded with [[Taiwan Expedition of 1874|a punitive military expedition]], led by [[Saigo Tsugumichi|Saigô Tsugumichi]] and launched to punish the aborigines for the murder of Japanese subjects. The fighting lasted less than two months. This invasion spurred considerable tensions, however, between Japan and China, with China rejecting Japan's claims that the Miyako Islanders were Japanese subjects, and asserting its own claims over Taiwan while denying responsibility for the aborigines' actions. Woodblock prints widely circulated in Japan depicting and describing the events of the expedition are considered the first ''[[shinbun nishiki-e]]'', or "news prints," informing the public of official contemporary events in a relatively timely and accurate manner. A treaty was signed in October of that year in which China admitted less than total sovereign control over certain areas of southern Taiwan (i.e. areas dominated by aboriginal groups), recognized the [[Ryukyuan people]]s as Japanese subjects, and agreed to pay an indemnity of 500,000 ''[[tael]]s'' to Japan. The tensions still simmered, however, and very nearly came to all-out war before the decade was up, in order to decide more definitively Chinese and Japanese claims to both Taiwan and the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]]. The issue was complicated by advice from Westerners, [[Charles DeLong]] and [[Charles LeGendre]], who suggested to the Japanese that since the Chinese did not exert effective (''de facto'') control over those sections of Taiwan dominated by the aborigines, that territory was essentially ''terra nullius'', and if Japan were to occupy the territory, under Western/modern international law, it could be rightfully Japan's.
In [[1871]], a number of [[Miyako Islands|Miyako Islanders]] became shipwrecked on Taiwan, where they encountered and were [[Taiwan Incident of 1871|killed]] by a group of Taiwanese aborigines. The [[Meiji government]] responded with [[Taiwan Expedition of 1874|a punitive military expedition]], led by [[Saigo Tsugumichi|Saigô Tsugumichi]] and launched to punish the aborigines for the murder of Japanese subjects. The fighting lasted less than two months. This invasion spurred considerable tensions, however, between Japan and China, with China rejecting Japan's claims that the Miyako Islanders were Japanese subjects, and asserting its own claims over Taiwan while denying responsibility for the aborigines' actions. Woodblock prints widely circulated in Japan depicting and describing the events of the expedition are considered the first ''[[shinbun nishiki-e]]'', or "news prints," informing the public of official contemporary events in a relatively timely and accurate manner. A treaty was signed in October of that year in which China admitted less than total sovereign control over certain areas of southern Taiwan (i.e. areas dominated by aboriginal groups), recognized the [[Ryukyuan people]]s as Japanese subjects, and agreed to pay an indemnity of 500,000 ''[[tael]]s'' to Japan. The tensions still simmered, however, and very nearly came to all-out war before the decade was up, in order to decide more definitively Chinese and Japanese claims to both Taiwan and the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]]. The issue was complicated by advice from Westerners, [[Charles DeLong]] and [[Charles LeGendre]], who suggested to the Japanese that since the Chinese did not exert effective (''de facto'') control over those sections of Taiwan dominated by the aborigines, that territory was essentially ''terra nullius'', and if Japan were to occupy the territory, it could be rightfully Japan's, under Western/modern international law.
In the end, in [[1879]], Japan unilaterally annexed the Ryukyus over Beijing's objections, but negotiations between the two sides, facilitated in part by [[Ulysses S. Grant]], prevented the outbreak of further violent conflict.<ref>Uemura Hideaki, "The Colonial Annexation of Okinawa and the Logic of International Law: The Formation of an 'Indigenous People' in East Asia," ''Japanese Studies'' 23:2 (2003), 107-124.</ref>
In the end, in [[1879]], Japan unilaterally annexed the Ryukyus over Beijing's objections, but negotiations between the two sides, facilitated in part by [[Ulysses S. Grant]], prevented the outbreak of further violent conflict.<ref>Uemura Hideaki, "The Colonial Annexation of Okinawa and the Logic of International Law: The Formation of an 'Indigenous People' in East Asia," ''Japanese Studies'' 23:2 (2003), 107-124.</ref>
===Japanese Colony (1895-1945)===
===Japanese Colony (1895-1945)===
Following Japanese victory in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan became Japanese territory. Residents were allowed a two-year period during which they were free to relocate to mainland China. Very few did so, with the vast majority remaining in Taiwan and officially becoming Japanese subjects. This fact has been used to support arguments that residents of Taiwan felt only weak loyalty to the Chinese state, and/or weak associations with Chinese identity. However, it is likely that more practical matters, such as the expense and difficulty of moving to the mainland, were significant factors for many individuals. When Taiwan reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1945, the vast majority of these Japanese subjects applied to regain Chinese citizenship, signalling perhaps that they possessed strong ties to China all along, or simply that they had strong ties to Taiwan and were determined to stay regardless of which distant government controlled the territory.<ref name=danshao>Dan Shao, "Bloodline & Borderline: Nationality Law and Sovereignty: Contestation over Taiwan 1894-1980," talk given at Shape Shifters: Journeys Across Terrains of Race and Identity conference, University of California, Santa Barbara, 18 March 2016.</ref>
The colonization of Taiwan has been described by historian [[Mark Peattie]] as "an imperial accessory, a laboratory where the 'new boy' among the colonial powers could show off his modernizing skills, not the heart of Japan's strategic concerns."<ref>Peattie, 16.</ref> Those concerns lay chiefly in Korea.
The colonization of Taiwan has been described by historian [[Mark Peattie]] as "an imperial accessory, a laboratory where the 'new boy' among the colonial powers could show off his modernizing skills, not the heart of Japan's strategic concerns."<ref>Peattie, 16.</ref> Those concerns lay chiefly in Korea.
Among Gotô's many reforms was the revival of a traditional Chinese village system known as ''bǎojiǎ'' (保甲, J: ''hokô''), which was used to maintain the peace alongside the official police system, as well as for a variety of local administrative tasks, including information gathering, the search and seizure of those suspected of planning uprisings, and as militias. While this was not expanded to other parts of the empire, Japanese officials drew upon the experiment with the ''baojia'' system in Taiwan to later appropriate or make use of traditional leadership structures in other regions.<ref name=peattie2728/>
Among Gotô's many reforms was the revival of a traditional Chinese village system known as ''bǎojiǎ'' (保甲, J: ''hokô''), which was used to maintain the peace alongside the official police system, as well as for a variety of local administrative tasks, including information gathering, the search and seizure of those suspected of planning uprisings, and as militias. While this was not expanded to other parts of the empire, Japanese officials drew upon the experiment with the ''baojia'' system in Taiwan to later appropriate or make use of traditional leadership structures in other regions.<ref name=peattie2728/>
[[State Shinto]] was expanded to Taiwan, with the [[Grand Shrine of Taiwan]] being established in [[1901]].
[[State Shinto]] was expanded to Taiwan, with the [[Grand Shrine of Taiwan]] being established in [[1901]]. This was the first ''[[kanpei taisha]]'' to be established overseas; in total, over 200 [[Shinto shrines]] were established in Taiwan during the colonial period.<ref>Mitsuhashi Takeshi and Sugahara Koji, "Kaigai jinja," ''Nihon no jinja'' 73. Translated on blog [https://thekojiki.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/overseas-shinto/ 天地間に Between Heaven and Earth.</ref>
Scholars such as [[Torii Ryuzo|Torii Ryûzô]] and [[Yanagi Soetsu|Yanagi Sôetsu]] began to expound on the connections between Taiwan (particularly the aboriginal cultures) and Japan. Yanagi emphasized the connections, his ''[[mingei]]'' theory suggesting Taiwan, along with [[Okinawa prefecture|Okinawa]], [[Colonial Korea|Korea]], and [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], as storehouses of traditional culture, where that which has been lost in the modernization process in mainland Japan can still be seen; meanwhile, however, archaeologists and anthropologists like Torii found that the Okinawans and Ainu had more in common with the Japanese people than with the Taiwanese. Both of these theories, in different ways, were cited in support of Japanese colonial activities, and cultural assimilation policies, throughout the Empire.
Scholars such as [[Torii Ryuzo|Torii Ryûzô]] and [[Yanagi Soetsu|Yanagi Sôetsu]] began to expound on the connections between Taiwan (particularly the aboriginal cultures) and Japan. Yanagi emphasized the connections, his ''[[mingei]]'' theory suggesting Taiwan, along with [[Okinawa prefecture|Okinawa]], [[Colonial Korea|Korea]], and [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], as storehouses of traditional culture, where that which has been lost in the modernization process in mainland Japan can still be seen; meanwhile, however, archaeologists and anthropologists like Torii found that the Okinawans and Ainu had more in common with the Japanese people than with the Taiwanese. Both of these theories, in different ways, were cited in support of Japanese colonial activities, and cultural assimilation policies, throughout the Empire.
===Republic of China===
===Republic of China===
Following the Japanese defeat in World War II, Taiwan was restored to Chinese sovereignty.<ref>Peattie, 22.</ref> It remained connected to the mainland for only four years, however, splitting off in 1949 as the Nationalist (Kuomintang) government of the Republic of China fled into exile on the island, leaving the Communist government to establish the People's Republic of China as ruling the entire Chinese mainland.
[[File:Zhonghua-minguo-nian.jpg|right|thumb|400px|A grave at the Chinese cemetery in [[Yokohama]], inscribed with the date of death in the "Year of the Republic" dating system. The 77th year of the Republic of China (中華民国77年), i.e. the 77th year since 1911, was 1988.]]
Following the Japanese defeat in World War II, Taiwan was restored to Chinese sovereignty, i.e. the control of the Republic of China.<ref>Peattie, 22.</ref> It remained connected to the mainland for only four years, however, before splitting off in 1949 as the Nationalist (Kuomintang) government of the Republic of China fled into exile on the island, leaving the Communist government to establish the People's Republic of China as ruling the entire Chinese mainland.
The Kuomintang initially imposed [[Mandarin language]] and other forms of Sinicization onto Taiwan, seeking to transform the island (back) into "China," and to have the people of Taiwan think of themselves as "Chinese." Few spoke Mandarin at this time: most were speakers of Japanese, a number of different regional Chinese languages or dialects, and/or indigenous Austronesian languages. Nevertheless, Mandarin language and the "Year of the Republic" dating system were made standard,<ref>Much as the imperial [[year dates|era name]] is used in a variety of official and everyday contexts in Japan (for example, writing Heisei 30 instead of 2018, or Reiwa 2 instead of 2020), in Taiwan the "year of the Republic" 民国〇年 is frequently used. Year 1 in this counting system is [[1911]], so for example 民国90年 (Year of the Republic 90) was used to represent the year 2000.</ref> and Chinese-language names were assigned to most places, with a great many streets being named after Chinese people or places. The Republic named numerous streets and other locations after Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-Sen.<ref name=atlantic>Chris Horton, "Taiwan's Status is a Geopolitical Absurdity," ''The Atlantic'', 8 July 2019.</ref>
Residents of the island were given the opportunity in 1945 to file applications to regain Chinese citizenship. Though nationality laws put in place by the Qing in [[1909]] (just before the dynasty's fall) had been based on bloodline (and thus on ethnicity), these applications were not. Regardless of one's ancestry, one could apply to (re)gain Chinese citizenship so long as one had formal statements accounting for one's residence in Taiwan throughout the colonial period.<ref name=danshao/>
The Republic of China government held strongly for decades to the idea that it represented the one, true, legitimate Chinese government. The government rejected a proposal in the late 1960s that would have allowed Taiwan to remain a member state in the United Nations in exchange for allowing the People's Republic to take over the seat of "China"; in 1971, Taiwan resigned from the UN entirely, just before the organization voted to recognize the PRC as the legitimate government representing "China." Taiwan has not had a seat in the United Nations since. Taiwan further rejected in 1981 the opportunity to participate in the Olympics as "Taiwan," instead insisting that its athletes compete under a name involving the word "Chinese." As a result of this decision, and pressure from the PRC, Taiwanese athletes have ever since then competed not under the name "Taiwan," nor under the Republic of China (Taiwan) flag, nor with their own national anthem, but rather under the team name "Chinese Taipei," the Olympics flag, and a generic Olympians' anthem.<ref name=atlantic/>
Today, Taiwan is home to some 23 million citizens,<ref name=atlantic/> including roughly 520,000 members of a number of different indigenous Austronesian tribes or peoples.<ref>Greg Dvorak and Miyume Tanji, "Introduction: Indigenous Asias," ''Amerasia Journal'' 41:1 (2015), xxi.</ref> On lists that include it as a country, Taiwan is generally regarded as the 22nd largest economy in the world.<ref name=atlantic/> The vast majority of national governments in the world, however, along with international organizations such as the World Health Assembly, do not formally recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, due to pressure from the PRC; seventeen countries do formally recognize Taiwan, however, and a great many others maintain ''de facto'' ties, including unofficial diplomatic relations, economic agreements, educational exchange arrangements, and so forth, albeit without official recognition. Relations with the United States are conducted via the Taiwan Relations Act, passed by the US Congress in 1979. Taiwan maintains "Cultural and Economic Offices" in a number of US cities which function as if they were consulates, and the US similarly maintains a consulate-like institution in Taipei known as the American Institute in Taiwan; Taiwanese presidents and prime ministers visit Washington DC periodically as a "transit stop," avoiding officially recognizing any actions or events as official state visits or diplomatic meetings.<ref name=atlantic/>
Though the country is still most officially known as the Republic of China, and though its constitution still represents itself as the rightful government over China proper, Mongolia, Taiwan, and the entire South China Sea region,<ref name=atlantic/> many in Taiwan today feel a disconnect from Chinese political, national, or even ethnic identity, and consider themselves "Taiwanese" rather than "Chinese." While Taiwanese politics regarding pro- and anti-Chinese parties, questions of how Taiwan should approach commercial relations with China and other practical matters, and so forth remain complex and hotly debated, there has nevertheless been a strong shift in recent decades away from notions that Taiwan is, or should regard itself as, "China," and towards a more distinct Taiwanese identity.
==References==
==References==
