Introduction

Geologically, Taiwan is situated on the edges of the Eurasian and Philippine plates, and it was formed approximately one million years ago out of a geo-syncline, a large trough-like depression in the ocean floor caused by the collision of the two continental plates. However, the geological formation of the island is not our concern here.

Archaeologically, Taiwan was home to both Paleolithic and Neolithic cultures, and the latter of which appeared at least six to seven thousand years ago. Yet, the cultural origin of the island is none of our concern, either.

Inhabited by indigenous peoples of the Austronesian linguistic group, Taiwan was primarily a primitive society at the turn of the 17th century. In the course of the next hundred years, then, a series of historical events brought rapid and fundamental changes that were to transform the island into what has become known in the world as Taiwan. Indeed, the force that changed the face of the aboriginal society forever, that formed the Taiwan we know today, is exactly what we intend to examine here.

The first change took place in 1624 with the Dutch invasion of the island, which yanked its aboriginal society into the currents of world history. The second change came 38 years later, between 1661 and 1662, when the Ming (?? loyalist Cheng Ch'eng-kung (?剜??? expelled the Dutch and established on the island an independent kingdom. Finally, in 1683 the island was brought under the control of the Ch'ing (皜? dynasty, becoming a marginalized frontier of the Chinese empire until 1895 when it was ceded to Japan.

The magnitude of the changes that shook Taiwan in the 17th century has few precedents in world history. From a reading of the island's history of the century, one witnesses the vigor and global orientation of those rejected by the orthodox society of the Chinese. One realizes, too, that the presence of the Dutch on the island was not as exploitive as the overly simplistic historical account would have it; their rule was actually molded by a multitude of complex ethnic and economic factors that were exerting impact upon one another. Probing further, one would even learn of the "modernity" of the maritime kingdom of Cheng Ch'eng-kung and his successors, and of the accidental and inevitable causes that had transformed Taiwan into a settlement of immigrants. These elements, to be sure, constitute the political, social, and cultural foundation upon which Taiwan was built.

It appears then that the seeds of Taiwan's destiny had already been planted in the 17th century. While the history of the island did not begin with the arrival of Chinese immigrants, the 17th century nonetheless marks a critical turning point, the significance of which is only rivaled by what was witnessed in the 20th century. Suffice it to note that it was not until the 17th century when Taiwan as we know it came into being, not as a name designating a place also known as Tayouan and its people, but as a distinct entity on the world scene.

The exhibition Formosa: Taiwan, Holland and East Asia in the 17th Century features hundreds of artifacts on loan from over thirty public and private collections around the world. Together, they will deliver an authentic vista of Taiwan in the 17th century, a time when the island emerged in the recorded history of the world.

In the following pages we shall see how History charted Taiwan's course onto the world stage in the 17th century.The exhibition Formosa: Taiwan, Holland and East Asia in the 17th Century features hundreds of artifacts on loan from over thirty public and private collections around the world. Together, they will deliver an authentic vista of Taiwan in the 17th century, a time when the island emerged in the recorded history of the world.

In the following pages we shall see how History charted Taiwan's course onto the world stage in the 17th century.