Europe Meets Formosa

The book, Europe Meets Formosa, 1510-1662, two Historical Studies, comprises two parts. They both cover some aspects of the history of East-West encounters on the Island of Formosa (as it was callled by the Europeans, better known today as Taiwan), and each can be read as a stand-alone study. It looks at the Islands history after it became known to the Europeans and before Taiwans population became predominantly Chinese, following large-scale immigration, initially encouraged by the Dutch colonizers.

Part I investigates the story of Portuguese "discovery" and "naming" of Formosa in the sixteenth century, in the context of conflicting claims and recent scholarly debates in Taiwan which challenged these conventional wisdoms. Relying on Portuguese rutters (sailing instructions), maps and other first-hand documents, it aims at eliminating historically erroneous claims and moving the readers to an informed consensus on this matter. Earlier and shorter versions of this study, related but different, have appeared in peer-reviewed journals in Europe (Anais de histَria de além-mar, Lisbon, in English) and in Taiwan (臺灣史研究 Taiwan Historical Research, Taipei, in Chinese), respectively.

Part II deals with the history of Dutch efforts to educate, civilize and convert the aborigines of Formosa between 1624 and 1662, drawing on a large body of mostly Dutch primary sources. It revisits the stories of mission schools for Formosan aborigines, examines what motivated the colonizer to devote resources to this objective; how differentiating identities of the colonized such as race, age, gender, language, and faith, had influenced school policies over time; and what were some of the native responses.

This publication is available as an e-book, an environmentally responsible and less costly alternative recommended by this author; and, if preferred by the readers, in print form (the latter with greyscale instead of full-colour illustrations). All citations and additional comments are included as endnotes (e-book) or footnotes (print), and the cited works of the two parts are listed together in the bibliography.