The Economist described Taiwan as the most dangerous place in the world, and everyone knows the danger is from the People’s Republic of China, commonly known as “China” now. China’s territorial claim of Taiwan is based on several historical facts, such as Sinitic languages spoken in Taiwan and Taiwanese people’s Chinese ancestry. It is true that more than 95% of the Taiwanese population have Chinese ancestors, and more than 80% of them migrated to Taiwan during the rule of the Manchurian Empire, also known as “China” at that time. Therefore, it is necessary to study historical Taiwan under the rule of the Qing Empire and the Manchurian regime to understand the PRC’s territorial claim over Taiwan today.
Traditionally, Taiwan between 1683 and 1895 was considered China’s maritime frontier, and early scholars used “migration,” “reclamation”, and “development” to describe the ethnic Han-Chinese’s expansion in Taiwan. To claim it as a settler colony like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand is a rather radical approach, even though Taiwan shares many characteristics with these classical settler colonies. However, we cannot ignore the dirty fact that the ethnic Han Chinese, whether they came before 1895 or after 1945, have colonised Taiwan for centuries.
This talk will be based on the two chapters from “Taiwan: A New History” and will discuss two critical issues. First, we will review how the ethnic Han Chinese migrated to Taiwan from Fujian and Guangdong to colonise Taiwan in the eighteenth century. This period was characterised by the expansion of colonisers' land ownership and the shrinking of indigenous power. Second, we will delve into the indigenisation of the ethnic Han-Chinese colonisers in the nineteenth century.
The discussions of these two chapters will help participants understand the basis of the PRC’s claim and how Taiwan is distinct from China’s mainstream national narratives.
Traditionally, Taiwan between 1683 and 1895 was considered China’s maritime frontier, and early scholars used “migration,” “reclamation”, and “development” to describe the ethnic Han-Chinese’s expansion in Taiwan. To claim it as a settler colony like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand is a rather radical approach, even though Taiwan shares many characteristics with these classical settler colonies. However, we cannot ignore the dirty fact that the ethnic Han Chinese, whether they came before 1895 or after 1945, have colonised Taiwan for centuries.
This talk will be based on the two chapters from “Taiwan: A New History” and will discuss two critical issues. First, we will review how the ethnic Han Chinese migrated to Taiwan from Fujian and Guangdong to colonise Taiwan in the eighteenth century. This period was characterised by the expansion of colonisers' land ownership and the shrinking of indigenous power. Second, we will delve into the indigenisation of the ethnic Han-Chinese colonisers in the nineteenth century.
The discussions of these two chapters will help participants understand the basis of the PRC’s claim and how Taiwan is distinct from China’s mainstream national narratives.
About the lecturer:
Hung-yi Chien is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Her primary research interest is Taiwan’s early history (16th to 18th century). She obtained her doctoral degree from the Department of Taiwan Studies, National Taiwan Normal University (2017). Her PhD dissertation focuses on Taiwan’s role in the history of ethnography. She is now exploring the genealogy of Taiwan-related knowledge in early modern European books and the beginning of Taiwan studies in Europe. Besides the history of knowledge, she is also studying the Hokkien people’s expansion across East and Southeast Asia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The Taiwan Matters lecture series has been funded by the Ministry of Education of Taiwan (ROC) through the Taipei Mission in Stockholm, Sweden.