Asian History - Taiwan

by Kevin H.

Article by Frank Vanderlugt

The island of Taiwan, located off the coast of China, has long been an Asian trading hub. When Taiwan is mentioned, most westerners think only of the main island, but the term is also commonly used to refer to other small territories in the same area governed by China, such as Lanyu (Orchid Island), Green Island, the Pescadores, and Kinment and Matsu Islands. The main island of Taiwan is sometimes still called Formosa, a Portuguese word meaning "beautiful." The Portuguese sighted the island in 1544, but never colonized it.

There is evidence of human settlement on Taiwan dating back 30,000 years. However, the current "aboriginal" population consists of Malay and Polynesian descendants, whose language is classified by linguists as Austronesian. Han Chinese established a settlement in Penghu (the Pescadores) in the 1100s, but it was not until later that people other than aborigines began to live permanently on the main island of Taiwan.

In 1624, the Dutch established a commercial base on Taiwan and began to import Fujian laborers. Taiwan became a Dutch colony with its colonial capital at Tayoan City, currently known as Anping. Ming dynasty forces drove out the Dutch in 1662, led by Lord Zheng Chenggong, a pirate turned military commander. When the Ming dynasty fell, Zheng established his capital at Tainan and his family held the island until driven out in 1683 by forces of the Qing dynasty, who made the island a prefecture of Fujian.

Zheng's followers were exiled to the far regions of the Qing Empire, leaving approximately 7,000 Han on Taiwan. The Qing government, troubled by lawlessness and piracy on the island, issued a series of edicts to maintain order by managing immigration and respecting aboriginal land rights. However, immigrants from Fujian continued to enter Taiwan illegally as renters of large sections of aboriginal lands under contracts usually involving marriage. As more Chinese entered Taiwan, some aboriginals integrated into the new Chinese society, while others retr! eated in to the mountains. Much of the present Taiwanese population is descended from these immigrants.

The Qing government upgraded Taiwan's status from a prefecture to a province in 1887, with its capital at Taipei. In 1895, after China lost the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan and the Pescadores became a Japanese colony under the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Taiwanese wishing to remain Chinese citizens were given two years to dispose of their property and return to China. In response, on May 25 1895, the Taiwanese declared themselves to be the Republic of Formosa, with the slogan of "Forever Qing." However, this resistance to impending Japanese rule was short-lived, as Japanese forces entered the capital and quelled the insurgency on October 21 1895.

The Japanese did not initially attempt to assimilate Taiwan culturally, but rather used the island as a source of raw materials for the growing Japanese military-industrial complex, extending railroads and infrastructure to facilitate logging and mining. The Japanese contributed greatly to the upgrading of public services such as schools and sanitation systems. However, the Taiwanese were treated as second-class citizens, and local resistance movements continued to fight the Japanese until 1920s.

After Japan's defeat by the Allies in 1945, the Japanese were ordered to surrender the island to China. However, due to a civil war between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communists, the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allies and Japan left United States as the occupying force in Taiwan while leaving the identity of Taiwan's eventual ownership in limbo. In 1949, after losing mainland China to the Communists, the Kuomintang was forced into exile on Taiwan, calling it the Republic of China (as opposed to the People's Republic of China, mainland Communist China). Almost a million refugees from the Communist government followed.

The Kuomintang were initially viewed as liberators by the Taiwanese, but soon proved to be corrupt and dictatorial, form! ing a on e-party government under martial law. Government of the island was liberalized from 1978 to 1988, and political opposition parties were permitted. Taiwan is now a multi-party democracy, the first in Chinese history.

China still claims the island as part of its territory, though it seems that Taiwan will be allowed, at least in the short term, to pursue its own policies as long as it pays lip service to eventual reunification with the mainland.

White Chinese.Ancestors Of The Roman Empire Legionnaires with blue eyes 56% of the Caucasian DNA

White Chinese.Ancestors Of The Roman Empire with blue eyes 56% of the Caucasian DNA.Editor for Rome: Lost City of China, Chinese Villagers in Li Jien, Western features attributed to their Roman lineage.Residents of a remote Chinese village will prove one of history's most unlikely legends — that they are descended from Roman legionaries lost in antiquity. Scientists have taken blood samples from 93 people living in and around Liqian, a settlement in north-western China on the fringes of the Gobi desert, more than 200 miles from the nearest city. They are seeking an explanation for the unusual number of local people with western characteristics — green eyes blonde hair — mixed with traditional Chinese features. "I really think we are descended from the Romans," said Song Guorong, 48, who with his wavy hair, six-foot frame and strikingly long, hooked nose stands out from his short, round-faced office colleagues. "There are the residents with these special features, and then there are also historical records about the existence of these people long ago," he said. Studies claiming that Liqian has Roman ancestry have greatly excited the impoverished county in which it is situated. The village is now overlooked by a pillared portico, in the hope of attracting tourists. A statue at the entrance of the nearby county town, Yongchang, shows a Roman legionary standing next to a Confucian scholar and a Muslim woman, as a symbol of racial harmony. Even entrepreneurs have caught on: in ...

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The Chinese Army Today: Tradition and Transformation for the 21st Century (Asian Security Studies)

The Chinese Army Today is a comprehensive study of the Chinese military, examining its ground forces in a level of detail not found in any other contemporary works. This new, revised edition has been fully updated to take account of recent changes in the institution.

In 1999, the military modernization program of the Chinese People's Liberation Army increased in intensity and achieved a focus not seen in the previous two decades. Based primarily on actual Chinese sources, this book details these changes and puts them in the context of the many traditions that still remain.

Written by a retired professional military officer who has served in China, the text uses first-hand observation of the Chinese military and three decades of military experience to weave many disparate threads from official Chinese statements, documents, and media reports into an integrated whole. The author also conducts an in-depth exploration into the many forces that constitute the People's Liberation Army.

This is an essential book for all students of Chinese military and security affairs, and highly recommended for students of Chinese Politics, Asian Security, and International Relations and Strategic Studies, in general.

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Art in China (Oxford History of Art)

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The last twenty years have witnessed profound changes in art history, the greatest of which stem from the social and cultural perspectives now attached to art scholarship. Written by scholars at the forefront of new thinking, many of whom are rising stars in their fields, theOxford History of Art series offers substantial and innovative texts that clarify, illuminate, and debate the critical issues at the heart of art history today. Providing a fresh new look at art that moves away from traditional elitist approaches, the series makes use of new research and methodologies, as well as newly accessible and non-canonical works to offer comprehensive coverage of the art world from archaic and classical Greek art to twentieth-century design and photography, from the artistry of African-American and Native North Americans to the masterpieces of Europe, Polynesia, and Micronesia. Lavishly illustrated and superbly designed, the Oxford History of Art brings new substance and verve to the exciting and ubiquitous world of art.

China boasts a history of art spanning 5,000 years and embracing a wide diversity of images and objects--from jade tablets, painted silk handscrolls and fans to ink and lacquer painting, porcelain-ware, sculpture, and calligraphy. But this rich tradition has not, until now, been fully appreciated in the West where scholars have focused their attention on sculpture, while largely ignoring those art forms most highly prized by the Chinese themselves, such as calligraphy. Now, in Art in China, Craig Clunas marks a breakt! hrough i n the study of the subject. Taking into account all the arts practiced in China, and drawing on recent innovative scholarship, this rich text examines the production and consumption of art in its appropriate contexts. From art found in tombs to the state-controlled art of the Mao Zedong era, Art in China offers a novel look and comprehensive examination of all aspects of Chinese art.

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Peranakan Chinese Porcelain: Vibrant Festive Ware of the Straits Chinese (No)

Exuberant, ornate and colorful, Straits Chinese porcelain is a variety of polychrome enameled export ware made to specification in China during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This lovely porcelain was made for the Straits-born Chinese or Peranakan communities in Penang, Malacca and Singapore and was used on festive occasions such as weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and Chinese New Year.

Peranakan Chinese Porcelain is illustrated with over 800 full-color photographs of these distinctive porcelain types. Supported by text and photographs on many related aspects of the characteristic Straits Chinese culture, such as architecture, dress and cuisine, Peranakan Chinese Porcelain is a wonderful contribution to the history of the Straits Chinese.

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Total Modernity and the Avant-Garde in Twentieth-Century Chinese Art

"Written by one of the most important advocates and theorists of contemporary Chinese art, Total Modernity and the Avant-Garde in Twentieth-Century Chinese Art traces the historical roots of contemporary Chinese art and interprets some of the most important events that shaped it over the past three decades. Making serious theoretical claims based on firsthand observations, this book sheds light not only on the unique characteristics of recent Chinese art but also on the growing complexity of contemporary art in general." Wu Hung , Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor of Art History and East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and Director, Center for the Art of East Asia, University of Chicago

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Chinese Calligraphy (The Culture & Civilization of China)

Chinese calligraphy, with its artistic as well as utilitarian values, has been treasured for its formal beauty for more than three millennia. This lavishly illustrated book brings to English language readers for the first time a full account of calligraphy in China, including its history, theory, and importance in Chinese culture. Representing an unprecedented collaboration among leading Chinese and Western specialists, the book provides a definitive and up-to-date overview of the visual art form most revered in China.

The book begins with the premise that the history of Chinese script writing represents the core development of the history of Chinese culture and civilization. Tracing the development of calligraphic criticism from the second century to the twenty-first, the fourteen contributors to the volume offer a well-balanced and readable account of this tradition. With more than 600 illustrations, including examples of extremely rare Chinese calligraphy from all over the world, and an informative prologue by Wen C. Fong, this book will make a welcome addition to the library of every Western reader interested in China and its premiere art form.

(20081221)

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In the Realm of the Flower Phoenix

The Flower Phoenix is an ancient handscroll which has been created through generations of women artists. The original page of the handscroll was created by China's Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. The Tang Dynasty is considered by many to be the height of Chinese artistic culture, and Li Bai is China's most renowned ancient poet. Li Bai was inspired by the beauty of Yang Mei. Yang Mei inspires the master painter Wu Daozi. Wu Daozi creates the second page of the Flower Phoenix handscroll. Legends say that Wu Daozi was a mystical painter, who at the end of his life painted a doorway in the side of a mountain, opened the door and disappeared forever.
Each generation creates panels in the book. By telling the story, the storyteller creates a portal into the Realm of the Flower Phoenix. The "storybearer" reads the story and summons the power of the energy of all the generations.
The story opens with Mable "Peach Blossom" Yang's one hundredth birthday celebration. She is going to pass the book on to the next generation. Mable is the most potent storybearer in the family line.
Hand scroll paintings were rolled from one side to the other and as each painted section was revealed, the story of the imagery was viewed and discussed. The book unfolds over many generations and the lives of the long line of women artists who created the Flower Phoenix are brought to life by the telling.The Flower Phoenix is an ancient handscroll which has been created through generations of women artists. The original page of the handscroll was created by China's Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. The Tang Dynasty is considered by many to be the height of Chinese artistic culture, and Li Bai is China's most renowned ancient poet. Li Bai was inspired by the beauty of Yang Mei. Yang Mei inspires the master painter Wu Daozi. Wu Daozi creates the second page of the Flower Phoenix handscroll. Legends say that Wu Daozi was a mystical painter, who at the end of his life painted a doorway in the side of a mountain, opened the door and disappe! ared for ever.
Each generation creates panels in the book. By telling the story, the storyteller creates a portal into the Realm of the Flower Phoenix. The "storybearer" reads the story and summons the power of the energy of all the generations.
The story opens with Mable "Peach Blossom" Yang's one hundredth birthday celebration. She is going to pass the book on to the next generation. Mable is the most potent storybearer in the family line.
Hand scroll paintings were rolled from one side to the other and as each painted section was revealed, the story of the imagery was viewed and discussed. The book unfolds over many generations and the lives of the long line of women artists who created the Flower Phoenix are brought to life by the telling.

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BK0271Y-Chinese Painted Fancy Basket , Vintage, China, Wood (Mu), Antique Asian Decor: Chinese Paint

• Vintage
• China
• Red / Gold
• 13" wide x 13" deep x 16.5" high

Chinese painted fancy food basket with carved images of bats of happiness and deer on lid and other Chinese symbols on the bottom rim. Reed handles and red lacquered finish.

Price:

Chinese calligraphy writing and brush painting / sumi set

• Great starter set
• 5 brushes, ink well / stone, ink stick, signing ink, stone chop, brush rest, & water well
• Nicely presented in chinese brocade gift box
• Size: 8.5" x 6"
• Made in China

Chinese character writing is a highly evolved discipline that relies as much on artistic craftsmanship, as it does on literary composition. Our basic writing set comes with two brushes, a black ink stick, ink stone and red ink for the "chop" or signature stamp. The ink is made by gently rubbing the ink stick in a small pool of water in the ink stone. This ancient method allows for very little waste. The same bushes and inks may be used both for writing and painting, as the two art forms are so closely linked. Our writing set comes from Shanghai, the literary capital of China. Also available on Amazon from REORIENT, is the traditional rice paper used for painting and writing.

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