TAIWAN IN LATE MING AND QING CHINA

This chapter reflects on the themes and trends that characterise historiography in Taiwan, with special attention paid to the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. This time period is also known as Dutch Formosa (1624-1662/1664-68), Spanish Hermosa (1612-1642), and the Coxinga reign (1662-1683) for the seventeenth century and the following two centuries when the island was incorporated as a dependency into Fuijian province and gained status as a full-fledged province in 1886 to 1895. The chapter begins with a delineation of periodisation, followed by an historical narration of each period. It then assesses the impact of new research directions, methodologies, and nuanced narratives that underlie the growing interest in Taiwan’s historical legacy and the ways in which different political regimes, such as the transformation from an authoritarian to a democratic government, contribute to its ongoing nation building and identity formation.