Historical questions

Q: What is the historical geographical relationship between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland?

A: Taiwan is located in the southeastern part of the Chinese mainland, just across the water from Fujian province. Taiwan and the mainland were once connected, now separated by the Taiwan Strait formed by geological shifts.

About 25,000 years ago, lowered sea levels due to a cooled climate revealed a land bridge, facilitating migration of animals and early humans. As temperatures rose after the ice age, the Taiwan Strait emerged as sea levels increased, dividing Fujian and Taiwan.

Q: Before becoming a province in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), how was Taiwan present in mainland history?

A: The earliest references are to be found, among others, in the Seaboard Geographic Gazetteer compiled in the year 230 by Shen Ying of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms (220-280) period.

Sun Quan, the King of Wu, dispatched a general to lead 10,000 soldiers to Yizhou, the former name of Taiwan. This marked the first arrival of a military force from the mainland in Taiwan, but they faced challenges and eventually retreated.

During the Sui Dynasty (581-618), troops were sent to Taiwan on three occasions. In Taiwan's Changhua, there is a street named after one soldier Chen Ling.

The Qing Dynasty expanded administrative presence, establishing a Taiwan prefecture in 1684 under the jurisdiction of Fujian province. Taiwan's status was upgraded and it became the 20th province of China in 1885.

Q: What is the origin of the name "Taiwan"?

A: The name "Taiwan" may have originated from the island's appearance resembling a floating platform and a bent bow. Alternatively, historian Lien Heng suggested that many settlers from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) died from illnesses due to the unfamiliar conditions, preventing them from returning to their homelands, so the name was given using the expressive tone of their dialect from southern Fujian to convey a sense of resentment.

Most scholars believe "Taiwan" was simplified from "Tayouan", the name of a tribe of the Gaoshan ethnic group to represent the whole island. After the Qing Dynasty unified Taiwan, it became the official name used to this day.

SOURCE: ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS IN 70 YEARS; THE CHINA MUSEUM FOR FUJIAN-TAIWAN KINSHIP