Europe Meets Formosa 1510-1662

<p><em>The book Europe Meets Formosa 1510-1662 two Historical Studies comprises two parts</em>. 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 Island's history after it became known to the Europeans and before Taiwan's population became predominantly Chinese following large-scale immigration initially encouraged by the Dutch colonizers.</p><p>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 história de além-mar Lisbon in English) and in Taiwan (????? Taiwan Historical Research Taipei in Chinese) respectively.</p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p> </p>