Winter paradise: the prelude to Portugal tours (part 1)

Ancient Portuguese sailors called Taiwan ‘Ilha Formosa’

Padrão dos Descobrimentos in Lisbon: the monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery

According to ‘the emergence of Taiwan on the World Scene’, posted by Taiwan National Palace Museum, ancient Portuguese sailors were amazed at the natural scenery of Taiwan island on their way to Japan and thus called it ‘Ilha Formosa’(‘Beautiful Island’) during the 16th centuries. 

Source: 2016 Tourism Bureau, Republic of China (Taiwan).

👀Visit Taiwan: Taiwan touch your heart

Does Ancient Portuguese sailors arrive in Taiwan?

In fact, the Spanish did occupy Taiwan in the past, yet there is no adequate evidence showing that the Portuguese have stayed in this island.

On the other hand, it could be arbitrary to claim ‘Formosa’ can only be used to describe Taiwan in the 16^th century. As recent scholars have pointed out this term could originally be used for Okinawa Island, too (Taiwan News 2017/11/13 By Keoni Everington,TaiwanNews).

The wall painting in Porto, Portugal

More than one ‘Ilha Formosa’ in East Asia: Okinawa & Jeju

It would be fair to say that there is more than one ‘Ilha Formosa’ scattering around East Asia. Okinawa and Jeju Islands are also featured of their beautiful landscape and especially, Jeju has been defined as NEW 7 WONDERS OF NATURE in 2011. I have explored Okinawa and Jeju in the past few years, both islands are as beautiful as Taiwan, and offer rich and diverse local food from their natural resources (continuing...)

Okinawa, Japan

Food in Okinawa

Jeju, South Korea

Food in Jeju

冬季天堂:葡萄牙旅遊序
古代葡萄牙水手稱為台灣福爾摩沙  'Ilha Formosa'

依據台灣故宮博物院的“台灣在世界舞台上的出現”

(http://www.npm.gov.tw/exhbition/formosa/english/02.htm)

古老的葡萄牙水手們驚嘆於台灣的自然風景，因此稱它為'Ilha Formosa'（'美麗的島嶼'）。

古代的葡萄牙水手到達台灣嗎？

事實上, 西班牙過去確實佔據了台灣，卻沒有足夠證據顯示葡萄牙人停留過這個島。聲稱“福爾摩沙”只能用來形容16世紀的台灣可能是武斷的。 最近就有學者指出，這個名詞當初也可能用於沖繩島   (https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3296323)。

東亞不止一個'Ilha Formosa'：沖繩和濟州

可以說，東亞地區有不止一個“Ilha Formosa”。 沖繩島和濟州島也以其美麗的風景為特色，尤其2011年，濟州島被列入“新七大奇蹟”(https://www.nature.new7wonders.com/）我這幾年已到過沖繩島和濟州島，這兩個島嶼的風景和台灣一樣美麗，當地的食物也是豐富多樣的。

(待續.....)

Table 1: Introduction of Taiwan political history

Spanish Formosa	1626-1642 established in the north of Taiwan
Dutch Formosa	1623-1662 The Dutch enticed Han Chinese from the Mainland China Coast to help to trade goods with the Ming Empire and Japan.
the Ming General Zheng ChengGong defeated the Dutch in 1662	1662-1894 Under the Ming and Qing Dynasty rule
Japan’s Taiwan	1894-1945 the First Sino-Japanese War forced the Qing Dynasty to cede Taiwan to Japan
KMT’s Taiwan R.O.C	7 December 1949 KMT government  moved to Taiwan
Taiwan, R.O.C Current President Tasi Ing-wen (2016-2020, DDP Party)	Taiwan profile: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16164639

Table 2: The Taiwan Presidential Election Year and Its Winning Party

The Presidential Election Year	The Election Winner
1996	Kuomintang (KMT)
2000	The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, pro-independence)
2004	The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, pro-independence)
2008	Kuomintang (KMT)
2011	Kuomintang (KMT)
2012	Kuomintang (KMT)
2016	The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, pro-independence)