The history of Taiwan Island is the history of people of all ethnic groups fighting for control of the island. It first kicked off with the war between the Dutch and the indigenous peoples, but the Chinese achieved the final victory. In this process, people of all ethnic groups named part of Taiwan Island or the entire island with their own experience, thus resulting in many names. The replacement of these place names was never chosen by the residents of the island themselves, but it was more like an acceptance of established facts under the influence of the torrent of history. But no matter what, in the end, according to the experience of the Chinese, the island was named Taiwan, and in 1684 (the 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty), the government agency on Taiwan was called Taiwan Prefecture . 
Taijiang Inland Sea Location
The name Taiwan originated from the name of a port in Tainan: Grand Secretary. In 1623 (the third year of the Tianqi of the Ming Dynasty), when the Dutch fleet passed through the Penghu waters, the Chinese translator on the ship suggested to the Dutch that Dayuan Bay was rich in fish and shrimps and deer were everywhere, and it was very suitable for Dutch people to settle down and operate. It also said that Chinese people had settled near Dayuan Bay. If the Dutch moved in, more Chinese people would come. The Chinese translation refers to the Taijiang Inner Sea mentioned in the Qing Dynasty. It is located near Tainan and is now an alluvial plain. . So when the Dutch drew a map of Taiwan Island, they marked the body of a Kun on the sand bank outside Tainan as a member.
The name 'Master' first appeared in the "Dongfan Ji" written by Chen Di, who claimed to be "Xu Xiake in the South" in 1603 (the 31st year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty). It may have originated from the dialect of the Silayans, an indigenous native of southern Taiwan at that time. It is said that the Silayans called some harbors in Tainan called tayouan or tayowan, and were later translated as a Master by the Chinese. . The senior official was originally just the name of the sandbank port outside Tainan, which would evolve into the name of the entire island of Taiwan, which has a lot to do with the establishment of a colonial regime after the Dutch landed in Taiwan in 1624. The Dutch expanded the city of Relanzha in the inner sea of Taijiang, as the headquarters of the colony, and marked the location of Yikunzha as a member of the senior official. As the Dutch's power expanded, the name of the senior official gradually became an idiom representing its ruling scope, just like after the rise of the Western Roman city , all the territory ruled by Rome was called the Roman Empire. Later, more and more Han people came to Taiwan to reclaim, work, and plant sugarcane. Most of these people came from Fujian. The Dutch Governor in the city of Relanzha. At that time, the Minnan people also called him the Grand Governor. . Until now, when Taiwanese people use , Minnan to speak Taiwan, they still pronounced as Master. The Minnan dynasty pronounced as Wan, so if they use Minnan dynasty, the pronunciation becomes Dae Wan.
That before the two names of the two homophones, Taishen and Taiwan, appeared in Minnan, were given many names. These names were usually given by the rulers of the Chinese dynasty and had strong dynasty characteristics.
I listed the earliest records in historical documents that scholars speculated as Taiwan: In the "Shangshu. Xia Shu Yu Gong" during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, it was written that "Huaihai is only Yangzhou . Island barbarians weave shells and oranges and pomelos." The island barbarians here refer to the indigenous peoples of the southeast coastal islands, probably including Taiwan. In the "Records of the Grand Historian.. The Sixth Annals of Qin and Han Dynasties, the two places Penglai and Yingzhou may also refer to Taiwan. In the Three Kingdoms era, some scholars in Yizhou mentioned in the "Linhai Water and Earth Records" written by Shen Ying, a native of the Eastern Wu, also believed that it was Taiwan, which detailed the customs and customs of the indigenous people of Taiwan at that time. Many scholars believe that it refers to Taiwan as mentioned in " Sui Shu " and the "Song History" mentioned in "Song History" of the Song Dynasty. However, according to historical records of the Song Dynasty, Liu Qiu did not have close contacts with the Southern Song Dynasty at that time, because there was nothing to do with them, and the people there liked robbery very much, and they were all naked and looked almost like humans. However, it is certain that during the Southern Song Dynasty, Han soldiers were already stationed in Penghu to ensure that the local people live and work in peace and contentment.
Then it can be confirmed in historical documents that refer to Taiwan. It was not until 1349 (the ninth year of Zhizheng in the Yuan Dynasty) that the famous navigator Wang Dayuan , known as "Marco Polo of the East". His "Island Barbarians" has a more detailed description of Ryukyu. The Ryukyu he mentioned was considered to be the current Taiwan, so the "Island Barbarians" in the Yuan Dynasty should be the earliest document in which Taiwan Island was officially called Ryukyu.
Then in 1372 (the fifth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty), the envoy Yang Zai was sent to Ryukyu with an edict, opening up a route from Fujian to Ryukyu Islands , but at the same time, the maritime ban policy was also implemented. In 1392, the Chinese sailing diary called Taiwan Xiaoliuqiu . The official document was in 1535 (the 14th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty), and the "Records of the Envoys of Ryukyu" written by Chen Kan in the School of Representatives said: On nine days, a small hill was faintly seen, which was the Little Ryukyu. The Xiao Liuqiu here refers to Taiwan. Later, the Portuguese and Spanish also called Taiwan by Xiao Liuqiu. When a Portuguese merchant ship passed through Taiwan Island in 1544, he saw this beautiful island and exclaimed that it was Formosa, but in the official documents, Taiwan Island was still called Xiao Liuqiu until 1580. By 1582, a Portuguese merchant ship helmed by the Chinese ran aground near Tamsui, Taiwan. A priest on the ship wrote in his "A Brief Description of the Desperation of the Ship": On the way through the Taiwan Strait, there was a small island called Formosa. Looking from the sea, it was really a beautiful island. For more than 40 years, the Portuguese had passed by here, but had never landed on this island. . In the "Huangyu Cainage" published by Zhang Tianfu, a Jinshi in 1557 (the 36th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty), there is a picture of the southeastern sea-like arts, which draws the location of Xiao Liuqiu, which is the location of Taiwan. These historical materials show that in the 16th century, the Chinese had a relatively clear understanding of the geographical location of Taiwan Island, and they all called Taiwan Island by Xiao Liuqiu. In 1573 (the first year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty), Cao Xuequan, the founder of Fujian Opera, wrote that the tide Lin Daoqian Gou of the Japanese suddenly invaded the Zhangquan Ocean, occupied Penghu, and sought to join the East. He used the word Dongfan to call Taiwan Island. There is also a "Sea Ban Treaty" called Taiwan Beigang. In 1589 (the 17th year of Wanli), Fujian Governor Xu Fuyuan wrote: There is also a small fan, famous for its chicken dung and Danshui, which is adjacent to Beigang to catch fish. In 1617 (the 45th year of Wanli), "The Study of East and West" written by Zhang Xie said: Jilong Mountain , Tamsui Ocean is located in the northeast of Penghu Island, so it is called Beigang, also known as Dongfan, and goes to Quanzhou very near.
Therefore, since there are exact documents, Taiwan Island has experienced the early titles of Ryukyu, Xiao Liuqiu, Dongfan, Formosa, Beigang, etc. And they are also quoted by Westerners, but they were not originally called "masters" in Taiwan, but eventually gave birth to the current name "Taiwan". The earliest document that appeared in the name of Grand Master was "The Legend of the East Fan" written by Chen Di in 1603. The article begins with: The Eastern Fan Yi people (probably referring to people from the western plains of Taiwan) came from somewhere. They live in the islands outside the sea of Penghu. Among them, "Lian Master" refers to the near Yi Kun in Tainan, and Dong Fan was the name of Taiwan Island at that time.
In 1629 (the second year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty), the author of "Fuan Book" He Qiaoyuan When requesting the lifting of the sea ban, he wrote: There are places outside Quanzhou and Penghu, which are not related to China, so the barbarians also escaped it. So the red-haired man entered the land and my traitors helped. The place name Taiwan recorded by He Qiaoyuan should be the earliest record of Taiwanese names appearing in the literature. This time was five years after the Netherlands landed in Dayuangang in 1624, and the Taiwan he referred to may be near Tainan. By 1635 (the eighth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty), the scholar-in-chief He Kai said in "Jinghai Ce": Pirates from all walks of life are in chaos one after another, and there is no peace in the sea every year. If you want to catch them all in one go, you must destroy their nests. Where is the nest? Taiwan is the same. The Taiwan mentioned by He Kai here should refer to the entire island of Taiwan, because at that time, the scope of activities of these pirates was not only near Tainan, but also spread throughout the island.By 1667 (the sixth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty), the "Taiwan Fu" written by Shen Guangwen, who was known as the ancestor of Taiwanese literature, was the earliest literary work named Taiwan. It can be seen that during the Ming and Zheng period, the name Taiwan was already a relatively common geographical noun among the people and was used to call the entire island of Taiwan. However, the Zheng father and son changed the name of the regime to Dongdu or Dongning. In addition, in Lian Heng's "General History of Taiwan", it is also said that the name Taiwan originated from the burying of injustice. It is said that the pronunciation of the two words Taiwan and burying of injustice are similar. It indicates the difficulties of Chinese immigrants crossing the Taiwan Strait. But this doesn't seem to be based on it. Because the navigation technology was already very developed at that time, the number of Chinese people who died in shipwrecks was not as high as that of those who died in fights with the indigenous people.
Finally, the name of Grand Secretary originally refers to a port near the coast of Tainan. In 1624, the Dutch landed in Tainan to establish a colony, labeled Yi Kunsheng from the inland sea of Taijiang as a Grand Secretary, and built the city of Lelanzha as the colony headquarters. Therefore, the Chinese call the Dutch Governor the Governor the Grand Secretary. Later, with the expansion of the Dutch ruling power, the name Grand Secretary gradually evolved into the Chinese name of the Dutch colonial regime and the Tainan region. Because the two words "Daomin and Taiwan" are pronounced very similarly in Minnan language, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Daomin was further rewritten as Taiwan, which was used to refer to the area near the Daomin port. In 1629, it became the name of Tainan region, and in 1635 it became the name of the entire island of Taiwan. By 1667, Taiwan had become the common name for the Chinese to call Taiwan Island. Finally, due to historic development, the Qing Dynasty official Shi Liang reported to Kangxi in 1683. Confucius said, why do you have the first priority to govern? It must be corrected! Therefore, in 1684 (April 14, 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi), Emperor Kangxi issued an edict to include Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty and formally establish the Taiwan Prefecture. Since then, Taiwan has become the official name of the entire island of Taiwan. The names mentioned above about Taiwan Island, such as Ryukyu, Xiao Liuqiu, Dongfan, Beigang, Formosa, Dongdu, Dongning, etc., have disappeared into the long river of history.
