Cultural history of Taiwan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of a series on History of Taiwan
Prehistory 50000 BCE – 1624 CE
Kingdom of Middag 1540 – 1732
European Taiwan 1624 – 1662
Kingdom of Tungning 1662 – 1683
Qing Taiwan 1683 – 1895
Republic of Taiwan 1895
Japanese Taiwan 1895 – 1945
Post-War Taiwan 1945 – present
Cultural history Economic history Educational history Military history Political history
Timeline • Rulers • Kaohsiung • Taipei Archaeological sites • Historical sites This box: view • talk • edit

The cultural history of Taiwan can be traced back to prehistoric Stone Age. Later the development of written languages made it easier to maintain traditions of the Taiwanese culture.^[1]

The recorded history of Taiwanese culture mainly stemmed from traditional Chinese culture, despite the influences from other foreign powers. Although the culture of modern Taiwan is significantly affected by Japanese and American cultures, the values and traditions of the Taiwanese people are heavily based on Confucianist Han Chinese cultures.^[2]

[edit] Prehistoric cultures

Table of prehistoric cultures[3] × denotes nonexistence　　o denotes existence
Culture	Development status				Sites
	Pottery	Iron metallurgy	Basic agriculture	Rice cultivation	Yuanshan Site	Chihshan Rock Site	Botanical Garden Site
Hsientao culture	×	×	×	×	○	×	×
Tapenkeng culture	○	×	○	×	○	○	○
Yuanshan culture	○	×	○	○	○	○	○
Chihshan Rock culture	○	○	○	○	×	○	×
Botanical Garden culture	×	○	○	○	○	○	○
Shihsanhang culture	○	○	○	○	○	×	×

The cultures in Taiwan's New Stone Age (began ca. 5000 BCE) were all left by Austronesian people. However, there may be other settlers prior to the arrival of the Austronesian people.

In addition, the plains aborigines influenced the beliefs, music, and names, of places in Taiwan. These aboriginal tribes include Ketagalan, Kavalan, Taokas, and Babuza peoples. However, over the course of three centuries of Han Chinese migrations to Taiwan, the distinctive cultures gradually disappeared, creating a integrated cultural blend.

The 1620s saw a major turning point in Taiwan's cultural history due to the introduction of the Sinckan Manuscripts. The written language was brought to Taiwan by Dutch missionaries. The prehistory of Taiwan was brought to an end as a result.

[edit] References