Ethnic origin of Taiwanese

Introduction

The name Taiwan was given by the Chinese which means 'terraced bay'. It was named after the beauty of the natural landscape in the south-western coast where the Chinese first established themselves. 

The 180 km wide Taiwan Straits that separates Taiwan island from the mainland made the island relatively secluded in ancient times when there were no motorized boats. The sea distance shielded Taiwan from mass migration of Han Chinese until the late 17th century.

This article explores the native Taiwanese and the impact of migration of Han Chinese on the natives. The natives are called 'Gaoshan' or 'mountain' people by the Han Chinese. 

Note that this article is not meant to be a comprehensive history of Taiwan which only confuses readers with unnecessary details but to focus on the most important facts of who the natives are; and how they ended up in their current location.

Early native Taiwanese kingdom

The natives of Taiwan are Austronesian people who have been living there before the arrival of any other tribes. 

The earliest recorded Austronesian kingdom in Taiwan was Datu kingdom which ruled from 1540 to 1732 AD.

Datu kingdom

Original homeland

Taiwan is considered to be the earliest motherland of all Austronesians by most researchers and there are many Austronesian tribes still living there as strong evidence.

Migration path (red)

The original homeland of the native Taiwanese is speculated to be from nearby Dongshan (東山) island chain in Zhangzhou prefecture of Fujian province where they lived around 4000 BC. 

There was a land-bridge from southern Fujian to southern Taiwan in ancient times before it was submerged in sea water; it is speculated that they came to Taiwan for safety via this land-bridge when water level rose submerging Dongshan and the land-bridge in ancient times.

However, there are no existing Austronesian tribes living in mainland China that were recorded in ancient times whereas there are lots of evidence for Kra-Dai people. This means that the Austronesians migrated to Taiwan more than 3000 years ago before the Chinese recorded history in that region.

The Austronesian Utsul in Hainan migrated from Champa and not Fujian so they are not considered natives of mainland China.  

Migration to eastern hills

From the 17th century AD, the increasing Han Chinese settlers along the western coast pressured the aborigines in the western plains to migrate up into the eastern hills (see map below). Most of the natives traditionally live in separate regions from the Han Chinese.

Native Taiwanese (inset) - Eastern hills (brown)

Native Taiwanese subgroups

There are 16 native Taiwanese subgroups and the distribution of 14 subgroups is shown in the map below. The Saaroa and Taroko tribes are not shown. 

Native Taiwanese subgroups

The Amis tribe is the largest native tribe in Taiwan, they live mostly in Taitung and Hualien counties.

Amis tribe

Conclusion

The mass migration of Han Chinese into the fertile low plains pressured the natives to move up into the hills and the natives are now the minority at about 2% of the population.

Since the Han Chinese and the native Taiwanese traditionally live in separate regions and also other factors such as cultural, language, religious differences; intermarriage is not common among the two ethnic groups.

Related links

• Main ethnicities in Taiwan

http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/07/main-ethnicities-in-taiwan.html

Sources

• Lecture from Li Rulong, Xiamen University.

Last updated: 1 May 2021

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