The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files

In the mid-1600s, Caspar Schmalkalden left war-ravaged Europe to work as a soldier and surveyor for the Dutch. After spending time in Brazil, he sailed to Batavia and finally to Formosa, where he lived among Dutch colonists, Chinese settlers, and Indigenous communities for several years.

Back home in Germany, Schmalkalden wrote a richly illustrated account of his travels. It remained unpublished for more than 300 years and has still never appeared in a complete English translation. 

For the first time, we tell the story of this observant German traveler and the seventeenth-century Taiwan he encountered: a land of colorful feasts, deer hunts, strange tropical illnesses, herds of wild horses, and a mysterious creature he called the “Tayouan Devil.”

Taekwondo may be Korean, but few places have embraced it as enthusiastically as Taiwan. Introduced in the 1960s for the military, the fast-kicking martial art quickly spread to the wider community. Before long, Taiwan had become one of the world’s taekwondo powers; it even sent trainers to the Middle East to teach the Jordanian royal guard. But peak global glory for the island’s taekwondo fighters came at the Athens Olympics in 2004, when Taiwan won its very first Olympic gold medals.

In the 1930s, a mysterious document known as the Tanaka Memorial shocked the world. Supposedly written by Japanese Prime Minister Baron Tanaka, it outlined a strategy for conquering Manchuria, China, Southeast Asia, and even the United States. As real-life events seemed to unfold according to the alleged plan, the document became one of the most influential pieces of anti-Japanese propaganda of the twentieth century. It was quoted by American films, politicians, and many others. In this episode, we tell the story of Taiwanese businessman Tsai Chih-kan (蔡智堪), who later claimed to have personally copied the secret plans from inside the Japanese Imperial Palace. Although most historians today believe the Tanaka Memorial was a forgery, it remains an unsolved mystery. And the story of how it shaped global politics and wartime propaganda is, we think, more fascinating than the contents of the document.

John Ross and special guest John Groot celebrate the opening of the remarkable Danjiang Bridge in Tamsui (Danshui). They explore the bridges that transformed Taiwan: the Xiluo Bridge over the mighty Zhuoshui River, once the longest bridge in Asia, and the Taipei Bridge that helped fuel Taiwan’s economic miracle. That bridge is best known for its “Scooter Waterfall,” the tightly packed stream of scooters that pours down the Taipei-side off-ramp during morning rush hour. We follow the Taipei Bridge to the other side, the gritty, industrial district of Sanchong. John Groot shares stories from his many walks, including some hair-raising bridge crossings during his circumnavigation of Taiwan’s coastline. He also outlines his ambitious new walking project and related website, TaiwanCentric.com (formerly the Culture Shack and scheduled to relaunch on May 22).

In this Mother’s Day edition, we celebrate the extraordinary life of Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊), a humble vegetable seller from Taitung who quietly donated millions of NT dollars to schools, charities, and orphaned children – while continuing to live a modest life behind a market stall.

Born in 1950 into poverty, Chen Shu-chu was forced to leave school at just thirteen after her mother died in childbirth. For half a century she worked at the stall and saved her earnings, giving them to the needy. Chen’s lifetime of extraordinary generosity eventually brought her international fame.

In 2010 she appeared in Time magazine’s list of the world’s most influential people. This is an uplifting story of how a seemingly ordinary market vendor became one of Taiwan’s most admired figures.