Taiwan is commonly known as Formosa until 1970s. It is a beautiful island on the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The Portuguese were the first European group who reached the island of Taiwan in 1544, and named it Formosa.

The cultural diversity in Taiwan is like the biodiversity in tropical rainforest, which is rich and diverse. The ethnic groups that came to Taiwan at different stages have brought wide varieties of tropical plants with them which are related to living habits.

The aborigines who first lived in Taiwan imported many plants from Southeast Asia that we are familiar with nowadays, e.g. taro, ginger, banana, betel nut, coconut, kapok. They came to Taiwan in the prehistoric time and have lived in Taiwan for about 8,000 years.

From 1624 to 1662, in the era of great navigation, the Dutch and Spanish people briefly occupied Taiwan and used Taiwan as a base for trade with China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Fruits that Taiwanese people are familiar with and are proud of, such as mango, bell-apple, custard apple, guava, and Cherry tomato, as well as chili, pepper, and tobacco were introduced to Taiwan by Dutch people during this period.

Between 1662 and 1895, Taiwan was part of the Chinese territory. Minnan people from Fujian Province as well as Chaozhou people and Hakka people from Guangdong Province moved into Taiwan. Carambola, grapefruit, and tung oil tree were introduced from China by South China immigrants during this period. The pineapple was also imported from the Philippines by South China immigrants during this period.

From 1895 to 1945, Japan ruled Taiwan for 50 years, and established several botanical gardens and research institutes throughout Taiwan to introduce large-scale experiments and cultivation of tropical plants in order to have more resources for the Japanese Empire. Rubber tree, cinchona tree for the treatment of malaria, logwood for making purple-black dyes, mahogany, and ylang-ylang were all introduced by Japanese into Taiwan.

From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Japanese era, missionaries, botanists, and European traders came to Taiwan again. Although the number of people are rather small, they made a great contribution to Taiwan’s medical and scientific progresses. They also introduced some tropical plants into Taiwan. For example, Dr. George Leslie MacKay introduced variegated leaf croton and bougainvillea, and Dr. George Gushue-Taylor introduced windy oil trees for the treatment of leprosy. Coffee was introduced to Taiwan at earliest in 1884 by the British Merchants Bank.

The Republic of China established Taiwan Provincial Government in 1945. During the martial law period from 1949 to 1987, restrictions were imposed on all aspects. In addition, the access to information was limited. As a result, fewer tropical plants were introduced to Taiwan during this time as compared to other eras. At that time, academic and agricultural institutions were the main units that introduced plants into Taiwan. The trumpet Tree, which is now familiar to everyone, was introduced in the late 1960s.

There was also a Thai-Myanmar solitary army composed of ethnic minorities from southwest China. After the defeat of the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Thai-Myanmar solitary army temporarily stayed in the Golden Triangle at the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, and eventually retreated to Taiwan in the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1960s, a large number of Burmese Chinese immigrated to Taiwan after riots in Burma against Chinese community. They brought the tradition of Songkran Water Festival of Dai people, the spice plants, and vegetables commonly seen in Indochina to Taiwan.

In 1989, Taiwan for the first time allowed foreign workers to come to work in Taiwan. In the 1990s, the government also promoted the southward policy to encourage cultural exchange and economic investment with Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, many Taiwanese males with weak social and economic status chose to marry females from Southeast Asia. To date, there are about 180,000 Taiwanese new citizens from Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and other ASEAN countries, and about 680,000 foreign workers from ASEAN. They have brought more vegetables, fruits, and spices that are common in Southeast Asia, enriching Taiwanese food culture.

These aforementioned culture traits and the history of the introduction of plants in Taiwan are extracted from my first book "Invisible Rainforest: The Formosa Rainforest Flora". This is a series of Taiwanese historical stories featuring plants as the leading actors and scientists as supporting actors. I want to share with you the history and social culture of Taiwan that I have discovered which have not been recorded in our history or social textbooks, which may have been forgotten or ignored. This book is not a challenging botanical handbook to read. It is an interesting story book. I hope that more people can understand Taiwan from a different perspective through this book. Thank you for your time!

 

台湾就是过去西方历史中所熟悉的福尔摩沙。它是太平洋东方海上的一座美丽的岛屿。1544年葡萄牙人最早发现，并将台湾称作福尔摩沙。

台湾的文化多样性，仿佛热带雨林的生物多样性一般，丰富且多元。不同时期来到台湾的个族群，带来各式各样与生活习习相关的热带植物。

最早居住在台湾的原住民，从东南亚引进了我们熟悉的芋头、姜、香蕉、槟榔、椰子、木棉花等植物。他们从史前时期便来到台湾，在台湾活动的时间约八千年。

1624年至1662年，大航海时代，荷兰人与西班牙人也曾短暂占领台湾，以台湾作为根据地，与中国、日本及东南亚进行贸易。台湾人熟悉，甚至引以为傲的水果，例如芒果、莲雾、释迦、芭乐、小番茄，还有辣椒、胡椒、烟草，便是这时期荷兰人引进台湾的植物。

1662年至1895年之间，台湾被纳入中国版图。源自中国福建省的闽南人与广东省的潮州人与客家人，大量移入台湾。杨桃、柚子、油桐花便是这个时期华南移民从中国引进。而凤梨也是这时期华南移民自菲律宾引进。

1895年至1945年，日本统治台湾50年，并在全台各地建立数个植物园及研究机构，大规模引进热带植物试验及栽培，目的是为了开发更多资源提供日本帝国使用。橡胶树、治疗疟疾的金鸡纳树、制作紫黑色染料的墨水树、桃花心木、香水树等，都是日本人引进台湾的植物。

清朝末年至日本时代，宣教士、植物学家及欧洲的贸易商人再度来台。虽然人数不多，却对台湾的医疗及科学进步有很大贡献。他们也曾引进了一些热带植物来台湾，例如马偕博士引进了变叶木与九重葛，戴仁寿医生引进治疗痲疯病的大风子树。而咖啡最早则是英商德记洋行在1884年引进台湾。

1945年，国民政府来台。1949至1987年，戒严时期，各方面限制重重，加上资讯不发达，热带植物引进较少。当时主要从事植物引进工作的是学术与农业单位。现在大家所熟悉的风铃木，便是1960年代末期所引进。

还有一支由中国西南方少数民族组成的泰缅孤军，国共内战战败后，短暂滞留泰缅金三角，在1950至1960年代从中南半岛辗转来台。1960年代缅甸排华事件下，移民或依亲方式到台湾定居的缅甸华侨。他们率先将傣族的泼水节，还有中南半岛常见的香料植物与蔬菜，带进了台湾。

1989年台湾首次开放外籍移工来台。1990年代政府推动南向政策，许多社会经济条件弱势的男性，纷纷到东南亚寻找配偶。直到今日，来自印尼、越南、菲律宾、泰国、柬埔寨等东协国家的新住民和移工，分别约18万人和68万人。他们带更多东南亚常见的蔬菜、水果及香料，丰富了台湾的饮食文化。

上述这些文化跟植物引进史，摘要自我的第一本著作《看不见的雨林：福尔摩沙雨林植物志》。这是一本以植物为主角、科学家为配角的台湾历史故事集。我想借由本书，跟大家分享我所查到、看到的那些不曾出现在我们历史或社会课本中，被遗忘或忽略的台湾历史与社会文化。这本书不是生硬的植物图鉴，是一本有趣的故事书。希望透过这本书，让更多人可以从不一样的角度认识台湾。谢谢！