The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files

In 1904, colonial Taiwan tried to impress America with oolong tea at the St. Louis World’s Fair. Just five years later, two American spies disguised as South African zoologists were secretly roaming Japanese Formosa – but they weren’t investigating tea. They were on a U.S. Army mission to gather military intelligence. In this episode, John and Eryk explore tea, empire, espionage, and the strange relationship between Taiwan and the United States in the early 1900s.

For names, sources, and other show notes, please visit the Formosa Files website.

That little green blob of spicy paste beside your sushi and sashimi has an amazing backstory. The notoriously fussy plant is grown in the mountains of Taiwan (special shoutout to Chiayi County). It arrived in Alishan with the Japanese colonists and their forest railway and flourished in the cool mountain air. After disappearing for a time, it has recently made a comeback. Listen to learn the history of wasabi and find out whether you’ve been eating the real deal or a fake sauce.

Huang Chin-tao (黃金島) was never a household name, but his life story is the story of modern Taiwan. In this concluding episode, we follow Huang from the 2.28 uprising in 1947 as he joins a resistance group led by a rare combination: a Taiwanese woman communist guerrilla commander, Xie Xuehong, whom we've dubbed Agent "Red Snow." After fighting bravely but losing the Battle of Wuniulan Bridge in Nantou, Huang becomes a fugitive and then spends more than two decades in Taiwan’s prisons. There is, however, finally some happiness: a few years after being released, he found love and became a political activist in what would become Taiwan's first real opposition party. For this tale of resistance, survival, and a regular man’s refusal to be broken by history, we drew on Anna Beth Keim’s excellent biography Heaven Does Not Block All Roads.

This is part one of the extraordinary life story of Huang Chin-tao (黃金島 Huáng Jīndǎo). In fact, he seemed to live not one life but many; he was a Japanese naval recruit, a combat soldier, a survivor of typhoons and pirates, an armed rebel during the 2-28 Incident of 1947, a man on the run, a prisoner, and a politician. His lifetime, 1926 to 2019, also gives us the background story of Taiwan’s turbulent 20th century. Although the turns and twists of history were often brutal for Huang, he was unbreakable, a man who refused to let fate decide his path. In the words of the title of Anna Beth Keim’s excellent biography: Heaven Does Not Block All Roads.

What do Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam have in common? Chopsticks. In the second Formosa Files Snack, Eryk and John explore the cultural story behind one of East Asia’s most iconic everyday objects. Why did chopsticks replace spoons in China? What role did noodles, rice, and Confucian philosophy play in their adoption? And how did superstitious Ming-dynasty boatmen turn the ancient word for chopsticks into “kuàizi” (literally “quick little boys”)? The origins of the English word “chopsticks” are pretty interesting too. Enjoy this quick, fun cultural and historical detour through the Greater Asian Chopsticks Sphere.