The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files

A thousand years ago, Quanzhou was one of the world’s greatest international trading ports, attracting merchants from as far away as India, Persia and the Arab world. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta marveled at its wealth. Yet just across the Strait, Taiwan remained largely outside Chinese trading networks. Why did Quanzhou’s merchants pay so little attention to their island neighbor? Eryk and John look at the rise and fall of this incredible city and its important later connections to Taiwan. 
Note: Quanzhou (泉州) and neighboring Zhangzhou (漳州), to the south, were names used for both cities and the larger prefectures surrounding them. These two regions of southern Fujian Province are the ancestral homes of the great majority of Taiwan’s Han population.

Before Taiwan became a powerhouse in electronics, it was a world leader in an unlikely product: mushrooms. In fact, by the mid-1960s, Taiwan was the world’s largest exporter of canned mushrooms, particularly white button mushrooms. How did a humble fungus become such an important part of Taiwan’s economic miracle? Eryk and John uncover the story of ingenious Taiwanese farmers, innovative mushroom sheds, and the boom that transformed rural communities, especially in and around Wufeng, Taichung, the heart of Taiwan’s mushroom industry. Even if you dislike mushrooms (Eryk hates them), you’ll find this a fascinating story. 

Cover image via here.

Chen Cheng (陳誠) was one of the most powerful figures in postwar Taiwan, serving as provincial governor, premier, and vice president under Chiang Kai-shek. A career soldier who became a reluctant politician, he helped stabilize Taiwan’s economy and pushed through land reforms. Yet he also played a leading role in the authoritarian government of the White Terror era, including imposing martial law in 1949. Despite being Chiang’s trusted right-hand man, Chen sometimes clashed with his boss and became entangled in the struggle over who would eventually succeed him. Eryk and John explore the crucial role Chen Cheng played in shaping modern Taiwan and how he never quite escaped CKS’s shadow.

Opened by the Japanese in 1936, Taipei's Songshan Airport has witnessed wartime bombing raids (by aircraft piloted by both Soviet and American pilots), Cold War diplomacy, and tearful family farewells. During the Cold War, it welcomed some of America's most powerful political figures; President Eisenhower landed here to a spectacular welcome in 1960. For decades, Songshan was Taiwan's main international gateway, until the opening of Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (now Taoyuan International Airport) in 1979. It reinvented itself as a busy domestic hub, only to be dealt another blow by high-speed rail. Yet Songshan survived, and today it offers convenient flights to cities in China, Japan, and South Korea. As Taipei once again debates whether to close the airport and redevelop its valuable land, Eryk and John look back at ninety years of aviation history.

Image via Japanese travel blog

Writer, philosopher, linguist, inventor – Lin Yutang (林語堂) was one of the most famous Chinese intellectuals of the twentieth century, and for decades one of the people most responsible for explaining Chinese culture to English-speaking readers. His My Country and My People introduced millions of Western readers to China, while The Importance of Living preached the virtues of leisure, humor and occasionally doing absolutely nothing. After three decades abroad, the Fujian-born Lin came to Taiwan in 1966. In his final years, living in his beautiful Yangmingshan home overlooking Taipei, he wrote about the small pleasures that made his years in Taiwan among the happiest of his life.