Taiwan Through Time

Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) has fled the mainland with his remaining Ming forces and arrives in Formosa to challenge Dutch rule there.

This concludes my second conversation with Chris. We compare notes on teaching as an expat in Japan and Taiwan, as well as reminisce about university and other elements of South African life.

This first part of my second conversation with Chris focuses mainly on food, with tangents on certain experiences. Please forgive the clunking sounds. Our mugs were placed on the same table as the microphone and our neighbour was being noisy.

This is the third part of my interview with Chris. In our conversation we discuss names, worldly awareness, elements of history and concepts of culture, amongst other things.

This is the second part of my interview with Chris. Our conversation flowed from South African obscurities to drinking and karaoke in Japan.

This is the first part of a conversation with a fellow teacher and South African who spent time living and teaching in Japan. We discuss our experiences as expats in Asian countries, make comparisons between Japanese and Taiwanese society and debate over systems of education.

After the fall of Beijing and Nanjing, various emperors arose across the remnant of the Ming Empire. Each was determined to hold the Qing at bay and rebuild the glory of the Ming.

We take a look at how Li Zhicheng went about trying to manage Beijing, how the population responded to his capture of the city, how Li was undermined by the actions of one of his generals and how his dreams of being an emperor were dashed by the Ming general Wu Sangui.

On the 25th April, 1644, Beijing fell to the forces of Li Zicheng. Who was he, how did he rise to power and how did he lose the capital in under two months?

A short introduction to what Taiwanese society is like from the perspective of a foreigner.

We look at the second Khan of the Jin Dynasty, some of the changes he makes to his empire and the renaming of the Jin as the Qing Dynasty.

We look at the Nurhaci's Banner System, how policies within the Jin Dynasty began changing as the Jurchen people fell on hard times and the important Battle of Ningyuan or  Níngyuǎn Zhī Zhàn .

Nurhaci came from the Jurchen tribes of Manchuria, north east of China. In a parallel of King Phillip II of Macedon, Nurhaci unified his people and reworked them into a devastatingly effective military force.

Zheng Chenggong (known to the West as Koxinga) would play a significant role in Taiwan's history. To understand this character better, it's important that we look at elements of his childhood and the political structure of the world around him.

This is the second half of my interview with Marci in which we discuss being a university student in Taiwan and talk about her experiences of Taiwan.

I'm joined by a lovely young lady called Marci who is from Belize, but studying in Taiwan. This is the first half of her interview in which our focus is mainly upon Belize.

I am joined by Matt from Master Football Academy Taiwan who shares his insights on the emerging football culture in Taiwan and how this sport is gaining popularity. There are also tangents, naturally.

As the Spanish governor-general of Manila, Corcuera, drains the Hermosan colony of men and resources to use elsewhere in the East, it leaves the Keelung (Jilung) colony vulnerable to Dutch attack.

A small town surfer goes on a journey.

We are joined by Iain Garner of the Taiwanese-based games publisher Neon Doctrine. He shares with us his insights into the world of game development and Taiwan's unique position in this industry.

In this episode we take a look at the missionary work of the Order of Saint Dominic and their influences upon nothern Taiwan.

It's 2023 (as least as I type this) and for most people Covid-19 is little more than a painful memory. The virus isn't gone and infections still occur, but the existential threat compounded by the ridiculous levels of hygiene theatre that turned the experience in an exercise in virtue-signaling is finally over. People are able to once again breathe easy and get back to living their lives. Yet some...

Suffering constant disruptions to their trade from the Dutch ensconced in southern Taiwan, the Spanish head to northern Taiwan to form a settlement of their own.

As beer was under a government monopoly for nearly a century in Taiwan, the craft beer industry is still a relatively new endeavour. I invited Joe Merrell from Taihu Brewing to share his knowledge and experience of working in this industry.

We look at Spain's history with Portugal and the steps that led them to claim the Philippines and start a colony in northern Taiwan.