Coming soon! The first major book from our new publishing venture Plum Rain Press (English translation): "Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa" by Dr. Chen Yao-chang 陳耀昌.

TAIWAN HISTORY - Formosa Files Episodes

Aug. 22, 2024

S4-E20 – Democracy Fighter and Taiwan History Professor Gerrit van der Wees

Did you know that all the water buffalo in Taiwan are the descendants of a group of these bovines from Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies)? These poor water buffalo were put on a sailing ship by the Dutch in 1648 and …
April 27, 2023

S3-E10 - Lord of Formosa - Part Two: Coyett VS. Koxinga

Joyce Bergvelt's book Lord of Formosa is a novel, but she's an author who has extensively studied the Dutch colonial period and the main characters involved. Lord of Formosa, therefore, might be closer to a history book than…
March 30, 2023

S3-E7 - Lord of Formosa and the VOC - Part One

Arguably the single most important event in Taiwan’s history – and certainly the most dramatic story – was the arrival in 1661 of warlord and Ming loyalist Koxinga (鄭成功 Zheng Chenggong). After a fierce struggle, Koxinga evic…
March 16, 2023

S3-E5 - Local Language Loanwords: A Lovely Hot Pot of Fujianese, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, English, and More

All languages borrow words from other languages. These “loanwords” often come with fascinating historical backstories, their adoption the result of encounters by traders, scholars, and adventurers; and the result of colonial…
March 9, 2023

S3-E4 - Madou, Tainan 麻豆: Pomelos and Priestesses

Today, the district of Madou (麻豆區) in Tainan City is home to about 43,000 people. It has a pleasant small-town feel, an economy mainly based on agriculture, in particular, a citrus fruit called the pomelo ( 柚子). Back in the …
March 24, 2022

S2-E3 - The Lamey Island Massacre

In 1622 and then again in 1631, crew members (including foraging parties and shipwreck survivors) from Dutch ships were killed by the aboriginal people on Lamey Island, what is today’s Pingtung County’s Xiao Liuqiu (小琉球). Th…
Feb. 7, 2022

S1-E26 - Bonus Episode - What Were the Dutch Doing in Formosa Anyway?

The Dutch were expelled from southwestern Taiwan by a pirate warlord and Ming loyalist Koxinga in 1662. Their relatively brief stay of 38 years was marked by impressive achievements and lasting impacts. But why they were the…
Sept. 11, 2021

S1-E3 - The Fall of Fort Zeelandia

The Dutch put up a good fight... but a traitor seals their fate. Here's the end of the story of how the Dutch lost Taiwan.
Sept. 11, 2021

S1-E2 - Koxinga VS. The Dutch - Round One

Pirate Warlord Koxinga's successful invasion of Taiwan changed everything. Here's part one of the tale of an epic, nine-month struggle with the Dutch in Anping, modern-day Tainan.