The book, Europe meets Formosa, 1510-1662: Two historical studies, contains two parts, each covering some aspects of East-West encounters on Formosa, better known today to many as Taiwan. Part I investigates the history of Portuguese “discovery” and “naming” of the island as Formosa, in the context of conflicting claims and recent scholarly debates in Taiwan which challenged the conventional wisdom on this matter. Part II deals with the story of Dutch efforts to educate, civilise and convert the Aboriginal Peoples of Formosa, examining motives of the coloniser for pursuing this project, differentiating identities such as race (tribal village), age, gender, language, and faith which had influenced education policies over time, and responses of the tribes ranging from cooperative partnerships to belligerent conflicts. The studies reconstruct historical events in the 16th and the 17th centuries. But, as shall be shown, Portuguese “naming” of the island and Dutch “civilising” of its indigenes retain some relevance for the Chinese majority as well as the Aboriginal minority in Taiwan to this date, hundreds of years later.

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