| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 台灣文學所 === 98 === It has been said that "Dongti," the earliest name for the island of Taiwan, first appeared in the History of the Former Han Dynasty, written during the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, Taiwan's appearance on the world stage of history did not really occur until the invasion of the Dutch in 1624. From existing scholarly works on seventeenth century Taiwan, we can see that most scholars are well-aware of developments in the Dutch-controlled area, yet there has been very little scholarly attention given to the Spanish-controlled area. As the relevant historical materials on this period are very limited, many people are still unaware that there existed a period of both Dutch and Spanish colonialism in Taiwan history. Due to this lack, this thesis will examine the period of Spanish entry into Taiwan by taking the writings of the first missionary to accompany the Spanish military, Dominican missionary Bartolomé Martínez, as the central focus of research.
The letter that Father Martínez wrote to the Governor General of the Philippines was full of excellent analysis and description regarding the circumstances of Taiwan and all of East Asia. Therefore, the historical and cultural value and importance of this letter deserves special attention. Although this letter was written by a missionary's pen, its content is similar to that of official policy documents and foreign development recommendations. Therefore, this thesis engages with this letter in order to reconstruct Taiwan's appearance on the world stage during the Age of Maritime Discovery. Points of focus include: clarifications to the naming of Taiwan; the historical background of Taiwan in the seventeenth century; the trade and strategic value of Taiwan to the powers of Spain, Holland and Japan during this period; and finally Father Martínez's thoughts and plans for trade and policy on Taiwan.
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