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Author: JOYCE. BERGVELT
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781788691482
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 480
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Book Description
The year is 1624. In southwestern Taiwan the Dutch establish a trading settlement; in Nagasaki a boy is born who will become immortalized as Ming dynasty loyalist Koxinga. Lord of Formosa tells the intertwined stories of Koxinga and the Dutch colony from their beginnings to their fateful climax in 1662. The year before, as Ming China collapsed in the face of the Manchu conquest, Koxinga retreated across the Taiwan Strait intent on expelling the Dutch. Thus began a nine-month battle for Fort Zeelandia, the single most compelling episode in the history of Taiwan. The first major military clash between China and Europe, it is a tale of determination, courage, and betrayal - a battle of wills between the stubborn Governor Coyett and the brilliant but volatile Koxinga. Although the story has been told in non-fiction works, these have suffered from a lack of sources on Koxinga as the little we know of him comes chiefly from his enemies. While adhering to the historical facts, author Joyce Bergvelt sympathetically and intelligently fleshes out Koxinga. From his loving relationship with his Japanese mother, estrangement from his father (a Chinese merchant pirate), to his struggle with madness, we have the first rounded, intimate portrait of the man. Dutch-born Bergvelt draws on her journalism background, Chinese language and history studies, and time in Taiwan, to create an irresistible panorama of memorable characters caught up in one of the seventeenth century's most fascinating dramas.
Author: JOYCE. BERGVELT
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781788691482
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 480
Get Book
Book Description
The year is 1624. In southwestern Taiwan the Dutch establish a trading settlement; in Nagasaki a boy is born who will become immortalized as Ming dynasty loyalist Koxinga. Lord of Formosa tells the intertwined stories of Koxinga and the Dutch colony from their beginnings to their fateful climax in 1662. The year before, as Ming China collapsed in the face of the Manchu conquest, Koxinga retreated across the Taiwan Strait intent on expelling the Dutch. Thus began a nine-month battle for Fort Zeelandia, the single most compelling episode in the history of Taiwan. The first major military clash between China and Europe, it is a tale of determination, courage, and betrayal - a battle of wills between the stubborn Governor Coyett and the brilliant but volatile Koxinga. Although the story has been told in non-fiction works, these have suffered from a lack of sources on Koxinga as the little we know of him comes chiefly from his enemies. While adhering to the historical facts, author Joyce Bergvelt sympathetically and intelligently fleshes out Koxinga. From his loving relationship with his Japanese mother, estrangement from his father (a Chinese merchant pirate), to his struggle with madness, we have the first rounded, intimate portrait of the man. Dutch-born Bergvelt draws on her journalism background, Chinese language and history studies, and time in Taiwan, to create an irresistible panorama of memorable characters caught up in one of the seventeenth century's most fascinating dramas.
Author: George H. Kerr
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824880900
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280
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Book Description
Peking ceded Formosa to Japan in 1895, whereupon Japan became the first Asian power in modern times to possess a colony, and the island became a testing ground for imperial policies. For two centuries the Formosan Chinese had resisted authority imposed upon them by inefficient continental Chinese. Now, Tokyo extended to insular Formosa many organizing, modernizing measures characterizing Japan's own vigorous Meiji Revolution. During the next fifty years, as living standards rose to approach those of Japan proper, early leaderless Formosan resistance to alien rule developed into organized appeals for effective representation in local government and at Tokyo. With reversion to continental Chinese control at the end of World War II, Formosans expected to conserve and enhance gains made during the Japanese era. Bitter disappointment promptly led again to rebellious relations with the continent. The author, long resident in Formosa and exclusively concerned with Formosan affairs while in government service during and after World War II, is well qualified to comment upon Formosa's history and prospects. He concludes that the Japanese era left an ineradicable mark upon the island people, an understanding of which will illuminate developments when Peking later undertakes the formidable task of converting Formosa into a fully disciplined and integrated province of the People's Republic of China.
Author: Tonio Andrade
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332
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Book Description
At the beginning of the 1600s, Taiwan was a sylvan backwater, sparsely inhabited by headhunters and visited mainly by pirates and fishermen. By the end of the century it was home to more than a hundred thousand Chinese colonists, who grew rice and sugar for export on world markets. This book examines this remarkable transformation. Drawing primarily on Dutch, Spanish, and Chinese sources, it argues that, paradoxically, it was Europeans who started the large scale Chinese colonization of the island: the Spanish, who had a base on northern Taiwan from 1626 to 1642, and, more importantly, the Dutch, who had a colony from 1623 to 1662. The latter enticed people from the coastal province of Fujian to Taiwan with offers of free land, freedom from taxes, and economic subventions, creating a Chinese colony under European rule. Taiwan was thus the site of a colonial conjuncture, a system that the author calls co-colonization. The Dutch relied closely on Chinese colonists for food, entrepreneurship, translation, labor, and administrative help. Chinese colonists relied upon the Dutch for protection from the headhunting aborigines and, sometimes, from other Chinese groups, such as the pirates who ranged the China Seas. In its analysis the book sheds light on one of the most important questions of global history: how do we understand the great colonial movements that have shaped our modern world? By examining Dutch, Spanish, and Han colonization in one island, it offers a compelling answer: Europeans managed to establish colonies throughout the globe not primarily because of technological superiority but because their states sponsored overseas colonialism whereas Asian states, in general, did not. Indeed, when Asian states did, European colonies were vulnerable, and the book ends with the capture of Taiwan by a Chinese army, led by a Chinese warlord named Zheng Chenggong.
Author: Maxim Jakubowski
Publisher: Akashic Books
ISBN: 1617751189
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 290
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Book Description
“Drifter” by Emily Mandel was selected for inclusion in The Best American Mystery Stories 2013, edited by Otto Penzler and Lisa Scottoline Original stories by: Peter James, Emily St. John Mandel, Barbara Baraldi, Mike Hodges, Mary Hoffman, Maria Tronca, Matteo Righetto, Tony Cartano, Francesco Ferracin, Isabella Santacroce, Michelle Lovric, Francesca Mazzucato, Maxim Jakubowski, and Michael Gregorio. "Forget the magnificence of Venice's art, architecture, and music, and delve into this tour of the City of Water's murky depths…visions of a Venice not seen in tourist brochures." --Publishers Weekly "Editor Jakubowski does an excellent job of selecting a variety of stories that represent all strata of Venetian life, from tourists visiting for Carnevale to criminals running illegal operations in the bay…A must-read for lovers of Venice…the presence of a new and intriguing voices, many of them Italian, will pique the interest of international-mystery readers." --Booklist "Sex, food and real estate inspire 14 hot-blooded new takes on crime in the magical city of Venice...Rather than crimes of passion, this collection focuses on the passion of crime, painting its noir in robust tones rather than gritty gray." --Kirkus Reviews "Venice Noir, edited by Maxim Jakubowski, aims to shred through our preconceptions of this remarkable city. The 14 writers featured in this anthology of short stories take our travel brochure images of Venice and scatter them like confetti." --NY Journal of Books Maxim Jakubowski is a British editor and writer. Following a long career in book publishing, during which he was responsible for several major crime imprints, he opened London's mystery bookshop Murder One. He reviews crime fiction for the Guardian, runs London's Crime Scene Festival, and is an advisor to Italy's annual Courmayeur Noir in Festival. His latest crime novel is Confessions of a Romantic Pornographer, and he edits the annual Best British Mysteries series.
Author: John Grant Ross
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781788692007
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 332
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Book Description
Taiwan in 100 Books is the distillation of hundreds of titles and decades of reading into a riveting narrative of Taiwan from the early sixteenth century to the present. Long-time resident John Ross, the author of You Don't Know China and Formosan Odyssey, delves into the most acclaimed, interesting, and influential books on Taiwan, along with some personal favorites. Most entries are non-fiction works originally published in English (translated Chinese-language books will be covered in a separate upcoming title). Relive Taiwan's most dramatic historical event in Lord of Formosa and Lost Colony. Learn about the White Terror in A Pail of Oysters, Green Island, and Formosa Betrayed. Discover dated "time capsule" accounts such as Flight to Formosa and Taipei After Dark, and others like John Slimming's Green Plums and a Bamboo Horse that have stood the test of time. Turn the pages of obscure books such as The Jing Affair and Dragon Hotel, undeserved best-sellers like the The Soong Dynasty, and some of the best academic works. Experience unique facets of life in Taiwan in Shots from the Hip: Sex, Drugs and the Tao and Barbarian at the Gate: From the American Suburbs to the Taiwanese Army. Follow authors on their quests, whether conservationists going undercover to expose the illegal wildlife trade, adoptees returning to find their biological parents, or foodies in search of the perfect beef noodle soup. Taiwan in 100 Books is an accessible introduction to works on the country and and an enjoyable shortcut to understanding the country's history and culture. It's also a bibliophile's elixir packed with the backstories of the authors and the books themselves; there are tales of outrageous literary fraud, lost manuscripts, banned books, and publishing skulduggery.
Author: Tehpen Tsai
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781788692434
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 466
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Book Description
A gripping, vital account of one man's imprisonment by Taiwan's police state early in the Cold War. In 1954 Tehpen Tsai was arrested by the Kuomintang regime on suspicion of being a Chinese communist agent. After initial weeks-long interrogation near his home he was transferred to a detention facility in Taipei specifically for seditionists and enemy operatives. The evidence against him: two books, one on his shelves at home, and one that another arrestee told police he had seen at Tsai's house. Tsai was not a communist. But in the febrile atmosphere of the early White Terror era in Taiwan that scarcely mattered; the secret police were commonly thought to operate by a rule to "never miss one true criminal, even if a hundred are killed mistakenly." He had just one thing counting in his favour: he had recently returned from a scholarship in the USA, and the Chiang Kai-shek government at the time was sensitive to American attitudes and pressure. In prison he met genuine communists, anti-government activists, intellectuals, and others like him, unlucky people swept up by a tenuous accusation or a chance encounter. One by one his cellmates disappeared, some to the execution grounds, others to Green Island, the notorious political prison off Taiwan's east coast. Tsai was more fortunate. Sentenced to a term of "re-education", he was released in November 1955. Elegy of Sweet Potatoes is a thinly-fictionalized version of Tsai Tehpen's experiences as a political prisoner. Names are changed, dates are fudged, but the narrative here is true to life. A compelling story full of rich description, pathos, and odd moments of humor, it is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the realities of martial law in "Free China".
Author: Bob Bitchin
Publisher: FTW Publishing, Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 227
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Book Description
The perennial bestseller from the man behind Latitudes & Attitudes. This is an exciting and hilarious account of Bob Bitchin's extraordinary adventures with his wife, Jody, as they circumnavigate the globe aboard a magnificent staysail ketch. Along the way, everything that can go wrong does, but throughout it all Bitchin's irreverence and humor persevere, as does his passion for the sailing lifestyle.
Author: Janet B. Montgomery McGovern
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ethnology
Languages : en
Pages : 300
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Book Description
Author: Jessica J. Lee
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 1646220005
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 305
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Book Description
This "stunning journey through a country that is home to exhilarating natural wonders, and a scarring colonial past . . . makes breathtakingly clear the connection between nature and humanity, and offers a singular portrait of the complexities inherent to our ideas of identity, family, and love" (Refinery29). A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan. There, she seeks his story while growing closer to the land he knew. Lee hikes mountains home to Formosan flamecrests, birds found nowhere else on earth, and swims in a lake of drowned cedars. She bikes flatlands where spoonbills alight by fish farms, and learns about a tree whose fruit can float in the ocean for years, awaiting landfall. Throughout, Lee unearths surprising parallels between the natural and human stories that have shaped her family and their beloved island. Joyously attentive to the natural world, Lee also turns a critical gaze upon colonialist explorers who mapped the land and named plants, relying on and often effacing the labor and knowledge of local communities. Two Trees Make a Forest is a genre–shattering book encompassing history, travel, nature, and memoir, an extraordinary narrative showing how geographical forces are interlaced with our family stories.
Author: Heather Diamond
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781788692359
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 302
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Book Description
Blame it on Hawaii's rainbows, sparkling beaches, fruity cocktails, and sensuous breezes. For Heather Diamond, there for a summer course on China, a sea change began when romance bloomed with Fred, an ethnomusicologist from Hong Kong. One night under a full moon, Fred tells Heather the story of Chang'e, the moon goddess. He points out how the shadows form a rabbit pounding an elixir of immortality, but all Heather sees in the moon is a man's face. Returning to her teaching job in Texas, Heather wonders if the whirlwind affair was a moment of madness. She is, after all, forty-five years old, married, a mother and grandmother. Rabbit in the Moon follows Heather and Fred's relationship as well as Heather's challenges with multiple mid-life reinventions, such as moving to Hawaii, entering a PhD program, and living in a dorm with students half her age. When Fred goes on sabbatical, Heather finds herself on the Hong Kong island of Cheung Chau with his large, boisterous family. For an independent, reserved American, adjusting to his extended family isn't easy. She wants to fit in, but is culture shocked by the lack of privacy, the language barrier, and the Chinese aesthetic of renao ("hot & noisy"). Life on Cheung Chau is overwhelming but also wondrous. Heather chronicles family celebrations, ancestor rituals, and a rich cycle of festivals. Her descriptions of daily life and traditions are exquisite, seamlessly combining the insights of an ethnographer with the fascination of a curious newcomer who gradually transitions to part of the family. Ultimately, Heather's experiences abroad make her realize what she has overlooked with her own family back in the United States, and she sets about making amends. Moving between Hawaii, Hong Kong, and the continental US, Rabbit in the Moon is an honest, finely crafted meditation on intercultural marriage, the importance of family, and finding the courage to follow your dreams.
