Sino-Japanese War and Civil War

Buddhism:

Buddhism was born when Siddhartha Gautama, the founder, discovered the eightfold path to salvation. Buddhism is the only major religion that does not center upon worshipping a God, so some people consider it a philosophy rather than a religion. Buddhism traveled from India, where it was born, to China, and from there, it arrived in Taiwan.

Taoism:

Taoism is based on the teachings of a Chinese philosopher known as Lao-Tzu. It is also known as Daoism, which is more accurate to the Chinese pronunciation of the word. A major teaching in Taoism is the principle of the Ying-Yang, which sees the world as a world filled with complementary sources. Just like Buddhism, there is no God in Taoism, and that was a big contributing factor to the two religions/philosophies merging in Taiwan.

Taiwan had been held by its indigenous people until the seventeenth century. It had contact with China since the early days of the T’ang Dynasty

Sino-Japanese War and Civil War:

During the Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was taken by Japan, until the Japanese were defeated in 1945. During this time, a civil war was occurring in China, as General Chiang Kai Shek of the Republic of China fought against the Communist forces of Mao Zedong. General Kai Shek’s forces were pushed to Taiwan, where they were forced to stay by Mao, who originally planned to invade Taiwan finish of the Republic for good, until the US blocked it. Chiang took control of Taiwan, and declared all of China to be under the rule of the Republic of China. Most world leaders recognized Taiwan as his property

Current Relations with China:

Both the communist People’s Republic of China(PRC) and the Democratic Republic of China(ROC), claim to follow a one-China policy, in which they are they only controllers of China and by extension, Taiwan. The ROC is slowly fading away as some people in Taiwan advocate for complete reunification with the PRC. If this happens, the ROC will cease to exist following the One China Policy Soup Dumplings:

The Chinese Soup Dumpling or the Xiao Long Bao is one of the most popular food items in Taiwan. One of the most popular chain is the Din Tai Fung which is known for their soup dumplings. They don’t have many restaurants, but there are eight in Taiwan, four in Los Angeles, two in Seattle and a couple more restaurants across the world. Inside of the dumpling includes pockets of ham or pork or chicken broth. People may say that the Din Tai Fung chain overpriced is because of how hard it is to cook.

Beef Noodle Soup:

Taiwan’s famous and national dish is the Beef Noodle Soup or the Niu Rou Mian. Although this dish is called beef noodle soup, you could use pork. This dish contains beef, a spicy broth, noodles,bok choy, pickled mustard greens, fresh scallions and cilantro. The beef noodle soup is flavored with star anise, bay leaves, ginger and seasonings that are commonly used in Chinese cooking such as dou ban jiang or known as broad bean paste and the Taiwanese BBQ sauce.

Braised Pork Belly Rice:

Another one of Taiwan’s best dishes is the Braised Pork Belly Rice or the Lu Rou Fan. This dish can be found in night markets or any restaurant easily and is really cheap. The dish spends two hours cooking and contains pork belly, shanghai bok choy, dried shiitake mushroom, boiled eggs, and fried onion. The pork is braised in dark soy sauce, five-spice powder, fried shallots, and garlic.

Cite this page