ABSTRACT
Evidence of human life in Taiwan dates back to the Paleolithic Age, twenty to thirty thousand and possibly fifty thousand years ago. Whether Taiwan's earliest inhabitants were the ancestors of the present Aboriginal population is uncertain. Some scholars say the Aborigines migrated to Taiwan from China, having originally lived in what is now northern Myanmar, and are likely related to the Miao people in South China. When the Japanese governed Taiwan, they advanced the theory that the Aborigines were of Japanese origin, and some Western anthropologists agreed. Taiwan economically and politically became a Dutch colony. Cheng Ch'eng-kung established a Ming-style government on Taiwan complete with a Chinese legal system, a court, scholars, and advisers. Taiwan prospered and its population developed better feelings toward China. Japanese rule of Taiwan just prior to and during World War II was not without problems.
