Emperor Yang of Sui Sends Three Missions to Liuqiu

The Sui called today's Taiwan “Liuqiu.” After the Sui unified the country, seafaring advanced greatly and knowledge of the overseas lands to the southeast deepened. Soon after taking the throne, Emperor Yang sent people to Liuqiu, three times in all. In AD 607 he sent the cavalry commandant Zhu Kuan and the sea master He Man to sail in search of strange customs; they reached Liuqiu but, unable to communicate, brought back one man. In 608 he sent Zhu Kuan again to pacify Liuqiu, but the people did not accept, and Zhu Kuan returned with a local cloth armor. In 610 Emperor Yang sent Chen Leng, a Wuben general, and Zhang Zhenzhou, a grand master of remonstrance, with over 10,000 men from Yi'an (present-day Chaozhou, Guangdong) across the sea to Liuqiu, where they fought the local inhabitants and finally brought back several thousand people. The three Sui missions strengthened ties between the mainland and Taiwan, and the Sui's knowledge of the Taiwan region advanced greatly beyond earlier dynasties. The Book of Sui, compiled in the early Tang, has a dedicated “Account of the Kingdom of Liuqiu” describing in detail its location, products, social organization, food and dress, marriage and funeral customs and religious beliefs. Scholars generally hold that Liuqiu in the Book of Sui mainly refers to today's Taiwan; after Wei Wen's arrival at Yizhou in the Three Kingdoms, this is another important historical record of contact between mainland dynasties and Taiwan. After the Song and Yuan, ties grew closer; the Yuan set up an Inspectorate at Penghu, and Taiwan gradually came under central government rule. These facts show that Taiwan has had close ties with the mainland since ancient times.