Taiwan Island was known as “Yizhou” during the Three Kingdoms period of China’s later Han dynasty and had contact with Eastern Wu. The iron smelting technology of the Shishan culture came from the Eastern Wu navy. Historical records state that in 230 AD, Eastern Wu emperor Sun Quan sent Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi with tens of thousands of people across the sea seeking Yizhou and Dan Zhou, but since Dan Zhou was too far to reach, they only reached Yizhou, returning with thousands of captured natives.
Taiwan was called “Liuqiu” during the Sui and Tang dynasties, with many Han Chinese already migrating to Penghu for cultivation and beginning social exchanges with Taiwan. During the Song dynasty it was called “Bishe Na,” during the Yuan it was “Liuqiu,” and in the early Ming it was “Xiao Liuqiu” and “East Barbarian” and other territories beyond civilization.
“Kun Island” is an elegant appellation for Taiwan Island that never appeared in historical records but was bestowed by modern literati. Taiwan Island being east of mainland China in the ocean and referred to as “Kun Island” is quite evocative in literary works.
The so-called “kun,” is an ancient name for a very magnificent and majestic fish. Zhuangzi’s Free Wandering describes the kun thus: “In the northern ocean there is a fish, whose name is kun. The kun is vast beyond measure, transformed into a bird named peng. The peng’s back stretches beyond all measure.” The great peng soars through the sky, its divine power inspiring admiration. The kun fish swims through the vast ocean, free and at ease, also inspiring fondness, just like the Song dynasty great poet Lu You’s poem: “Sometimes watching the clouds and ocean transform into kun and peng.”
In the past, in the Taijiang Inner Sea area, near today’s Anping in Tainan, there were various “First Kun Islet, Second Kun Islet… Seventh Kun Islet,” and near Mashakou, a famous scenic area in Tainan County, there were “Green Kun Islet, South Kun Islet,” all referring to small islands in the rivers and sea. Therefore, later generations bestowed this highly mythical and fantastical name of Kun Island.
Read more: How Did Taiwan Island’s Name Come To Be?