Welcome to Island Folklore
Island Folklore invites you into the world of Taiwan’s storytelling traditions shaped by centuries of cultural exchange. This project preserves and shares Taiwanese folk life with a global audience, offering a window into an island whose folklore is as layered and dynamic as its history.
About Island Folklore
In October 2016, when this project began, there were almost no English-language websites devoted to Taiwanese stories and traditions. This project set out to change that.
Island Folklore: Taiwanese Tales & Traditions is an online repository of Taiwan’s folktales, history, legends, myths and traditions. It features indigenous Austronesian tales, stories of Sinitic settlers, customs brought by Japonic colonizers and beliefs introduced by Indo-European missionaries.
Taiwan, which is slightly larger than Kyushu and Vancouver Island, sits between the Philippines, China and Japan—at the meeting point of East and Southeast Asia, the Pacific and the continent. This crossroads of cultures has shaped Taiwanese folklore into an endlessly rich and fascinating tradition.
So, Where to Start?
Let’s start at the beginning. Explore Taiwan’s names and history, as well as its many ethnic groups and languages. The following will take you on a tour through Taiwan’s past to help you get started on this folkloric journey through the Beautiful Isle. Naruwan!
