Zuozhen Man -- as Ancient as Peking Man

Caption: Taiwan was part of mainland land mass 30,000-20,000 years ago, when the primitive people of Taiwan, mainland Zuozhen Man, were already living there. When the sea level rose during the Ice Age 15,000 years ago, the land link between Taiwan and the mainland was submerged.

Modern archaeology has traced Taiwan's connection with the Chinese mainland back to primeval history. Human fossils of Zuozhen Man have been discovered by archaeologists in Zuozhen Town, Tainan County, in the south of the province. Zuozhen Man inhabited the area more than 30,000 years ago, during the same period as Peking Man, or the Upper Cave Man, whose fossils were found at Zhoukoudian near Beijing. Stone and bone utensils and earthenware later uncovered in Zuozhen were found to be very similar to the old-stone-age artifacts excavated in different parts of the mainland. The colored and black earthenware dug up in the Fengbitou area of Kaohsiung County were found to be products of the southeastern coastal areas of the mainland. They are relics of the "geometrically-impressed pottery culture" developed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the coastal areas, and southern parts of the mainland. These artifacts stand testimony to the national ties between progenitors of the inhabitants of Taiwan and of the mainland.

In July 1980, archaeologists in Taiwan exhumed a large number of stone coffins in Pinan Township, Taidong County. Many of the stone utensils, jade ware, and pottery shards uncovered on this site were those used by inhabitants 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. Date authentication of these artifacts and research into the cultural characteristics of these early dwellers indicate that they bore a strong resemblance to the primitive Yuepu people from the southern mainland. Based on these findings, Taiwan's "Research Society into the Sources of Historical Sites" announced that Taiwan's cultural source is the mainland. The earliest settlers in Taiwan came directly from the southeastern coast of China's mainland.