Chen Di

As a strategist, he served under Qi Jiguang and others for many years before retiring to occupy himself with studies and travel.

He wrote an account of an expedition to Taiwan in his 1603 Dōng Fān Jì (東番記), providing one of the first descriptions of the island and its indigenous inhabitants.

[2][3] As a philologist, Chen was the first to demonstrate that Old Chinese has its own phonological system, rejecting the then prevailing practice of xiéyīn (諧音) (i.e. changing the usual reading of a character in a Shi Jing poem in order to suit the rhyme).

Encouraged by his senior, Jiao Hong (焦竑) (1540–1620), he wrote Máoshī Gǔyīn Kǎo (毛詩古音考) and Qūsòng Gǔyīnyì (屈宋古音義), in which he shows the ancient pronunciations (by homophones) of 650 characters.

In his preface to the former work, Chen writes famously: "There is the past and the present; there is the north and the south.

[5][6] General Shen of Wuyu defeated the wokou and met with the chieftain Damila, who presented gifts of deer and liquor as thanks for getting rid of the pirates.

They lived in Wanggang, Jialaowan, Dayuan (variation of Taiwan[7]), Yaogang, Dagouyu, Xiao Danshui, Shuangqikou, Jialilin, Shabali, and Dabangkeng.

The people liked to fight and run in their free time so that the soles of their feet were very thick, able to tread on thorny brushes.

[11] Chen considered the women to be sturdy and active, working constantly, while the men usually idled.

[14] For domesticated animals they had cats, dogs, pigs, and chicken, but not horses, donkeys, cattle, sheep, geese, or deer.

During the Yongle period (1403–1424), Zheng He carried an Imperial Edict to the Eastern Barbarians, but the indigenous people of Taiwan remained hidden and would not be coerced.

Chinese from the harbors of Huimin, Chonglong, and Lieyu in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou learned their languages to trade with them.

The Chinese traded things like agate beads, porcelain, cloth, salt, and brass in return for deer meat, skins, and horns.