Postage stamps and postal history of Taiwan Postage stamps and postal history of Taiwan This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Taiwan, otherwise known as Formosa, and currently governed by the Republic of China. The Republic of China comprises the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands, which are located off the east coast of mainland China. Neighboring states include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the north-east, and the Philippines to the south. In 1886 Taiwan was upgraded from a prefecture to a province. A postal service was organised by Governor Liu Mingchuan, and
Mainland China "the land of the utopian past [and] childhood". Schoolchildren were taught slogans like "Counterattack the mainland!" () and "Save our mainland compatriots from the deepest water and hottest fire!" (). The Taiwanese were also told that they were the guardians of traditional Chinese culture until political reunification. However, democratization on Taiwan has led to the rise of voices which denounced traditional attitudes towards the mainland and the ancestral home system, pressing for Taiwanization, Desinicization, and "Taiwan cultural independence" (). Concurrently, the mainland Chinese economic reform changed the connotation of "mainland China" to one of "primitiveness, nativeness, and raw cultural material