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追尋東方金銀島

In Search of Treasure Island in the East

1299年出版的《馬可．波羅遊記》，是點燃西方人探索東方世界的助燃劑。書中提到東方有一座島上擁有大量黃金，吸引了讀者的目光，而那座島的名字「Zipangu」指的應該就是日本「Japan」。不過西方船隊到日本後，發現日本的銀礦其實遠多於金礦。如果日本是一座「產銀之島」，那麼「產金之島」在哪裡呢？

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早期有描述到金銀島的文獻中，除了日本被提及外，另外一個常見的地名為「琉球」，而且幾乎都有提到琉球產有黃金。經考究後，多數學者認為文獻中的琉球指的正是臺灣島。所以臺灣與日本，很可能就是早期西方所說的金銀島的真面目。

The Travels of Marco Polo, published in 1299, was a catalyst for Westerners’ exploration of the East. The book mentioned an island full of gold, which captured the readers’ imagination. The name of the island “Zipangu” likely referred to Japan. However, when Westerners arrived in Japan on ships, they found there was in fact more silver than gold in Japan. If Japan was an “island of silver”, where else was the “island of gold”?

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​In ancient literature that include a treasure island, in addition to Japan, a frequently mentioned place was “Ryukyu”, almost always accompanied by descriptions of gold production. In their research, most scholars believe that “Ryukyu” in such contexts refer to Taiwan. Thus, Taiwan and Japan were very likely the real places behind the West’s imagination of treasure islands.