The Famous Formosan: The Man Who Invented a Nation

Island Customs

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Psalmanazar’s patrons were agog listening to the descriptions of Formosan religious practices. He told them that at one festival it was commanded that every day for nine days 2,000 boys should have their hearts burned out upon an altar.

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When someone pointed out that such a custom would soon leave Formosa with no population, Psalmanazar explained that his countrymen were polygamous and that the eldest sons were exempt from sacrifice. The life span on the island, Psalmanazar claimed, was 120 years; his own grandfather had lived   to 117, remaining as vigorous as a youth thanks to the local custom of sucking the warm blood of a viper every morning.

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Psalmanazar’s audience sighed with pleasure over the surplus of gold and silver on Formosa: it was used not only for decorating the temples but also for covering the roofs and walls of houses in every town and village in the land.

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Since the bishop thought it important to spread the news of this fascinating nation, he and his friends raised enough money to send Psalmanazar to Oxford University for six months. They wanted him to lecture to the students and teach them the basics of the Formosan language, in the hope that they would return with him and become Christian missionaries in far-off Formosa.

A Fabulous Place

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Psalmanazar was encouraged to write an account of his exotic homeland. Published in 1704, An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, an Island Subject to the Emperor of Japan contained marvelous description of the natives of Formosa, their dress, their architecture, and their religious ceremonies. The book also included the Formosan alphabet and Psalmanazar’s translations of the Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. Almost immediately the book became what we would today call a best-seller, and was reprinted the following year.

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However, Psalmanazar had made his first serious error in the title of the work: Formosa was a province of China, not of Japan. Various accusations of fraud were leveled at him, but Psalmanazar made it a point never to retract his claims.

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In a second edition of the book he dealt with his critics severely, accusing them of lying. There had always been some who doubted the truth of his stories, but now the skepticism was growing.

Soon Psalmanazar was being scorned and ridiculed. Nor did he have the comfort of his partner in the hoax: the chaplain had been awarded an important post in Portugal.

Telling the Truth

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Psalmanazar withdrew from the public life loved so much and had to support himself with menial jobs. After a serious illness in 1728, he totally rejected his past life and in a book of memoirs that was to be published only after his death, decided to tell the truth.

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Psalmanazar died on May 3, 1763; he was about 84. His memoirs were published the following year. But to this day, his true name and native land remain an intriguing mystery.