Headcanons: Whale

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*the photo is NOT mine*

Taiwan can turn himself into a whale at his heart's delight.





Interesting facts: the total number of the species of whales and dolphins all around the world is around 80, however, there are more than 30 species distributed in the waters near Taiwan alone.

In old Chinese(Qing and before) sayings, if one was called "a whale, a salamander (spelled 鯨鯢 in Chinese)" that actually means "pirate", "villain", or "someone who was innocent but was sentenced to death".

Now, we had a very interesting coincidence. If you have ever saw Taiwan on the maps, you may discover the main island somehow looks like a whale. And during the age of Navigation when the Qing Empire haven't really noticed Taiwan, he called Taiwan a "the nest of whales and salamanders", which means "nest of pirates". At the lagoons, we often have huge sand banks there, they're called "鯤鯓", which means a huge fish, or more commonly to be see as whales.

Not only the Han immigrants from Ming and Qing dynasty have mentioned the strong relation between Taiwan and whales, they can also be seen in Natives Taiwanese stories, and in the earlier ages, whale bones are sometimes even building materials.


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