Episode #167 – Who Was The Fake Asian?

In 1703 a curious character arrived in London claiming to be a native of the island of Formosa. These days Formosa is better known as Taiwan, but in early 18th century it was a place barely understood by most Europeans. The Formosan visitor, George Psalmanazar, was eager to teach his English hosts everything there was no to know about his home island. The only problem was that Psalmanazar was fraud. He was a European who had never travelled east of Germany. He concocted elaborate tales about Formosa’s history, politics, and religion. Psalmanazar even invented his own language, that was complex enough to pass as authentic. The oddest thing about this case was that Psalmanazar in no way disguised his appearance. He was a light-skinned, blond haired, European who was able to convince most people he encountered he was from East Asia. How did he get away with this? Tune-in and find out how naughty priests, Halley’s comet, and the hearts of 20,000 sacrificed children all play a role in the story.

Living the Lie: Who Was the Mysterious Man from Formosa? - Historic Mysteries — The portrait of George Pslamanazar included in his memoir.

Formosa Hoax: George Psalmanazar's fake history of Taiwan — One of the illustrations from Psalmanazar’s book. This was one of the “idols” that he claimed appeared in Formosan temples.

Works Cited

Brooke-Hitching, Edward. The Madman’s Library: The Strangest Books, Manuscripts and Other Literary Curiosities from History. Chronicle Books, 2021.

Earnshaw, Graham. The Formosa Fraud: The Story of George Psalmanazar, One of the Greatest Charlatans in Literary History. Earnshaw Books, 2018.

Keevak, Michael. The Pretended Asian: George Psalmanazar’s Eighteenth-Century Formosan Hoax. Wayne State University Press, 2004.

Mcleod, Kembrew. “The Fake ‘Asian’ Who Fooled 18th-Century London”. The Atlantic, theatlantic.com, April 22, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/04/london-forgotten-aryan-asian-fraudster/361035/

Psalmanazar, George. An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa: an Island Subject to the Emperor of Japan. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004775536.0001.000?view=toc.

Psalmanazar, George. Memoirs of ****: Commonly known by the name of George Psalmanazar; a reputed native of Formosa. Written by himself in order to be published after his death. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004841176.0001.000?view=toc