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Explaining the Unexplainable
- Europeans' lack of knowledge about genetics allowed for environmental explanations of Psalmanazar's appearance.
- He claimed Formosans lived underground, explaining his fair skin.
Fabricated Evidence
- George Psalmanazar, the alleged Formosan, fabricated a language and wrote a bible using invented symbols.
- He also invented extensive details about Formosan culture.
From Japanese to Formosan
- Psalmanazar's initial con as a Japanese pilgrim was exposed by an English chaplain, Alexander Innes.
- Innes then encouraged Psalmanazar to pose as a Formosan convert to Anglicanism.