Lacquerware first appeared in Taiwan when imported by early immigrants from mainland China in the late Ming Dynasty, c. 1600 AD. However, the manufacture of lacquerware and the cultivation of the lacquer tree in Taiwan did not start until the early 20th century, in the period of Japanese rule. There was a very special requirement for the manufacture of lacquerware: the average temperature had to be warm and the humidity had to be high. Also, the substrate of the lacquerware, timber, was abundant in Taiwan.