Sulfur used to be the principal ingredient of gun powder, and during the Ming Dynasty Chinese businessmen traded agate, bracelets and felt rugs with Taiwan's native inhabitants for it.
在早期，由於硫磺是製造火藥的主要原料，因此明代即有商人以瑪瑙珠、手鐲和氈毯之類與台灣當地番人交換。