Chapter 4   The Era of Ch'ing Dynasty

The Ch'ing Occupation of Taiwan

      Before the Ch'ing Dynasty had complete control of Mainland China, negotiations with the Cheng regime were continued in order to gain time. In October 1681, when the Ch'ing Dynasty had subjugated the whole country, it set out to put an end to the Cheng regime in Taiwan.  At this time, Emperor Kang-shi, disregarding unanimous opposition, appointed Shi Lang, a betrayer of the Cheng Royalty, as the Fukien naval commander in charge of assault on Taiwan.  Shi Lang, who knew Taiwan inside and out, would distinguish himself in the battle against the Cheng regime.

      On July 8, 1683, Shi Lang led 300 vessels and some 20,000 men in the assault and took over Penghu Island after one week.  Prisoners were sent back to Taiwan to spread rumors.  While Shi Lang's forces were in Penghu Island, the Cheng regime panicked, and the ministers in power, Pang Shek-fan and Lau Kuo-yen persuaded Cheng Keh-soan to surrender.  On July 31, the Cheng regime sent a messenger to Penghu to transmit the message of unconditional surrender.  Shi Lang accepted and sent a representative to Taiwan on Sept 5, ordering the Cheng Royalty and all its officials to wear pigtails symbolizing submission to Manchu.  They took away the seals of the Cheng Royalty, and demanded government property list.

      On Sept.22, Shi Lang and his troops marched into Taiwan without bloodshed.  Fed up by harsh policies of the Cheng government, the Taiwanese residents welcomed Shi Lang and his troops wholeheartedly.  Shi Lang announced a three-year tax exemption to win their confidence.  On Sept. 27, Cheng Keh-soan surrendered officially.  He and all his ministers wore pigtails to show subjugation to the new master.  This ended over three generations and twenty-three years of the Cheng rule in Taiwan.  A new era of Ch'ing Dynasty had begun.

To Retain or To Abandon Taiwan

      Although Cheng regime was destroyed, the Ch'ing Dynasty was not very enthusiastic about retaining Taiwan. There were different opinions in the Ch'ing court whether to retain or abandon Taiwan, and those who advocated abandonment had the upper hand; Shi Lang alone insisted upon retaining Taiwan.  Abandonment advocates proclaimed that "Taiwan is nothing but an isolated island on the sea far away from China, it has long since been a hideout of pirates, escaped convicts, deserters and ruffians, therefore, there is nothing to gain from retaining it.  On the other hand, the Penghu Islands being an important military strongpoint, needed to be retained and used as front base in eastern China Sea.  As for Han immigrants currently living in Taiwan, they should all be shipped back to their homes in China".  Shi Lang strongly opposed this assertion and tendered a petition to Emperor Kang-shi, stating pros and cons of retaining Taiwan.  This petition stressed the importance of occupying Taiwan as a part of Chinese territory.

       In this petition, Shi Lang said to the Emperor: "Taiwan is a natural shield for the four southeastern provinces of China, namely Jiangsu, Zhejian, Fukien and Canton. It is not only abundant in fertile soil, but also in farm products and natural resources. Even if Taiwan is to be abandoned, the policy of shipping immigrants back home is impracticable, for immigrants would flee to the mountains grouping with aborigines and escaped convicts from the mainland, and attack the coastal regions of China.  This will cause trouble in the future.  Furthermore, the Dutch may try to occupy Taiwan again, and the safety of Penghu Islands will be jeopardized”.  Emperor Kang-shi approved Shi Lang's petition, and on May 27, 1684, an imperial order was issued to the effect that Taiwan had officially become a territory of the Ch'ing Dynasty.  Because of the Emperor's decision, Taiwan's destiny had turned toward a different direction.

Restricted Immigration

      Although the Manchu had ruled Taiwan for a total of 212 years, the Ch'ing Dynasty regime was passive in developing this oversea domain.  The Ch'ing court's basic policy was emphasized on preventing Taiwan from becoming a pirate den or base for any anti-government power.  However, in spite of the passive policy, waves of immigrants came from the southern part of Fukien and the eastern part of Canton.  Gradually Taiwan developed into a major agricultural land.

     Upon deciding to retain Taiwan, the Ch'ing government put Taiwan and the Penghu Islands under the jurisdiction of Fukien Province, and set up the "Military Command Branch for Taiwan and Amoi", renamed Sheng-Tien Prefecture as Taiwan Prefecture, created three counties, namely Taiwan, Fongshan and Churo under Taiwan Prefecture.  The Military Command Branch was responsible for both the military and general administration, but its main duty was to administer military power for peacekeeping.  In order to prevent government officials and soldiers from revolt, government officials would only serve a three year term, upon completion of which they were transferred back to China, and no family was allowed to accompany while serving in Taiwan.  The 10,000 plus army and navy servicemen were also transferred every three years, while no recruiting was permitted in Taiwan.  The Ch'ing government was afraid that if the soldiers were stationed in Taiwan too long, they might group with Taiwan's residents and revolt against the government.

     Soon after the Cheng regime was subjugated, more than 100,000 immigrants were sent back to China by force, and Taiwan had became a "disserted country" as a result.  For those who were left behind, the Ch'ing government proclaimed a new regulation enforcing overall poll registrations.  Those who did not have wives or children, business or property, were sent back to their home provinces immediately.  Moreover, those who had wives and children, business or property, and were willing to remain in Taiwan had to apply through government offices in the home provinces.  This application would need approval by the Taiwan-Amoi Military Command Branch Office.  Anyone who had a criminal record, regardless of whether he has family, business or property, were sent back to their home provinces for trial, and were not permitted to set foot on Taiwan again.

          Though passage to Taiwan was permitted, it was severely restricted.  The Ch’ing government announced three restrictions:

(1) Those who wish to apply for passage to Taiwan, must obtain an agreement in writing from the local authority of his hometown, and must be examined and approved by the Taiwan-Amoi Military Command and Taiwan Coast Guard offices.  Stowaway or smugglers would be severely punished.

(3) The eastern region of Canton Province is a well known pirate den, the residents of this region are customarily thieves, and therefore, are not permitted to travel to Taiwan.

     Since eastern Canton Province was inhabited mostly by the "Hakka" race, rumor said that the third restriction was deliberately aimed at Hakka people due to Shi Lang's prejudice towards them. Whatever the reason may be, it is a fact that Hakka immigrants were comparatively less than immigrants from the Chuan Zhou and Chang Zhou regions of southern Fukien Province.  In the early period of Ch'ing rule, under the pretense of reducing Taiwan population, the Ch'ing government kept the wives and children of the immigrants as "hostages" in their home province, so as to limit the numbers of immigrants for easier public peace-keeping.

     Although passage to Taiwan was rigorously restricted, the number of immigrants smuggled to Taiwan increased each day. Taiwan, abundant in fertile land, was literally a new world to the people in southeastern coastal provinces of China, especially the heavily populated Fukien province.  In order to successfully smuggle to Taiwan, one had to sneak through the government watch and cross the gigantic waves of Taiwan Strait.  The Taiwan Strait had long been feared as the "impregnable pass", especially the dangerous ocean current known as the "Black Current" near the Penghu Islands.  It was extremely difficult for smugglers to arrive at Taiwan safely.  However, despite the numerous victims, the streams of people heading for Taiwan seemed never ending.

Restricted Development

     The Chi'ing government did not only restrict residents of southeastern provinces from coming to Taiwan, but also enforced the "Mountain Sealing Order" on the residents of Taiwan, forbidding the immigrants to enter and cultivate the land in the regions of aborigines.  On the surface, the Mountain Sealing Order seemed to protect the aborigines and prevent collision between immigrants and aborigines, but the real purpose was to prevent the rebel immigrants from escaping into the mountains and grouping with the aborigines.  Under the Mountain Sealing Order, the Ch'ing government segregated the aborigines from the immigrants, and set up borders between them.  This not only enclosed aborigines inside the line, but also prevents immigrants from crossing the border to mingle or intermarry with aborigines.  Anyone who violated the order was severely punished, and incompetent officials who failed to discover border-crossing immigrants were demoted or transferred.

      Furthermore, in order to prevent the immigrants from manufacturing and concealing weapons, the Ch'ing government forbade the import of iron and iron products.  Foundry was also prohibited for a long period.  The manufacture of agricultural tools had to be approved by the government, and there were only twenty-seven officially approved blacksmiths in the entire Taiwan; required iron materials were brought in from the government appointed suppliers in Chang Zhou, Fukien.  In addition, being located in a sub-tropical zone, bamboo forests are widely distributed in Taiwan, and since the government was afraid the residents might use bamboo spears as weapons, transport and export of bamboos were prohibited.

       The Mountain Sealing Order, which regulated a series of restrictions and punishments, weakened agricultural productivity and became obstacles in the development on Taiwan.  However, as years passed by, these restrictions as well as passage restriction became little more than names, and Taiwan agriculture had had a slow but steady progress.  The development during the Cheng Royalty's era was gradually been expanded and turned into a full-phased development.

Agricultural Development and Expansion of                    Administrative Regions

      The bans accompanied with severe punishment proclaimed by the Ch'ing government, were eroded one by one by the corrupted government officials, and as the population increased and agriculture developed, so did the expansion of the administrative regions.

      When Taiwan first became a Ch'ing territory, the Ch'ing government inherited almost all organizations and administrative divisions established by the Cheng Royalty's government in the south.  Taiwan Prefecture was divided into Taiwan, Fongshan, and Churo counties.  Later, as population increased and with development under way, Churo County was further divided into Churo, Changhua, and Tamsui counties in 1723.  In 1727, Penghu County was set up for military consideration, thus Taiwan Prefecture had six counties.  From 1760 onward, since the ban of Hakka immigrants was lifted and passage restriction softened, tides of immigrants flowed to Taiwan endlessly.  Agricultural development was expanded crossing the Central Mountain Range, reaching eastern Taiwan.  In 1809, Hamalan County was established in Hamalan (present day Yilan), the northeastern region of Taiwan.

       The Ch'ing government had become positively interested in Taiwan development, ever since the 1874 incident, in which the Japanese sent a military expedition to Taiwan.  At that time, the Emperor sent minister Shen Pao-tzeng to Taiwan for an inspection.  In his report to the Emperor, Shen Pao-tzeng recommended that passage restriction to Taiwan as well as the Mountain Sealing Order, which had been enforced for 190 years and had then been ignored, should be abolished altogether.  In 1875, Taiwan was redefined into two prefectures, twelve counties: under jurisdiction of Taiwan Prefecture were Taiwan, Fongshan, Jiayi, Changhua, Hengchun, Penghu, Pinan (present day Taitung) and Poli, and under the jurisdiction of Taipei Prefecture were Hsinchu, Yilan, Keelung and Tamsui, etc. From the way the new administrative division was set up, one can see that agricultural development of Taiwan had already been extended to the entire Island.

Frequent Rebellions

       The passive attitude toward developing Taiwan by the Ch'ing government was not without reason.  During two hundred and twelve years of Ch'ing rule, approximately one hundred major and minor armed uprisings and peace-disturbing incidents had happened.  In those days, Malaria and other epidemics were prevalent in Taiwan, and furthermore, Taiwan was a known habitat of venomous snakes.  Ch'ing officials were afraid of the ferocious residents in Taiwan, who would launch "one major rebellion every 5 years and one minor rebellion every 3 years", and were hesitant in accepting the assignment to be posted in Taiwan.

       Although corruption and accepting bribe had been traditional bad habits of Chinese officials, the situation in the case of Ch'ing officials in Taiwan was extremely serious.  In order to correct the situation, starting from 1743, a reward was paid to encourage honesty, however, corruption and bribery of officials did not decrease, but became even more serious than before.  Furthermore, the morale of soldiers was low due to frequent transfers; many of them began to gamble, indulge in pleasure or work hard to earn pocket money.

       Among the armed uprisings and peace-disturbing incidents, the rebellions of Chu Yit-gui (1721), Lin Song-bun (1786) and Dai Tiao-chun (1862) were regarded as the three major rebellions in Taiwan history during the Ch'ing rule. In Chu Yit-gui's case, the rebellion spread to the entire island in seven days.  The rebels proclaimed "anti-Ch'ing and restore Ming" as their cause, established "Yung Ho" as new era, but were suppressed after fighting Ch'ing troops for one year.  Sixty-five years later, when Lin Song-bun rebelled, the idea of restoring Ming was thinned and indifferent.  Lin's aim was to annihilate corrupt government officials.  The rebels proclaimed "Sun Tien" as a new era, but their anti-government activities only lasted little more than a year.  After Lin Song-ben, the uprisings and incidents that followed were due to economic issues rather than political, and were unable to develop to an island-wide scale.  A typical example was Dai Tiao-chung's rebellion, which started in the center part of the island.  The anti-government struggle lasted about three years.  In most cases, Ch'ing troops stationed in Taiwan were insufficient to suppress the rebellions, and reinforcements had to be called in from the Chinese mainland.

Assimilation of Aborigines

       The immigrants mostly brought about armed uprisings and peace-disturbing incidents.  However, there were also some riots initiated by the aborigines.  These riots broke out mainly because aborigines were dissatisfied with the government and opposed to the invasion of their lands by immigrants. Since the aborigines were divided into many tribal races and lacked a concentrated power, they were unable to launch a large-scale uprising.

      Before the Ch'ing government changed its policy on Taiwan, immigrants were nearly all bachelors due to passage restriction.  Although a marriages between immigrant and aborigine woman was prohibited, intermarriages were still practiced.  In fact, it contributed to the cause of decrease in aborigine population, because the children from intermarriages were treated as Han immigrants.  The Ch'ing government regarded aborigines who lived on flat land as "tamed barbarians" or "flatlanders", distinguishing them from those who lived in the mountains who were called "untamed barbarians" (although they should be correctly called "mountaineer aborigines").  Almost all those who married immigrants were flatland aborigines.  There had been a saying that goes: "There are no Tang Shan grandmothers but only Tang Shan grandfathers in Taiwan." It means that there are only Chinese grandfathers, but no Chinese grandmothers in Taiwan.  One can see how popular intermarriage was between aboriginal women and immigrants.

              Not long after Taiwan became a Ch'ing territory, assimilation of flatland aborigines was started; school education began in 1695 with the use of "three words lyric" in Han characters, and the Han value system was taught to the flatland aborigines.  With the Han assimilation in progress, the aborigines were forced to accept "granting" of Han names.  Popular grant names were Pan, Liu, Chen, Lin and Lee, among which Pan was most popular because phonetically it is close to "fan" (Chinese version of aborigine), and inside the Pan character are strokes meaning "paddy field" and "water", which are preferable to flatland aborigine farmers.

"Heaven and Earth Society" and                                                    Fight Between Ethnic Groups

      Compared to the uprisings of aborigines, the revolts of immigrants were overwhelmingly larger in scale.  This had something to do with an organization called the "Heaven and Earth Society" which started after the collapse of the Cheng regime.  The "Heaven and Earth Society" was a civilian organization whose purpose was to overthrow the Manchu and to help other helpless immigrants.       

       The name "Heaven and Earth Society" came from its motto: "Heaven and earth are our parents, all members are our brothers".  To join the club, one had to go through ceremonies of "mixing blood" and "drinking blood", and after exchanging blood cups signifying allegiance; one would be accepted as a member.  At that time, since all immigrants were single, by joining the brotherhood one not only participates in anti-Ch'ing activities, but also found relief from loneliness.  Although the "Heaven and Earth Society" had a strong political motive in the beginning, gradually the role of politics diminished and the society took on a nature of mutual assistance.  As immigrants increased, members of the Society also increased.  It was not long before branches of different home regions were organized.  During the rebellions of Chu Yit-gui and Lin Song-bun, the mobilizing power of Heaven and Earth Society was behind the scenes making it possible to sweep the whole island in a short period.  On the other hand, failure of the rebellions was caused by disunity between Fukien and Hakka racial groups.

     Although Fukien and Hakka ethnic groups were both Han immigrants, they were further divided into smaller groups according to their origins, such as Chang-zhou and Chuan-zhou groups within Fukien group.  Fighting between different ethnic groups was a traditional behavior often happened in Fukien, however, not only had this tradition been brought into Taiwan, it also became more violent and complicated.  Beside conflict between Fukien and Hakka groups, there were also conflicts among Chang-zhou, Chuan-zhou, and Hakka groups, and sometimes the aborigines would participate in the conflict making it a four-fold struggle.  Aside from this, there were also fighting between different clans.  This fighting between ethnic groups resulted in weakening the residents' own strength.  To the Ch'ing government, division among residents made it easier to control them.  According to the Ch'ing's record, there were "righteous men" who collaborated with the Ch'ing government in suppressing the "rebels".       

       Anti-Ch'ing uprisings, peace-disturbing incidents, and the residents' fight between different ethnic groups gradually subsided as the Ch'ing government positively engaged in Taiwan development.  In view of the imperialist powers' ambition on Taiwan, the Ch'ing government finally realized the value of Taiwan, and the residents, being conscious of new enemies, were awaken with racial consciousness.  This was a change of phenomenon occurred when mercantilism gave way to imperialism.

     Rice crops were harvested two or three times a year in Taiwan, so there was usually enough for self-consumption with surpluses.  During the Ch'ing era, Taiwan was called Fukien's "grain stock" for supporting food shortages in China.  While supplying China with rice, Taiwan still had to depend upon import of daily commodities from China.  Even if Taiwan wanted to produce daily commodities for its own consumption, it could not compete with the imported goods, due to the sale of cheap Chinese products.  Under normal circumstances, Chinese merchandise was shipped to Taiwan, and in return, Taiwan specialty products, rice, sugar, camphor, etc. were shipped to China.  Thus, Taiwan had economically become China's "domestic colony".

     Having been in the "domestic colony" for a long time, importers and exporters in Taiwan developed a unique trade organization called a "guild".  In 1720’s, there were "north guild" and "south guild" merchants who traded in northern and southern China respectively, bordering at Amoi.  There were also "harbor guild" merchants who specialized in trading between harbors.  Later, each harbor in Taiwan formed its own "guild", and aside from the regional guilds, divisions according to commodity were developed such as "rice guild", "sugar guild", etc.  These guilds, which were similar to present-day trade organizations, enjoyed monopolized business approved by the government. They would later become the capitalists of Taiwan commerce.  In exchange for special privileges, almost all the "guild" merchants collaborated with the government in recruiting "militias" or donating military expenses during residents' uprising.  They were virtually political merchants. Later, when Taiwan harbors were opened to foreigners, "guild" merchants who had long controlled the businesses in Taiwan became partners of foreign capitalists or acted as their agents.

Open Harbor

     During the period of Opium War, in September of 1841 the British fleet started to appear offshore of Taiwan, and tried to occupy Keelung harbor in the north and Goh-cheh harbor of central west coast, but failed.  This was the first aggressive move on Taiwan by imperialist powers. In July 1854, Admiral Perry, who had just signed a goodwill treaty with Japan, led an American Far East Fleet to Taiwan and anchored at Keelung harbor for ten days.  During the period, with searching for missing sailors as an excuse the Americans landed at Keelung and surveyed the coalmine.  Upon return to America, Perry presented a report pointing out Taiwan was suitable for a Far East trade station, sharing similarities to Florida and the Yucatan.  Therefore, he insisted on occupying Taiwan.  Though his desire of occupying Taiwan did not materialize, Perry's report had been noticed by the European powers, and rapidly aroused their interest in Taiwan.

       In October 1856, the "Arrow" incident that occurred in Canton induced a Second Opium War, and as a result, four Tientsin treaties were concluded during June 1858.  Based on the Tientsin treaties, Tamsui (1862), Keelung (1863), Anping, and Takao (present-day Kaohsiung, 1864) were opened to the West one after another, and western missionaries were allowed to propagate Christianity in Taiwan. 

      Immediately after harbors were opened, merchants from western countries began to enter the harbors for commercial activities, and missionaries arrived in Taiwan one after another.  Since the trouble caused by British merchants collecting camphor occurred in 1868, the Ch'ing authorities, under the threat of guns, had no choice but to comply with the demands of the British.

       The summaries of treaties signed at that time were: (1) Abolish government monopoly of camphor business, permit foreigners and their employees to freely buy and sell camphor products; (2) Permit foreign merchants to travel freely in Taiwan; (3) Indemnify for the losses of churches, forbid the residents to slander Christianity; (4) Missionaries are given the right to live in Taiwan and propagate  Christianity; (5) Complications between the natives and foreigners should be jointly judged by Ch'ing authorities and British consul, etc. Although this was a treaty with Britain, it also applied to other major powers.  By the same token, all unequal treaties concluded between the Ch'ing and various countries also applied to Taiwan. Since then, Taiwan's economy was linked with the world's economy: tea and camphor were exported from Tamsui and Keelung in the north, sugar was exported from Anping and Takao (Kaohsiung) in the south; and opium and general merchandise were the major imported items. .

       During the Dutch era, there had been propagation of Christianity in southern Taiwan, and in the north, there were also activities of Catholicism introduced by the Spanish, but all the western religious activities became extinct when the Cheng Royalty replaced the Dutch.  After the Opium War, the Santa Dominican Church sent a priest to Taiwan in 1859, and resumed propagation of Catholicism two years later. After the harbors were opened, the British Presbyterian Church began Christianity propagation in 1865, and in 1872, the Canadian Presbyterian Church started its activity.  The  propagation activities of Catholicism and Christianity, which resumed in the latter half of the nineteenth century, continued for one century.  Although the number of believers is not comparable to Buddhism and Daoism from China, but the western religion has brought multiple phase to the culture and has been very influential in Taiwan society.

Japanese Military Expedition to Taiwan

     Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan had many troubles in dealing with the matter of Ryukyu, and developed a profound interest in Taiwan.  It happened that in 1871, sixty-six Miyakojima residents of Ryukyu had drifted to southern Taiwan, of whom fifty-four had been killed by aborigines of the Botany tribe. The remaining twelve somehow escaped unharmed and returned home. This was so-called "Botany Incident".

      While he was in office as consul of Amoy in 1867, LeGendre signed a treaty with aborigine chief Tokidok for helping shipwreck drifters.  There had been many American and foreign shipwrecks at offshore of southern Taiwan, and often drifters were killed by the aborigines.  The Ch'ing government had previously declined responsibility with an excuse that aborigines were "barbarians" and their habitat was a "barbaric region".  Therefore, with approval from American government, LeGendre directly concluded the treaty with Tokidok.  It was as if there existed two governments in Taiwan.

       While preparing for the invasion of Taiwan, Japanese foreign minister Taneomi Soejima went to Peking to exchange the approvals of "Provisions for Sino-Japanese Reconciliation", and negotiated for the settlement of the Botany Incident.  The Ch'ing government rejected taking responsibility for the Botany Incident, reasoning that Taiwan residents were "barbarians", and that territory was a "barbaric region".  The attitude of the Ch'ing government was not different from what LeGendre experienced when he signed the treaty with Tokidok.

      With this response from the Ch'ing, Japan appointed lieutenant general Tsugumichi Saigo as chief of Taiwan Barbarian Territory Affairs, and Shigenobu Okuma as bureau chief.  With LeGendre as the bureau's second class official, these three constituted the key personnel for the military venture on Taiwan.  Japanese troops led by Saigo, departed from Nagasaki on May 17 of the same year, and landed near Hengchun in southern Taiwan on May 22.  Although troubled by endemics and aborigines' guerrilla-style resistance, Japanese troops successfully occupied the "barbaric territory " by June.

    During the period when Saigo and his troops were in southern Taiwan, the Japanese government dispatched Toshimichi Okubo as an ambassador plenipotentiary, accompanied by LeGendre to the Ch'ing government, and after repeated negotiations signed the "Peking Treaty".  In this treaty, the Ch'ing agreed to pay an indemnity, 500,000 Liangs of silver to Japan, and Japan agreed to withdraw troops from Taiwan.  Although there was no clear provision as to who owned Ryukyu, the Ch'ing government admitted Japan's act of sending troops to Taiwan was a "noble deed" to protect its nationals, and furthermore, agreed to pay victims' family comfort money amounting to 100,000 Liangs in silver.  Even though the object of occupying Taiwan was not achieved, Japan had indirectly obtained the Ch'ing government's recognition that Ryukiu belonged to Japan.

From Passive to Positive

       Japan's military venture to Taiwan served as a warning signal to the Ch'ing court who had taken a passive attitude for developing Taiwan in the past.  On May 27, 1874, after Japanese troops arrived in Taiwan, the Ch'ing court swiftly appointed Shen Bao-tseng as "Inspector-General and concurrently Minister for Taiwan Coastal Defense", and dispatched him to Taiwan.  Accompanied by warships and troops, Shen Bao-tseng arrived at Taiwan on June 17 of that year, and he strengthened the defense of Taiwan remarkably.  However, Shen's duty was not to fight the Japanese, but to reform Taiwan's administrative system and positively plan for the development of Taiwan.

      Shen's reform was a great turning point for Taiwan's development.  There was paved road in eastern Taiwan for the first time, and in the south, an east-west crossing road was built. Immigrants were encouraged to cultivate the wastelands; borderlines were redrawn to reduce the habitat of aborigines in the mountain region; and the habitat of immigrants was expanded to facilitate accelerated development.  Foreign engineers were hired for the coalmine near Keelung, and new methods of mining were introduced.  In Taipei and Tainan, letter transmit bureaus (equivalent to today's post office) were established to speed up traffic of government documents.  Morals of civil and military officials were positively promoted. Although stationing the Fukien governor in Taiwan was not realized, the governor did spend a half-year each in Taiwan and Fukien.

       Less than a year after Shen Bao-tseng arrived at his post, he was promoted to governor for both Chiang-Shi and Chiang-Su provinces and concurrently the Minister of Commerce, and thus had to leave Taiwan.  His reform plan was not completed, but was carried on by his successor, Ding Jit-chang, the governor of Fukien province.  Same as Shen Bao-tseng, Ding was also a promoter of "westernization movement" which was a reform movement before the collapse of the Ch'ing Dynasty.  Ding's term of office was also very short, his main achievement in office was laying 95 kilometers of communication cables between Tainan and Kaohsiung as well as between Tainan and An Ping only.

The Reform of Lau Ming-tuan

     After Opium War, western powers continuously watched for an opportunity to grab territories possessed by the panic-stricken Ch'ing Dynasty.  Following Japan's military venture, France directly assaulted Taiwan with force. France started the war with the Ch'ing for a dispute on Vietnam, and in April of 1884, dispatched a French fleet into Keelung harbor.  Besides surveying the harbor, the fleet purchased coal supplies compulsively.  In August of the same year, French troops landed at Keelung again and destroyed the battery; they also performed a threatening parade in the city before withdrawal.  After that, they came back again in September to attack Keelung and Tamsui, and between November and February of next year (1885) repeatedly attacked the vicinity of Keelung.  French forces did occupy part of northern Taiwan at one point, but had never been able to occupy it completely, so they turned their target on Penghu Island where the defense was weaker, and succeeded in occupying Penghu in March, 1885.

       In mid-April, a cease-fire agreement was concluded between the Ch'ing and France, with precondition that the Ch'ing recognizes Vietnam as France's protected territory.  French forces called off the blockade on sea and withdrew from Penghu Island.  France's military operation on Taiwan had made the Ch'ing government realize the importance of Taiwan, and in order to accelerate the policies of positive Taiwan development, dispatched a "westernization" reformist, Lau Ming-tuan, to Taiwan. In the midst of Sino-Franco war, the Ch'ing government appointed this ex-army commander, who reported directly to the Emperor, as the governor of Taiwan responsible for administration and military operations.  In July of 1884, Lau Ming-tuan arrived in Taiwan, and in view of the situation, that northern Taiwan was under attack by French forces, he stationed himself in Taipei.  There was a world of difference between Lau's positive action and other Ch'ing officials' passive attitude in dealing with problems.

       When Lau Ming-tuan assumed the office of the Fukien governor in control of both Fukien and Taiwan, he suggested to the Ch'ing court that Taiwan be separated from Fukien and his suggestion was accepted. In October 1885, Taiwan became an independent "province", and Lau was appointed the first governor of Taiwan. Upon establishment of the Taiwan Province, the administrative divisions were immediately revised. Under Taiwan province were: Taitung County, directly controlled by provincial office; Taipei Prefecture, which controlled Tamsui, Hsinchu, Yilan, Keelung and Nanya Counties; Taiwan Prefecture, which controlled Changhua, Yunlin and Miaoli and Polisha Counties; and Tainan Prefecture, which controlled An Ping, Fengshan, Hengchun and Penghu Counties, etc.  There were a total of three prefectures, eleven counties, and one directly controlled county. Incidentally, the administrative districts revised at this time had become the basis for eras under the Japanese and the Kuomintang regime in later years.

       Lau Ming-tuan established over thirty organizations that were directly controlled by the Taiwan provincial government.  He also readjusted the organizations that already existed.  These included the Taxation Bureau, Salt Monopoly Bureau, Coal Mining Bureau, Shipping Bureau, Land Development Bureau, and Medical Bureau, etc.  Lau's reform was based on the principle of self-support by the residents, and was a kind of "resource from the spot" principle.  While establishing new enterprises, he also put the taxing system in order and developed new tax sources.  In other words, under his own calculation, Lau Ming-tuan had taken positive goals for Taiwan's development.  Taiwan's finance in those day depended mainly on land taxes, and Lau had decisively taken unprecedented measures of tax reform, and reported to the Emperor "within three to five years, the finance of Taiwan will become self-sufficient".

Tax Reform

       In April 1886, Lau Ming- tuan established Tax Reform Bureau in Taipei, completed investigation on resident population within three months, and started to organize "Bao Jia" system which concurrently had public peace-keeping purpose. Bao Jia system used "Jia" as a unit in managing residents under a get-involved system; ten households are grouped in one "Jia", ten Jias in one "Bao", with one chief in each "Jia" and "Bao" respectively.  After completing the investigation on population, Lau started to investigate on the lands, verifying land, and field ownerships, exposing the tax evading "invisible fields”, and identifying their owners.  As a result, tax revenues had abruptly increased from 500,000 to 675,000 Liangs of silver.

     Although the tax reform work was not done thoroughly enough, but the investigations on Taiwan population and lands as well as making clear of complicated land ownerships, had not only become the basis of population and land investigations later in the era of Japanese rule, but was also instrumental in Taiwan's transformation to capitalism.  In those days, the situation of land ownership in Taiwan was that tenant farmers work for "small landlords" who in turn work for "great landlords".  It was a so-called double ownership structure.  The great landlords collect 10% of harvest crops, while small landlords collect 50% to 60% of crops as rental, leaving 30% to 40% of crops to tenant farmers, while great landlords and small landlords bear an equal share of land taxes.  One of the objects of tax reform was to try to abolish the great landlords, but it had been resisted by influential politicians, businessmen and men of the district, and as a result, great landlord gave up 40% of their previous collection to small landlord, making small landlord responsible for paying land taxes, thus the problem was solved with so-called "reduce 40%, retain 60%" compromise.     

       On railroad construction, originally it was planned to build a railroad from Keelung through Tainan, but due to lack of capital and the departure of Lau Ming-tuan from his post, only about 32 kilometers were constructed between Keelung to Taipei. Later in February of 1893, another section of approximately 67 kilometers was completed extending up to Hsinchu. So far, the narrow railroads constructed during Ch'ing era totaled 100 kilometers from Keelung to Hsinchu.

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