taiwan's frontier border

8/14/2019 Taiwan's Frontier Border

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Savage Border

The guard line along Taiwan’s aboriginal

territory under Liu Ming-chuan and Kodama

Gentaro: 1884-1906

Author: Tim Hogan

Date: November 24, 2008

Course: Taiwanese History

Instructor: Professor Chou Whei-ming



Research questions

• What was the guard line?• What was its purpose?• How did it function?

• How effective was it?

• Methodology – Focus my examination of the

guard line in one particular area,northern Taiwan, and over twodifferent periods of time, the first,from 1884 to1891, and thesecond from 1898-1906



Rationale for methodology

• Northern Taiwan – Chinese settlement occurred relatively later than in parts of central and southern

Taiwan – The camphor industry played a key role in the economy in the north – The unpacified indigenous groups living in the north, particularly the Atayal, were

considered among the “fiercest” of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, thus the border

was a greater imperative in this area than farther south• 1884-1891 and 1898-1906

– The first period spans the administration of Taiwan by Liu Ming-chuan, an officialof the Qing Court

– The second encompasses the years that Kodama Gentaro served as theGovernor-general of Formosa (Taiwan) during the Japanese colonialadministration of the island

• Advantages – Illuminates the guard line’s significance during both the Chinese and Japanese

administrations of Taiwan – Facilitates an evaluation of the effectiveness of the border policies



Liu Ming-chuan

• Military career – Exposure to western weapons and

military tactics

• Assignment to Taiwan – Oust the French from Keelung

• Challenges faced – Reform the government – Increase public revenue

• Key figures in administration – Liu Ao (relieved of duties as tao-

tai)

– Lin Ch’ao-tung / Lin Wei-yuan(headed Pacification andReclamation offices)

– Shao Yu-lien (Assistant andsuccessor)



Kodama Gentaro

• Military career – Exposure to western weapons

and military tactics

• Assignment to Taiwan

– Take over administration• Challenges faced

– Put down rebel uprisings – Reform administration

– Develop economy• Key figure in administration

– Goto Shinpei



The guard line under Liu

• 1884

– Limited coverage and

fragmented

– Poor coordination of public

and private forces

– Personnel lacking, untrained,

undependable

• Developments – Reforming the guards men

into regional militias• Ai-ting to ai-yung

• Tun-ting to fan-yung

– Encouraging developmentalong the frontier

– Extending/advancing the line



Factors influencing

Liu’s border policy• Economy

– Camphor production unstable due toattacks on camphor workers

• 1881: 2,000,000 pounds• 1885: 399 pounds• 1890: 1,000,000 pounds• 1891: 2,000,000 pounds

• Public safety – Camphor workers needed protection from

aborigines

• Public financing – Limited finances for guarding the border – Priority given to other development

projects• Administration – Comprehensive land reform – System of land use fees and tax farming



Advancing the guard line under Liu

• Extend control into aborigines’ territory• More than forty campaigns in total• Often led by Liu personally• Many defeats

– 1889 campaign in Ilan

• death of 273 soldiers, including Liu’s nephew – Total of one-third of all troops injured or killedduring Liu’s administration

• Used best troops, cannons, rockets, land mines,modern warships – No match for aborigines’

• Spirit of resistance

• Fighting ability• Crude but effective village defenses• Blamed “Chinese scoundrels” for inciting the aborigines

in the border regions – May have simply been that Liu was unable to give

enough personal attention to the issue due to thewide range of projects he oversaw



Liu’s 1891 Departure

• Liu’s request for retirement over health concernsapproved by Court

• Criticized by Qing Court for various problems withadministration, especially the railroad and the coalindustry

• Liu’s vice-governor Shao Yu-lien becomes governor • Border guard system collapses to pre-Liu state



The guard line under Kodama

• 1898 – Defensive – Incomplete – Poorly sited

– Understaffed – Offering sanctuary to

rebel groups

• Developments

– Extending the line – Building guard houses – Reforming the guards men – Centralizing administration – Restricting access



Factors influencing

Kodama’s border policy

• Economy – Introduction of Camphor monopoly in 1899 – Guarantee supply of camphor

• Public safety – Protect camphor workers from attack

– Restrict trade in weapons and ammunition – Chinese rebel groups escaping into

aboriginal territory – Chinese inciting aborigines to rebel against

Japanese – Aborigines reacting against oppressive

Japanese policies

• Public finance – Sufficient financial support for activities

• Administration – Centralization of government, especially

the police



Transforming the

camphor economy• Changed “Bureau of Pacification and Reclamation” to

Office of Pacification and Reclamation – Abolished the General Bureau of Camphor

Affairs• Issued “Regulations for the Managementof

Government Forests and the Camphor Industry” in1895 – All mountain forests and wastelands become

property of the state unless Qing-era recordscan be produced – No camphor production without Qing permits – Gradual implementation of laws

• Taiwan Camphor Bureau and state monopolyestablished in 1899 – Camphor offices established in camphor districts – Support price levels to encourage investment

– Improved refinement methods – Buying stations to ensure quality – Existing permits discontinued – Phasing out of mountain fees to aborigines



The Nan-zhuang Incident in 1902

• Termination of mountain fees byJapanese camphor businessmen

• Appearance of survey markers onreclaimed land

• Attack on guard posts and camphor stills led by Ri Aguai (ethnic Chineseleader of aboriginal group)

• Army campaign to capture Ri and hisfollowers

• The guard line became an offensivestrategy to oust Ri from his mountainrefuge

• Chinese and aborigines hostile to Rito man the guard line

• Ri and group submits to police, mostexecuted, Ri escapes



Policies toward aborigines

• Gradual development – Primarily used with the aborigines

in the south – Sharing of seeds and agriculture

implements – Building of schools

– Encouraging migration outside theborder

– Trade in game, forest products for salt and other necessities (noweapons or ammunition

• Pacification

– Especially against northerngroups – Withholding of barter opportunities – Restriction of communication – Military campaigns



Details of 1904 campaign

• Connecting guard line in southeastern TaipeiCounty with line in I-lan

• Length: 33 miles• Time required: 99 days; July to November

1904• Labor requirements

– 7 inspectors – 8 asst. inspectors

– 90 policemen – 9 asst. policemen – 600 guardsmen – 1 interpreter – 112 workmen – 109 porters – 35 aborigine laborers

• Cost: 51,474 yen

• Buildings constructed – 6 superintendent stations – 54 branch superintendent stations – 193 guard houses

• Casualties: 2 wounded guardsmen• (Bureau of Aboriginal Affairs 1911)



Advancing the guard line

• Conciliatory advancement of the guard line – Negotiating with aborigines

– Moving forward unopposed

• Aggressive advancement of the border – Surveying a route

– Using mountain ridges or streams

– Bombard strategic locations – Proceed by force of arms

• 1903-1908: over 70advancements



Kodama’s Departure

• Appointed to lead Japanesearmy in the Russo-JapaneseWar in 1904, died of a cerebralhemorrhage in 1907

• Succeeded as Governor-general by Sakuma Samata,who participated in the 1874expedition to Taiwan and tooka much firmer policy with theaborigines



Evaluating guard line policy

• Liu put a lower priority onthe guard line than Kodamadid, thus was less effectivein managing the frontier

• Kodama was moresystematic in developing

the guard line, centralizingauthority with the police

• Both integrated the guardline into overall policygoals, but Kodama did thismore effectively



Later development of the guard line

• Comprehensive network of police stations throughoutaborigine territory

• Resettlement of manyaborigines in lowland villages

• Maintenance of restrictedaccess to aborigine territory



Contemporary significance

of the guard line• Almost invisible

– Few physical remains – Rarely noted in signage – Often in remote, rugged terrain

• Distant memory for most – Few people with direct experience

alive – Part of a painful history

• Incorporated into administrativeborders – Township and county borders

overlaid

• Insight into the social forces and

political policies that shaped modernTaiwan – Influenced cultural identity – Supported the creation of

“reservations” inhabited byaborigines



Bibliography

• Barclay, Paul D. 2007. “Contending Centres of Calculation in Colonial Taiwan: The Rhetorics of Vindicationism and Privation in Japan’s AboriginalPolicy.” Humanities Research, Vol. XIV. No. 1: 67-84.

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• De Bunsen, E.H. 1927. “Formosa.” TheGeographical Journal , Vol 70, No. 3: 266-285

• Chu, Samuel C. 1963. “Liu Ming-chu’uan andModernization of Taiwan.” The Journal for AsianStudies, Vol. 23, No. 1: 37-53

• Chang, Han-yu and Myers, Ramon H. 1963.“Japanese Colonial Development Policy in Taiwan,1895-1906: A Case of BureaucraticEntrepreneurship.” The Journal of Asian Studies,Vol. 22, No. 4: 433-449

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history , edited by Rubenstein, Murray A. New York.M.E. Sharpe, Inc.• Knapp, Ronald G. 1976 “Chinese Frontier

Settlement in Taiwan.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 66, No. 1: 43-59

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• Shepard, John R. 1995. Statecraft and political economy on the Taiwan Frontier 1600-1800 .Stanford University Press. Reprinted by SMCPublishing, Taipei.

• Shepard, John R. 1999 “The Island Frontier of theCh’ing, 1664-1780,” in Taiwan: A new history ,

edited by Rubenstein, Murray A. New York. M.E.Sharpe, Inc.• Speidel, William M. 1976 “The Administrative and

Fiscal Reforms of Liu Ming-ch’uam in Taiwan,1884-1891: Foundation for Self-strengthening.” TheJournal for Asian Studies, Vol. 35, No. 3: 441-459

• Tavares, Antonio C. 2005. “The Japanse ColonialState and the Dissolution of the Late ImperialFrontier Economy in Taiwan, 1886-1909.” TheJournal of Asian Studies, Vol. 64, No. 2: 361-385

• Takekoshi, Yosaburo. 1978. “Japanese rule inFormosa,” translated by Braithwaite, George.London. Longmans, Green, and Co. 1907.Reprinted by Southern Materials Center, Inc.Taipei.

• Teng, Emma. 1999. “Taiwan as a Living Museum:Tropes of Anachronism in Late-Imperial ChineseTravel Writing.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies,Vol. 59, No. 2: 445-484



Image Credits

• Vintage Formosa http://taipics.com/

• Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Taiwan History http://members.shaw.ca/leksu/index.htm

• The Takao Club http://www.takaoclub.com/index.htm

• Formosa (Reed College)http://academic.reed.edu/formosa/formosa_index_page/Formosa_index.h

• Formosasavage on flicker.com• http://flickr.com/photos/formosasavage/sets/72157603878677140/

• Findtarget• http://reference.findtarget.com/search/Qing%20Dynasty/

http://academic.reed.edu/formosa/formosa_index_page/Formosa_index.html

http://flickr.com/photos/formosasavage/sets/72157603878677140/

http://reference.findtarget.com/search/Qing%20Dynasty/

http://reference.findtarget.com/search/Qing%20Dynasty/

http://flickr.com/photos/formosasavage/sets/72157603878677140/

http://academic.reed.edu/formosa/formosa_index_page/Formosa_index.html

http://www.takaoclub.com/index.htm

http://members.shaw.ca/leksu/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://taipics.com/

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