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Koxinga's defeat of the Dutch on Taiwan led to the start of Han immigration to the island in the 17th century. This picture shows Koxinga's forces driving the Dutch out of Fort Zeelandia in southern Taiwan. (Courtesy of the National Central Library) |
Taiwan's early society was comprised of indigenous peoples and a small minority of Han people. Although parts of Taiwan fell under Dutch control temporarily in the 17th century, Han immigrants from the Chinese mainland expanded their influence after Cheng Cheng-kung, a Ming loyalist general (also known as Koxinga), led an expedition to Taiwan and drove out the Dutch. Ching-dynasty rule of Taiwan beginning in the latter half of the 17th century saw the establishment of Han settlements and growing Chinese influence, which fostered Taiwan's evolution into a Han Chinese society.
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Koxinga's defeat of the Dutch on Taiwan led to the start of Han immigration to the island in the 17th century. This picture shows Koxinga's forces driving the Dutch out of Fort Zeelandia in southern Taiwan. (Courtesy of the National Central Library) |
This process of Taiwan's "domestication" refers to societal changes that brought the island in line with provinces on the Chinese mainland, and the migratory lifestyle in harmony with the traditional Chinese social system. The result was the formation of a Chinese culture and society subject to administrative rule. In Taiwan, domestication marked a change from extensive migration of pioneers to a unified society ruled by the intelligentsia, and from parochial regionalism to ethnic assimilation. The parent culture's strong sense of solidarity and cohesiveness thoroughly ensured that Chinese culture took root in Taiwan.
Taiwan's domestication, or the migrants' re-adoption of the traditional Chinese lifestyle, was attributed to two main factors. The first was the natural factor of a migratory community seeking conformity with the parent society and its standards in social restructuring. Economic prosperity and the subsequent population flow, township settlements, ethnic assimilation, the disappearance of regional feuds, and the slow but steady emergence of a clan system founded on blood relations, gradually rid the migratory society of the special features that once characterized it. The second reason was the establishment of traditional cultural and educational systems on the island.
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Early Han settlers in Taiwan, such as this wealthy family in Taipei City, carried on their traditional Chinese lifestyles after they settled on the island. (Courtesy of the China Productivity Center) |
As society underwent domestication, people also became localized over time. Han immigrants adapted to the local environment, and communities once strongly knit by provincial and family origins gave way to new clans and religious groups founded on communal and blood relations. People began to identify with the new Taiwan society. Armed feuds among migrant groups from different regions gradually diminished. Local temples became places of worship and ritual for all people regardless of birth origin. Family clans no longer returned to the mainland for ancestor worship, and instead established independent halls in Taiwan where they paid respect to their forefathers.
These developments were natural and expected. Toward the end of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and around the beginning of Ching rule (1644-1911), Taiwan's society was composed partly of indigenous peoples and Dutch colonialists. Koxinga, his son, and subordinates cultivated the land and established a Han Chinese community. When Taiwan was incorporated into Ching-dynasty China, increasing numbers of immigrants arrived and the agricultural society quickly expanded. Although Taiwan's social structure differed greatly from that of their hometowns on the mainland, not surprisingly, the style of their homes, way of life, and communal behavior were influenced by their knowledge and customary lifestyle. This more settled Han lifestyle was reflected in the social structure and organization.
In the early period of Han Chinese settlement in Taiwan, the population increased rapidly with the male to female ratio uncommonly high. Families were large, female spouses were difficult to find, and many people adopted sons. The family system had not been widely institutionalized and communal relations became more important than blood ties. The homeless population grew. Armed conflicts and riots occurred frequently. Power remained in the hands of wealthy farming households. Taiwan lagged in terms of civil administration, presenting a distinctive picture of an agrarian, immigrant society in sharp contrast to other provinces on the Chinese mainland.
Its gradual domestication was characterized by the notable emergence of a society ruled by an elite class, the rise of influential leaders in the cultural and educational realms, and a gradual increase in the number of Confucian scholars.
Meanwhile, schools had already been established in Taiwan during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and under Cheng family rule (1661-1683). Academies offering training in Confucian learning had been set up, including the Chungwen Academy, established in 1704. These resembled tuition-free schools that had been established much earlier. Prefecture and county schools providing free education were also founded in 1706. Three years later, 16 community schools were set up throughout Taiwan, more than two decades after the establishment of two such schools in the Tainan area in 1684 and 1689, respectively. A quota system had been in effect as early as 1686, two years after Confucian teachings were offered in schools. This quota for young students seeking to pass government examination for civil and military services was set at 12 each year.
The intelligentsia emerged earlier in old agrarian communities than in new farming settlements, in towns than in rural villages, and in government administrative districts than in business-oriented localities. The pace of social restructuring, administrative zoning, and the implementation of the student quota differed from place to place according to the state of rural development. These factors set the pace for the formation of the intelligentsia and the emergence of leaders in cultural and educational fields. Before 1702, there was no record of the intelligentsia rising to power and participating in public affairs, although there is documentation of local individuals making donations or expressing positions on community affairs. The first written record concerning joint donations by students of literature and martial arts for the renovation of their prefecture schools dates to 1702. Beginning from that time, the intelligentsia enjoyed a rising status with social leaders playing an active role in local public affairs.
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| Many academies were set up in
Taiwan in the early 18th century to promote Confucian teachings, such as the Penghu
Wenshih Academy, shown as it stands today (left) and in its original state (right). (Photo by Wang Chi-tzung) |
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An accurate conclusion would be that Taiwan's intelligentsia gradually began to participate in community affairs in the first quarter of the 18th century. By the latter half of the century, it became a class by itself, and by the beginning of the next century, this class was playing leading and extensive roles in local affairs.
In southern Taiwan and Penghu, the intelligentsia emerged to gain an influential foothold by the early 19th century, since culture and education became increasingly important in these areas beginning in the late 18th century. In central Taiwan, the educated elite did not begin to assume control of local affairs until the latter half of the 19th century. Because the intelligentsia was small in number, government officials handled county affairs. Expansion in agricultural lands led to an increase in the number of intelligentsia in the late 18th century.
In northern Taiwan, members of the intelligentsia who had passed the imperial examinations grew in number during the latter half of the 18th century. Hsinchu, as the seat of the local government, had a higher concentration of intellectual elite than other areas. Between 1821 and 1861, an increasing number of intellectuals in the four northern counties of Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli passed imperial examinations. The intelligentsia expanded further as this elite status was bestowed on those who had made financial donations to public affairs and on soldiers with meritorious records. Around that time, poetry and literary societies also began to emerge.
A special characteristic of Taiwan's cultural, educational, and social development during the Ching dynasty was the process of domestication, or emphasis on cultural and educational work to create a Confucian society administered by the intelligentsia.
While the domestication of Taiwan's society took shape in the last quarter of the 18th century, it again underwent some changes when the modernization movement began on the Chinese mainland. Ching officials Shen Pao-chen and Liu Ming-chuan transformed the island into an exemplary model of China's modernization.
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| Ching officials Shen Pao-chen and
Liu Ming-chuan developed Taiwan into an exemplary model of China's modernization in the
18th century. The photos show Shen Pao-chen (left) and the Eternal Fortress (right) that
he built in southern Taiwan. (Reprinted from Three Hundred Years on Taiwan) |
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Under the leadership of Liu Ming-chuan, the government built cross-island railways, laid undersea telecommunication cables between Taiwan and the mainland coastal province of Fujian (as well as the offshore island of Penghu), established an independent postal system, set up a bureau of commerce, purchased steamships, and developed marine transportation. Liu also established a coal affairs bureau, followed a policy of government supervision over private mining companies, and procured new mining machinery. New techniques for camphor and sulfur extraction were introduced while a camphor and sulfur affairs bureau was set up along with a bureau of kerosene production and petroleum exploration. In addition, Liu launched a movement to encourage well-to-do businessmen to invest in roads and shops in Taipei; installed electric lighting; and set up a police agency and a city health department. All these measures helped build Taipei into a modern city.
In other efforts, Liu Ming-chuan established Western-style schools; set up classrooms for telegraph instruction; recruited Western teachers to teach English, French, math, physics, chemistry, cartography, history, and geography, thereby opening new horizons for Taiwan's education. In military affairs, Liu strengthened weak military defenses by using Western-style firearms, recruiting foreign instructors, and strengthening the combat skills of soldiers. He purchased foreign cannons, rebuilt the Keelung battery with the help of German technicians, and established a military machinery bureau, where foreign technicians were employed, using Taiwan-made nitrates and sulfur to manufacture bullets and artillery shells.
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| (Left) Ching official Liu
Ming-chuan (Reprinted from Three Hundred Years on Taiwan) (Right) These two Tengyun locomotives ("Riding the Clouds") currently on display in the Taiwan Museum were common in 18th-century Taiwan. |
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However, while Taiwan quickly underwent modernization, Liu upheld the policy of "Chinese learning in spirit and Western learning in practice" in the assimilation of Western culture. Emphasis was placed on facilities and their utilization. Since Western education was given a supplementary role, it produced no major change in the social structure or cultural tradition built on Confucian values.
In 1895, the Ching court ceded Taiwan to Japan. Although Japan's political and economic control brought about major changes, the existing feudal and tenant systems were retained, and no immediate fundamental change was seen in traditional society. During the early period of colonization, Japan adopted a soft-handed policy that respected the status quo. Chinese society, disturbed by the thought of the possible demise of the country, felt a strong need to preserve the existing Chinese culture and administration founded on Confucian values. In this environment, Japanese culture began to influence Taiwan society in terms of language, music, and lifestyle.
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During the Japanese
occupation, Han communities continued to preserve traditional Chinese culture, such as
Confucian values. Depicted is the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 by Ching
representative Li Hung-chang with Japanese delegates. (Courtesy of the National Central Library) |
Under Japanese colonization, the imperial examination system was abolished and a new educational system instituted. During the 50 years of Japanese rule, a total of 1,099 elementary schools, 44 secondary schools, 122 normal and vocational schools, five junior colleges, and a university was established. However, the Japanese adopted a discriminatory policy that placed restrictions on educational opportunities for Taiwan students. The colonial education system did not, as the Ching imperial examinations did, give rise to a new class of intellectuals. The important tasks of education and cultural dissemination fell on the Chinese-language schools, private schools, academies, and the many private poetry and literary societies, where the intelligentsia continued to gain strength. Although the founding members of the Taiwan Cultural Association, petitioners for the establishment of an elected assembly, and the founders of the Taichung High School and the Central Bookstore had studied under the colonial educational system or even in Japan, most were well-grounded in Chinese learning and Confucian philosophy. Prior to the Second World War, the Japanese colonizers were generally friendly toward Chinese culture by frequently participating in Chinese literary and poetry gatherings.
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Private academies and
literary societies, such as Taichung High School shown here, were established in Taiwan
for cultural and educational purposes because of the many restrictions placed by the
Japanese on educational opportunities for local students. (Courtesy of the National Taichung First Senior High School) |
In the later colonial period, war in the Pacific region intensified and Japan tightened its control over Taiwan. It vigorously promoted an assimilation movement and demanded that all Taiwan people study the Japanese language and take Japanese names. However, this policy had limited effect.
In the literary field, few Taiwanese were able to write in Japanese. The author Wu Chuo-liu was criticized for producing low-quality works, and Chang Wen-huan's writings had to be edited by his Japanese wife.1 According to estimates by scholar Huang Te-shih, up until Taiwan's return to China's fold in 1945, fewer than ten people in Taiwan were qualified to write good-quality fiction in Japanese.2
Despite Japanese colonization, the Chinese language continued to be taught in Taiwan and remained the principal language spoken by Han Chinese society. An official ban was imposed on the instruction of the Chinese language in private schools for only a short period of time. With this background, Taiwan was able to ban the use of Japanese in 1950, five years after its return to Chinese rule. Surveys have found that only 37 percent of Taiwan's population could speak Japanese in 1937 and only 60 percent in 1942.3
Under such social conditions, the Chinese language remained the main tool for writers. It was not until 1932, a few years after the Taiwanese New Literature movement began, that works written in Japanese, such as Where Is She Going? by Chui Feng, were published. Taiwan authors writing in Japanese gradually emerged following the inception in 1933 of the Japanese literary journal Formosa,4 but all the contributing members were in Tokyo. Strictly speaking, the first Taiwan publication in the Japanese language appeared in 1943 in the form of the bilingual Taiwan Literature and Art. Only a few talented writers were able to create works in Japanese while most writers wrote in Chinese. Despite the Japanese ban on the use of Chinese in 1937, some Chinese-Japanese bilingual journals, such as Wind and Moon, continued to be published until 1945 when Taiwan was returned to China. This underscored the fact that the older generation of writers received much education in Chinese culture, while the new generation, despite growing up in a predominantly Japanese environment, produced very few new writers in Japanese during the war period.5 Because traditional Chinese learning and the creation of new works were never interrupted, and the Japanese literary movement never became widespread, Taiwan writers quickly transcended language barriers and became active in literary circles in the 1950s.
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During the Japanese
occupation, many Taiwan writers continued to write in the Chinese language. Taiwan
Literature and Art, published in 1943, was the first Chinese-Japanese bilingual
periodical. (Courtesy of the Preparatory Office of the National Center for Research and Preservation of Cultural Properties) |
In summary, for about 110 years starting with Koxinga's expedition to Taiwan in 1661, Taiwan remained an agrarian, immigrant society where the indigenous culture slowly became marginalized. From the 1770s to around 1860, Han Chinese people settled in communities and emulated their motherland by establishing a Confucian society in a process described as "domestication." The intelligentsia and officials worked together to govern and lead society, and later participated in the Westernization movement which led to Taiwan's modernization. When China conceded defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, Taiwan was ceded to Japan. Although Taiwan's facilities and systems were modernized, the prevailing concepts and fundamental social structure did not change. This social environment laid the ground for the Nationalist government's continuation of Chinese cultural development and modernization after retrocession. It was on this foundation that Taiwan's cultural and educational development took off.
1. Lin Shu-yang, White Terror from February 28, 1947 to the 1950s (Taipei: China Times Publishing
Company, 1992), 196.
2. Huang Te-shih, paper presented at a seminar on Taiwan history at National Taiwan University, Taipei, 1978.
3. Su Hsin, Taiwan in Rage (Taipei: China Times Publishing Company, 1993), 84.
4. Yeh Shih-tao, The Historical Outline of Taiwanese Literature (Literary Magazine, 1987), 50.
5. Ibid., 66.