Ep. 314 | The History of Taiwan (Part 5)

More Taiwan history for you in Part 5. This time we only get as far as the first decade of the Japanese colonial period. Quite a bit of exciting and little-known stuff went down in Taiwan between the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the moment the Japanese tamped down major resistance, seized control, and got to photograph themselves under a "Mission Accomplished" banner. The first years were characterized by acts of defiance against the Japanese takeover. We'll also examine "Asia's first republic" and those five months from 1895. We also harken back to an old History of Tea episode to look at Li Chunsheng and John Dodd's contribution to launching Taiwan's tea industry. All of this and more for you in Part 5. I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to your emails and comments.

Listen On Your Favorite Podcast Player

---

Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Pénghú	澎湖	Also popularly known as the Pescadores Islands. This is an archipeligo of 90 islands in the Taiwan Strait covering an area of 141 square km. The largest city is Magong
Lù Yǔ	陆羽	The Tea Saint. Tang dynasty writer, traveler and author of the Cha Jing or Classic of Tea
Kē Cháo	柯朝	He's credited with bringing tea plants from Fujian to Taiwan in the late 18th century and planting them in the Ruìfāng District 瑞芳区 just east of modern day Jīlóng 基隆
Lín Fèngchí	林凤池	Another tea pioneer who planted tea seeds and cuttings from Fujian in the rich and optimal soil of Dòngdǐng Village 冻顶村, Lùgǔ Township 鹿谷乡, Nántóu County 南投县.
Lǐ Chūnshēng	李春生	1838-1924, One of the "Fathers" of Taiwan's tea industry, along with John Dodd. He had a massive impact on the scaling up of Taiwan's tea industry and turning tea into Taiwan's biggest and renowned export
Xiàmén	厦门	Historic city in southern Fujian, also known as Amoy
Mùzhà	木栅	District just south of Taipei
Fújiàn	福建省	Coastal province in China located on the opposite side of the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan
Oolong Tea	乌龙茶	A semi-oxidized tea produced through a process including withering the leves under strong sun and oxidation before curling and twisting. Most oolong teas, especially those of fine quality, involve unique tea plant cultivars that are exclusively used for particular varieties. The degree of oxidation, which varies according to the chosen duration of time before firing, can range from 8 to 85%, depending on the variety and production style.
Dàdàochéng	大稻城	It was also known as Twatutia (a transliteration of the Taiwanese Hokkien Tōa-tiū-tiâⁿ),Daitōtei during Japanese rule, and Tataocheng during the Kuomintang era. Dadaocheng was an important trading port in the 19th century, and is still a major historical tourist attraction and shopping area. The district is known for the local Taiwanese cuisine
Dànshǔi River	淡水河	third longest river in Taiwan after Zhuoshui River and Gaoping River, with a total length of 158.7 km (98.6 mi),flowing through Hsinchu County, Taoyuan, Taipei and New Taipei City. It is located in northern part of the island.
Dàtóng District	大同区	A dustrict in Taipei located between the Taipei MetroRed Line and eastern shore of the Tamsui River, and between Civic Boulevard and the Sun Yat-sen Freeway. The southern part of this area used to be the site of Twatutia, one of the first settlements in what is now Taipei and for a time the area's commercial center
Taipei	台北	Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about 25 km (16 mi) southwest of the northern port city of Keelung. Most of the city rests on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed. The basin is bounded by the relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border
Liú Míngchuán	刘铭传	Taiwan's first governor during the Qing. He served from 1884-1891. Besides his past military service, Liu is remembered for his efforts in modernizing Taiwan during his tenure as governor, and several institutions have been given his name, including Ming Chuan University in Taipei.
Tiěguānyīn	铁观音	A type of Oolong Tea also known as Iron Buddha Tea. It originally came from Anxi in Fujian
Ānxī	安溪	A county of Quanzhou prefecture, in southern Fujian. Anxi lies adjacent to and directly north of Xiamen
Hakka	客家	A Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan, Guizhou in China, as well as in parts of Taiwan. Unlike other Han Chinese subgroups, the Hakkas are not named after a geographical region in China. The word Hakka or "guest families" is Cantonese in origin and originally refers to the Northern Chinese refugees fleeing social unrest, upheaval and invasions in northern parts of China who migrated to the south.
Li Hóngzhāng	李鸿章	1823-1901, Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. With his Huai Army, he quelled several major rebellions and served in important positions in the Qing imperial court, including the Viceroy of Zhili, Huguang and Liangguang. He was best known in the West for his generally pro-modern stance and as the Qing Dynasty's chief negotiator with foreign powers
Qīng	清朝	Last imperial dynasty of China 1644-1912
Táng Jǐngsōng	唐景崧	Chinese general and statesman who commanded the Yunnan Army in the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885),and made an important contribution to Qing dynasty China's military effort in Tonkin by persuading the Black Flag leader Liu Yongfu to serve under Chinese command. He later became governor of the Chinese province of Taiwan. Following China's cession of Taiwan to Japan at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War he became president of the short-lived Republic of Formosa
Liú Yǒngfú	刘永福	Chinese warlord and commander of the Black Flag Army. Liu won fame as a Chinese patriot fighting against the French in northern Vietnam in the 1870s and early 1880s. During the Sino-French War he established a close friendship with Tang Jingsong, and in 1895 he helped Tang organise resistance to the Japanese invasion of Taiwan. He succeeded Tang as the second and last president of the short-lived Republic of Formosa (5 June–21 October 1895)
Táiwān Mínzhǔguó	台湾民主国	The Taiwan Republic
Qiū Féngjiǎ	丘逢甲	1864-1912, a protégé of Táng Jǐngsōng and came from one of the many landed gentry families in Taiwan. Qiū’s people were Hakkas from just north of Méizhōu
Count Kabayama Sukenori	樺山 資紀	1837-1922, a Japanese samurai military leader and statesman. He was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He later became the first Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan during the island's period as a Japanese colony
Jīlóng	基隆	Officially known as Keelung City. It's a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipei City and Taipei.
Guāngxù Emperor	光绪帝	1871-1908, penultimate Qing Dynasty emperor. He reigned from 1875-1908
Zhānghuà	彰化市	County seat of Zhanghua (Changhua) County
Bāguàshān	八卦山	Eight Trigram Mountain, located near Changhua
Xīnchéng Incident	新城事件	November 1896, Karenkō Prefecture, Taiwan, Empire of Japan. The chief of the Truku tribe, Holok Naowi, led 20 aboriginal warriors against the Japanese forces, killing 13 Japanese soldiers. Xīnchéng is a township on the east coast of Taiwan in Huālián County
Taroko People	太鲁阁族	Also known as Truku people, are an Indigenous Taiwanese people. Taroko is also the name of the area of Taiwan where the Taroko reside. The Executive Yuan, Republic of China has officially recognized the Taroko since 15 January 2004. The Taroko are the 12th aboriginal group in Taiwan to receive this recognition.
Seediq People	賽德克族	a Taiwanese indigenous people who live primarily in Nantou County and Hualien County. Their language is also known as Seediq. They were officially recognized as Taiwan's 14th indigenous group on 23 April 2008. Previously, the Seediq, along with the closely related Truku people, were classified as Atayal
Kōminka Movement	皇民化运动	"Kōminka" literally means "to make people subjects of the emperor". The program had three components. First, the "national language movement" (国語運動, kokugo undō) promoted the Japanese language by teaching Japanese instead of Taiwanese Hokkien in the schools and by banning the use of Taiwanese Hokkien in the press. Second, the "name changing program" (改姓名, kaiseimei) replaced Taiwanese's Chinese names with Japanese names. Finally, the "volunteers' system" (志願兵制度, shiganhei seidō) drafted Taiwanese subjects into the Imperial Japanese Army and encouraged them to die in the service of the emperor.
Kodama Gentarō	兒玉 源太郎	1852-1906, Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army and a government minister during the Meiji period. He was instrumental in establishing the modern Imperial Japanese military.
Gotō Shinpei	後藤 新平	1857-1929, Doctor of Medicine, Japanese politician and cabinet minister of the Taishō and early Shōwa period Empire of Japan. He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule, the first director of the South Manchuria Railway, the seventh mayor of Tokyo City, the first Chief Scout of Japan, the first Director-General of NHK, the third principal of Takushoku University, and in a number of cabinet posts. Gotō was one of the most important politicians and administrators in Japanese national government during a time of modernization and reform in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Hoko System	保甲制度	Known as the Bǎojiǎ System in China, Hokō was an institution of administrative control, adopted by the Japanese colonial government between 1898 and 1945 in Taiwan. The model was based on placing responsibility on every level of the community hierarchy. The system was an effective mechanism in producing domestic stability and social order for the Japanese government
Wáng Ānshí	王安石	1021-1086),a Northern Song Duynasty economist, philosopher, poet, and politician. During his term as chancellor he attempted major and controversial socioeconomic reforms known as the New Policies. These reforms constituted the core concepts of the Song-Dynasty Reformists, in contrast to their rivals, the Conservatives, led by the Chancellor Sima Guang.
Northern Sòng	北宋	The first half of the Song Dynasty when the capital was in Kaifeng. The Northern Song lasted from the founding in 960 up to the Jingkang Incident in 1127 when the Jürchens sacked the capital and captured the entire royal family (except one)
Páiwān people	排湾族	An indigenous people and language. In 2014, the Paiwan numbered 96,334. This was approximately 17.8% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the second-largest indigenous group. They fought many skirmishes against foreigners in the 18th and 19th century
Atayal	泰雅族	Also known as the Tayal and the Tayan. The Atayal people number around 90,000, approximately 15.9% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the third-largest indigenous group. The preferred endonym is "Tayal", although the Taiwanese government officially recognizes them as "Atayal"
Sānxiá	三峽	A district in southwest New Taipei City (新北市)
Dàbào Incident	大豹社事件	Another bloody confrontation, this time between the Atayal people and the Japanese.
Méishān Earthquake	1906 眉山地震	The 1906 Meishan earthquake was centered on Moe'akhe (梅仔坑),Japanese Taiwan and occurred on March 17. Referred to at the time as the Great Kagi earthquake (嘉義大地震),it is the third-deadliest earthquake in Taiwan's recorded history, claiming around 1,260 lives. The shock had a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent)
Shinchiku-Tachū Earthquake	新竹-台中地震	This quake took place a hundred fifty kilometers to the north in Sānyì…not far from the border of Miáolì County 苗栗县 and Táizhōng City. Shinchiku was the new Japanese name for the city of Xīnzhú and Tachū was Táizhōng

---

Enjoy the show and want to support the CHP?

Join the Teacup Patreon

Make a Direct Donation

Buy Laszlo a Cup of Coffee

---