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Shih Lang's victory over the Cheng regime
in Taiwan eliminated the last stronghold of Ming loyalist
sentiments and consolidated the territorial security of
the Manchu Ch'ing empire. Taiwan was included administratively
as part of Fukien province, containing one prefecture and
three districts. Within Taiwan the administrative boundaries
for the most part followed the Ming system established by
Cheng Ch'eng-kung. The Ch'ing regime treated Taiwan with
equal measures of authoritarianism and benevolence; on the
one hand they used lenient and favorcurrying policies to
win over the loyalties of the Han immigrants and native
peoples of Taiwan, while on the other hand employing extremely
stringent tactics to guard against any resuscitation of
Ming loyalist sentiments on the island. To this end they
set up tight restrictions at all ports of entry and exit
and forbade manland Chinese to come to Taiwan. These strict
measures were not relaxed until the Ch'ing government had
fully consolidated its power in Taiwan. Even so, many rebellions
arose over the 200 year course of Ch'ing rule; the situation
was described in a common saying as "A large uprising
every five years, a small one every three." One reason
for this was that most of the Han Chinese on the island
had immigrated from Fukien or Kwangtung, or come over with
Cheng Ch'eng-kung, and after his defeat their Han nationalist
consciousness was still very strong, making them highly
resistant to rule by a Manchu dynasty. Another reason was
that the Ch'ing government looked on Taiwan as a backwards
island in the boondocks, and thus paid it little attention
and devoted little effort to construction and development
there, which provided the pretext for much discontent. these
frequent rebellions indicate the intense nationalist spirit
of the people of Taiwanese, and also the corruption and
incompetence of the Ch'ing government, which led to such
dissatisfaction among the populace.
The major Ch'ing dynasty
contribution to the development of Taiwan's infrastructure
took place after 1874. In that year the Japanese, acting
under the pretext that cer- tain Ryukyu islanders had been
murdered in Taiwan, sent a military expedition to occupy
Mutan in southern Taiwan. In response the Ch'ing government
sent Shen Pao-chen (1820-1879) to bolster Taiwan's defences
and to settle the quarrel with the Japanese. Shen Pao-chen
recognized the growing im- protance of Taiwan's strategic
position, and it was through his efforts that the Ch'ing
government decided to develop Taiwan fur- ther as a bulwark
of its coastal defenses. The most outstanding contributions
to the development of Taiwan in the late Ch'ing period were
made by Shen Pao-chen, Ting Jih-ch'ang and Liu Min-ch'uan,
and these are summarized as follows.
Shen Pao-chen:
After the satisfactory conclusion
of the Mutan incident with the withdrawal of the Japanese
expeditionary force, Shen Pao-chen was charged with making
further improvements to Taiwan's strategic infrastructure.
He requested that the military governor of Fukien province
be stationed in Taiwan, and also proposed the establishment
of the additional prefecture of Taipei and three new districts
of I-Ian, Hsin- chu and Tamsui. He also laid plans for driving
roads through the mountain areas from east to west, so as
to open up Taiwan's eastern seaboard and civilize the aboriginal
peoples. Such a policy held out the doubly advantageous
prospect of improving security by providing better access
to the mountain tribes, as well as raising living standards
and government revenues by expanding the area of land under
agriculture. This approach was to remain the cornerstone
of Taiwan's future development.
Ting Jih-ch'ang (1 823-1882):
Institutea administrative reform,
simplified taxation and breathed new life into the administration
of the mountain areas and the expansion of agriculture.
His policies brought concrete successes in the the field
of mining, transportation and defense, and he played a pivotal
role in the modernization process.
Liu Ming-ch'uan (1 836A- 1 896):
With the close of the Sino-French
war in 1885 and the establishment of Taiwan as a province
in its own right, Liu Ming-ch'uan was appointed to Taiwan
as its first provincial governor. During his term of office
he was principally concerned to consolidate the province's
defenses, train militia forces, reform taxation and win
over the loyalties of the aboriginal peoples. In the field
of defense he set up agencies to deal with military equipment,
explosives and mines, as ell as installing gun emplacements
at all the major harbours. In order to promote relations
with the aborigines he set up a bureau for aboriginal affairs
and the extension of agriculture, established aboriginal
schools, and opened up a road through the mountains between
Taipei and I-Ian, as well as many minor mountain roadways.
He instituted a total review of landholding titles, and
set up revenue bureaux for northern and southern Taiwan.
Another first step was the establishment of an official
mint to manufacture silver coinage, one of the earliest
in China. In agriculture he introduced cotton and tobacco,
and encouraged the cultivation of mulberry trees and the
breeding of silkworms. Other innovations he introduced in
the form of railways, highways, a postal service, electric
lighting and the provision of schools made invaluable contributions
to the modernization of Taiwan.
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