1895-1945年日本在台殖民時期台灣的身分認同變遷: 定義及爭辯 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學亞太研究英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies College of Social Sciences National Chengchi University 碩士論文 Master’s Thesis Identity Changes in Taiwan during Japanese Colonial Rule 1895-1945: Content and Contestation 1895-1945 年日本在台殖民時期台灣的身分認同變遷: 定義及爭辯. Student: Torkeld Sterner Advisor: Dr. Yuan I 中華民國. 105 年 6 月. June 2016.

(2) 論文題目 Identity Changes in Taiwan during Japanese Colonial Rule 1895-1945: Content and Contestation 1895-1945 年日本在台殖民時期台灣的身分認同變遷: 定義及爭辯. 研究生: Student: Torkeld Sterner 指導教授: Advisor: Dr. Yuan I. 國立政治大學亞太研究英語碩士學位學程碩士論文 A Thesis Submitted to International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies National Chengchi University In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master in China Studies. 中華民國. 105 年 6 月. Month Year June 2016 ii.

(3) Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude and thank my thesis advisor, Professor Yuan I, for his advice, guidance, and constructive critique throughout my thesis. I would also thank my thesis committee members, Professor Wu Der-Yuan of National Chengchi University, and Professor Hsieh Chen-Yu of Soochow University, for generously agreeing to be part of my committee. I feel honored and lucky to receive their valuable advice and suggestions for my thesis. In addition I will like to express my gratitude to Professor Teng Chung-Chian for his advice throughout the process. I would also like to express my gratitude to my parents, as well as my sisters, Elise and Aurora, for their continuing support and love throughout my life. I would like to thank my friends, both in Norway and Taiwan for their support and encouragements during my studies. Last I would like to thank Yvette for helping and supporting me during this thesis.. iii.

(4) Abstract English literature on colonial era Taiwanese identity is underrepresented in contemporary scholarship. In order to shed further light on the topic I will analyze: How did the identity of the people living on Taiwan transform during the Japanese colonial period, 1895-1945? I conduct my analysis using comparative method based on the framework put forth by Abdelal, Herrera, Johnston and McDermott in their Identity as a Variable. The paper defines collective identity as a social category that varies around two dimensions, content and contestation. The content describes the meaning of a collective identity. Contestation refers to the degree of agreement of the content of the identity. The content can be divided into four non-mutually-exclusive types: constitutive norms, social purposes, relational comparisons, and cognitive models. During the Japanese period I argue that three constitutive norms changed on Taiwan. The Japanese transformed the Taiwanese into law-abiding citizens; they created a norm of sanitation and hygiene on the island; and they transformed the status of Women. The key forces in implementing change were the threat of punishment and education. In social purposes I argue that during the colonial era the Taiwanese elites developed a goal of improving the rights and opportunities for the Taiwanese people. The elites were divided between liberal and Marxist influence, and among the degree of acceptance for a political society within the Japanese Empire. During the colonial period, the relational comparison to the Japanese created the notion of Taiwanese as a collective unit. Japanese police changed the structure of Taiwanese society. The new structure broke down existing cleavages between different groups of Taiwanese. Over time the collective discrimination of Taiwanese by the Japanese, created a notion of Taiwanese as a single unit. In cognitive models I argue that the Japanese policies created a single community on Taiwan. The Japanese brought the modern state to Taiwan. The Japanese modernization policies created a single community on the island.. iv.

(5) Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction............................................................................................... 1 1.1. General Background .................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Purpose of Study .......................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Question Statement ...................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Analytical Framework ................................................................................................. 3 1.4.1. Identity as a Variable .............................................................................................. 3 1.4.2. Analytical Framework ............................................................................................ 5 1.4.3. Methodology ........................................................................................................... 7 1.5. Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 7 1.5.1. Contemporary scholarship on Taiwanese National Identity ................................... 7 1.5.2. Scholarship on Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan ............................................... 10 1.6. Outline of Paper ......................................................................................................... 12. Chapter 2. Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan ........................................................ 14 2.1. Before Japanese Rule: Qing Dynasty Taiwan ......................................................... 14 2.1.2. Historic Origin and Identities of Taiwanese ......................................................... 14 2.1.2. Qing Governance .................................................................................................. 15 2.1.3. Taiwanese Society, Economy and Education before 1895 ................................... 18 2.2. Japanese Takeover ..................................................................................................... 20 2.3. Japanese Period of Constructing and Policing ........................................................ 21. v.

(6) 2.3.1. Colonial Policy ..................................................................................................... 21 2.3.2. Japanese Adoption of the Pao-chia System .......................................................... 27 2.3.3. Japanese Modernization........................................................................................ 32 2.3.4. Japanese Education ............................................................................................... 33 2.4. The period of Japanese Assimilation ........................................................................ 38 2.4.1. Japanese Assimilation Policies ............................................................................. 38 2.4.2. Taiwanese Social Movements .............................................................................. 43 2.5. War and Military Rule .............................................................................................. 53 2.5.1. Intensified Assimilation ........................................................................................ 53 2.5.2. The Japanese Kominka Policies ........................................................................... 54 2.6. Aftermath of Japanese Colonial rule: Restoration to China .................................. 59. Chapter 3. Identity Changes During Japanese Rule: Content and Contestation 62 3.1. Constitutive Norms ............................................................................................. 62 3.1.2. Constitutive Norms: Content ................................................................................ 62 3.1.2. Constitutive Norms: Contestation ......................................................................... 68 3.2. Social Purpose ............................................................................................................ 71 3.2.1. Social Purpose: Content and Contestation ............................................................ 71 3.3. Relational Comparisons ............................................................................................ 78 3.3.1. Relational Comparisons: Content ......................................................................... 78 3.3.2. Relational Comparison Contestation: ................................................................... 81 3.4. Cognitive Reality ........................................................................................................ 83. vi.

(7) 3.4.1. Cognitive Reality: Content ................................................................................... 83 3.4.1. Cognitive Reality: Contestation ............................................................................ 87. 4. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 89 4.1. Suggestions for Future Research .............................................................................. 93. Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 95. List of Tables Table 1. Academic Framework …………………………………………………….....6 Table 2. Japanese Mechanisms of Control ………………………………………......23. vii.

(8) Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1. General Background In the 50 year period from 1895 to 1945 Taiwan was a colony of the Japanese Empire. During the colonial rule the Japanese transformed society and affected the identity of the people living on the island. More than 70 years later the question of identity is still under debate. The question concerning if the people living in Taiwan are Taiwanese or Chinese is relative both in contemporary political debate as well as in academic research. One of the issues surrounding the Taiwanese identity debate is the legacy and influence from the Japanese colonial era. From a historic perspective, the 50 years of colonial rule marks separation between Taiwan and China during a time of crucial historic events. When the Japanese arrived in Taiwan the island was considered a peripheral outpost in the Chinese Empire. The Japanese modernized and brought a modern state apparatus to the colony. During the second half of the colonial rule they imposed policies of assimilation and sought to turn the Taiwanese into members of the Japanese Empire. Yet, the Japanese were a foreign power relying on the threat of force to legitimize its government. They considered themselves a superior race compared to the Taiwanese and discriminated the natives as second-rate citizens. A number of authors have established the origins of Taiwanese nationalism from the period of Japanese rule. After the Japanese loss in the Second World War Taiwan was restored back to China. For four years of civil war the island was connected with the Mainland. As defeat in the war was eminent, the Nationalist forces retreated to Taiwan. In 1947 martial law was issued. As the one-china policies and cold war dominated the political picture in the postwar period, the question of Taiwanese identity and the effect of the colonial rule were not discussed. The official position made it clear that the people living on Taiwan were Chinese. It was not until the democratization process in the late 1980s that the question regarding identity emerged to the academic and political agenda.. 1.

(9) 1.2. Purpose of Study The purpose of the study is to shed further light on the historic period and further contribute to the understanding of present day Taiwanese Identity. Since the start of the democratization process identity has become one of the most salient political dilemmas in Taiwanese politics. In every Taiwanese general election since 1996 the topic of identity has been discussed. Most contemporary scholars recognize identity as central for understanding politics in Taiwan. The identity is a factor determining the relationships and dynamics of the cross strait relation in addition to the general political landscape of Taiwan. The legacy of the Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan is still a topic of contemporary debate. In May 2016, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua attacked Taiwanese president Tsai Ying-wen on the basis of her family’s connection to the Japanese during the Japanese colonial period. “Their historical memory, perception and understanding of the Japanese colonial rule is radically different from feelings shared by the people on both sides of (the Taiwan Strait) who hated and rose against the Japanese enemies”. (South China Morning Post, 2016) The editorial is an example on the Chinese official perspective of the historic period. According to official Chinese historic perspective of the era, Taiwanese hated and rose up against the Japanese enemies. The opinion stays in stark contrast to the historic memoirs shared by former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui. In August 2015, he claimed that: “Seventy years ago, Taiwan and Japan were of one country…Taiwanese people at the time were no doubt Japanese subjects and they did what they could to fight for their motherland.” The comments caused political uproar and the former president was accused of treason. (South China Morning Post, 2015) The English Scholarship on the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan is limited. Due to the political situation in the post war era, Taiwanese scholarship on the topic only emerged in the late 1980s. During martial law research on identity issues during the Japanese period was considered taboo due to the focus of the one-china policies. Only since the democratization has the concept of national identity been discussed in Taiwanese scholarship.. 2.

(10) The majority of the existing scholarship on the topic has been conducted as historical surveys. A common focus on the studies is the birth of Taiwanese nationalism. The research the birth of identity from an historic perspective and does not include academic theory. Further the topics focusing on nationalism discusses identity change among a certain strata of the Taiwanese population, By applying academic theory from the social sciences I will contribute to the field by bring more comprehensive understanding of the topic. By applying the variable of contestation to the analysis. I wish to bring further light on the identity transformation of the entire Taiwanese population by analyzing both the content and contestation of the identity. Thus I will give a comprehensive understanding of the different identity changes for the entire Taiwanese population.. 1.3. Question Statement For my thesis I will investigate the impact of Japanese Colonial Rule on Taiwan. My question statement reads as followed: How did the identity of the people living in Taiwan transform during the Japanese colonial period 1895-1945?. 1.4. Analytical Framework 1.4.1. Identity as a Variable Using the framework put forth by Abdelal, Herrera, Johnston and McDermott in Identity as a Variable I will conduct a longitudinal comparative case study of identity changes in Taiwan during Japanese Colonial Rule. In Identity as a Variable, the authors offer an analytical framework for using identity as a variable. The paper defines collective identity as a social category that varies around two dimensions, content and contestation. Content describes the meaning of a collective identity. Contestation refers to the degree of agreement of the content within the group; does everyone agree on the content, and does the content apply on everyone in the group. The content can be divided into four non-mutually-exclusive types:. 3.

(11) constitutive norms, social purposes, relational comparisons, and cognitive models. (Abdelal et al. 2005) Constitutive Norms Constitutive norms refer to the formal and informal rules, norms, and practices that define group membership. Further the constitutive norms are the practices that lead others to recognize a group as having a separate identity. The constitutive norms identify the proper and expected behavior, as well defining the improper behavior of the members. The norms create group recognition and a sense of belonging to the group. Similarly there is a sense of obligation of the members to move according to the rules of the group. Thus the norms can be unwritten in form of social norms, or they can be codified in terms of legal obligations and laws. According to Katzenstein, the Constitutive norms are the very action that leads others to recognize an actor as having a particular identity. “The norms do not determine the preference of the group; rather, they define the boundaries and distinctive practices of a group”. (Abdelal et al.2005:4) The internalization of norms can be manifested in three ways. First, the norms bias choice, meaning that some behaviors are consciously ruled out or regarded as inappropriate. Second, the norms may reduce the level of consciousness in choice, meaning the options are barely considered, ruled completely out of hand, or decided on the basis “common sense”. Third, the norms may be so deeply internalized that they are taken for granted and acted upon completely unconsciously. (Abdelal et al. 2005) Social purpose Social purpose refers to the idea that groups might attach certain goals to their identity. The purposive content is similar to the concept of what the group wants depends on who they are. Thus identity can lead actors within the group to define collective interests, goals or preferences. Social norms set a number of obligations for the members to make the goals of the identity more likely. Nationalism and national identities can give claims to the cultivation of identity as a purpose in itself or the creation of a state that is coterminous with the nation and autonomous from a relationally defined other. (Abdelal et al. 2005: 6) 4.

(12) Relational Comparisons The content of the identity is relevant by the extent of which it is composed of comparisons and references of which it is distinguished. An identity might be defined by what it is not, in other words as the understanding of oneself in relationship to others. “Group identities in short are not personal or psychological, they are fundamentally social and relational, defined by the actors interaction with and relationship to others; therefore, identities may be contingent dependent on the actors with others and place within an institutional context”. To summarize the identity need the relational context of a different identity in order to categorize themselves as a collective unit. (Abdelal et al. 2005: 7) Cognitive models Cognitive models may be described as the worldview of the members. In the broadest sense the cognitive models is the framework that allows members to make sense of social, political and economic conditions. It is related to understanding how the world works, and describing the reality of the world. According to Brumaker, Loveman and Stamatov “What cognitive perspectives suggest, in short, is that race, ethnicity and nation are not things of the world but ways of seeing the world. They are ways of understanding and identifying oneself, making sense of one's problems and predicaments. Identifying one's interest and orienting one's actions. They are ways of recognizing, identifying and classifying other people, of constructing sameness and difference, and of other coding and making sense of their action” (Brumaker et al. 2004:47) 1.4.2. Analytical Framework In my analysis I will analyze the changes within each of the four types of identity during the Japanese colonial era. Further, I will analyze if there is agreement within the group concerning the content of the identity. The framework leads me to the four working hypothesis. 1) The constitutive norms in Taiwanese society changed between 1895 and 1945. 2) During the Colonial Era Taiwanese elites developed the goal of improving the rights and opportunities for the Taiwanese. 3) The relational comparison to the Japanese created a notion of Taiwanese as a collective 5.

(13) unit. 4) The Colonial framework changed the understanding how created Taiwan as a single community. The research covers the identity changes among the Chinese settlers in Taiwan. I do not include research of the identity changes for the multiple aboriginal societies living in Taiwan. The following table illustrates the framework of content and contestation applied to identity changes in Taiwan during Japanese colonial rule. Table 1. Analytical framework. Content of identity. Development of the content of identity during colonial rule.. Contestation of the content during colonial rule. Constitutive normsThe practices and social norms that define identity and leads other to recognize it.. The norms in Taiwanese society changed between 1895 and 1945.. Did the norms and practices change for the entire population?. Social purposesGoals and purposes shared by an identity group.. The Taiwanese elites developed the goal of improving the rights and opportunities for all Taiwanese during the colonial era.. The degree of consensus among the elites regarding the goals for society?. Relational comparisons The aspect of which culture is distinguished from other cultures. The understanding of oneself in relation to others.. The relational comparison to the Japanese created a notion of Taiwanese as a collective unit.. Did all Taiwanese relate themselves in a similar fashion in relation to the Japanese?. Cognitive model The group's understanding of how the world works. The group’s ontology and epistemology. How. The Colonial framework changed the worldview for the Taiwanese population and created. Did all the members of society share the colonial experience?. 6.

(14) their actions or material will be influenced by their identity. Perception of territory and what it means.. Taiwan as a single community. Source: Compiled by the Author. 1.4.3. Methodology My paper is conducted using historic-comparative and interpretive methodology. I explore the historical processes leading to identity changes. I will focus on the Japanese colonial policies as well as the Taiwanese elites as the most important forces transforming or constructing identity on Taiwan. I will investigate the topic as a case study. Robert K. Yin defines the case study as an “empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are clearly evident … operational links needing to be traced over time, rather than mere frequencies or incidence” (Yin, 2014:16) I argue that the case of Japanese colonial era influencing the Taiwanese ideology corresponds to Yins the definition. The national identity on Taiwan is certainly a contemporary phenomenon from the real world. I argue that the complexity of identity and uncertainties of the colonial rule makes the historic event suited for a case study.. 1.5. Literature Review 1.5.1. Contemporary scholarship on Taiwanese National Identity I start my literature review by clarifying the notion of Taiwanese. Xiaukun Song gives an excellent breakdown of the different understandings of the term Taiwanese. First, the people of Hoklo origin are often referred to as Taiwanese. The Hoklo are descendants of settlers from Fujian and speak the language known as Taiwanese (Taiyu). Taiwanese can therefore be understood both as a language and the people. Second some scholars argue that Taiwanese refers to the population known as Benshengren, Hoklo, Hakka and Aborigines, the population on Taiwan excluding the mainlanders arriving after 1945. 7.

(15) Another understands Taiwanese by a territorial definition. Anyone regardless of ethnic origin that settles down on the territory of Taiwan and regards themselves as Taiwanese is Taiwanese. Fourth the understanding of Taiwanese is that of people living on the Chinese region of Taiwan. The understanding means Taiwanese not as a national identity but as a local identity for Chinese people living in the region Taiwan. (Song, 2004: 61) Given the different approaches to nationalism there are different views and characterizations between the Taiwanese nationalism ranging from the ethnic primordial views to the principles of civic nationalism. One side is the governmental position during the time of the martial law as well as by supporters of reunification. The position states that the people on Taiwan are Chinese. The position is based on the ethnic and primordial nationalism emphasizing ethnicity and culture. The view was that the Taiwan is and has always been Chinese. The position holds that settlers arrived from Chinese provinces such as Fujian and Guangdong were ethnically Han Chinese with Chinese culture and language. The population was still Chinese during the years of Japanese rule and restored to China after the Second World War. (Chu and Lin, 2001) Similarly Melissa Brown argues that the Taiwanese national identity is ethnic in nature. However Brown's view differ drastically from that of the martial law era. According to Brown the Taiwanese identity has developed separately from the Chinese for centuries. Migrations, marriage and political reforms are key factors in changing the identity of a people. Brown argues that in the case of Taiwan, the majority of the farmers migrating to Taiwan were single males. After moving to Taiwan they later married local women and adopted elements of aboriginal customs. Because of paternal ancestry the children would claim Han identity, however they would still continue to practice aboriginal cultures and customs. Thus, the Chinese Han identity on Taiwan would in fact be a mix between Chinese and Aboriginal cultures. Another argument of Brown is that the importance of regime changes. The combination of influences from the years of Japanese colonial rule made an impact on the cultures and identity on Taiwan. Further Brown argues that at the Chinese arrival in 1945 the people of Chinese Han descent did not have the same Chinese culture as the Mainland, but one distinct Taiwanese identity of Chinese mixed with aboriginal and Japanese influence. (Brown, 2004). 8.

(16) Shelley Rigger moves away from the concept of ethnic nationalisms arguing that the national identity on Taiwan has a post-nationalist form. She argues that the identity avoids identification with a nation, but emphasizes instead political virtues such as institution and citizenship. Rigger argues that the identity on Taiwan is civic in nature, and that the nationalist intellectuals “has come a very far way from original belief that Taiwan is a distinct nation in the ethno-cultural case (…) These authors look for a new, non-ethnic basis of nation.” (Rigger 1999:19) She concludes that identity on Taiwan is indeed civic. Carl Shaw argues that the democratization process in Taiwan has changed the national identity. Shaw notes that the Taiwanese identity has changed from one of an ethnic and argues that Taiwanese nationality is an effect of the democratization process and that it therefore is civic in nature. Similarly a number of scholars argue that Taiwan has undergone a shift in national identity formation from an ethnic to one of the civic ideologies. Since the democratization Shaw argues that the national identity is tied together with the consolidation of democracy. (Shaw, 2002) Chiang Yi-huah gives an understanding of Taiwanese identity politics. He argues that the people on Taiwan are divided between different types of nationalisms ranging from the Chinese nationalism seeking reunification to the mainland to Taiwanese Nationalism seeking to separate Taiwan from the mainland and create an independent cause. Yet Chiang argues that nationalism is not important in the Taiwanese identity. Hsiau A-Chin recognizes culture as a key concept in understanding Taiwanese national identity. Hsiau argues that the uniqueness in Taiwanese culture in fields such as history, language and history. He sets Taiwanese culture against Chinese culture in the concept of cultural uniqueness, arguing that the unique Taiwanese culture makes Taiwan different. Hsiao argues that the concept of civic nationalism can explain nation building, but he argues that cultural uniqueness also contribute to the understanding of national identity. (Hsiau, 2001). 9.

(17) 1.5.2. Scholarship on Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan In the postcolonial era the topic of colonial Taiwan did not see much attention. In the political landscape of martial law focusing on Chinese culture, scholarship on identity in colonial Taiwan was considered unwanted. It was not until the democratization process of Taiwan started in the late 1980s that topic research of the origins of Taiwanese identity became more common. As a result the majority of scholarship from postwar era on colonial Japan were conducted by Japanese academics. Even as the topic gained importance in the late 1980s, there is still limited scholarship on the topic in the English Language. One of my key sources in analyzing the impact of colonial Influence on Taiwan is Leo Ching. Ching analyses the impact of the Japanese assimilation policies and their effects on the Taiwanese population. According to Ching the Taiwanese started the formation of a Taiwanese identity during the Colonial era. During the colonial era the Japanese educated the Taiwanese elites, through this education a number of Taiwanese elites started identifying themselves as Japanese. Ching puts emphasis on the Kominka literature discussing the identity crisis happening among the Taiwanese elites and youths combining Japanese and Chinese identities. (Ching, 2000; Ching, 2001) Patricia Tsurumi covers the history, development and influence of colonial education in Taiwan. During the 50 years of colonial rule Taiwan went from having illiteracy to almost achieving public education. The education was initially meant for the Japanese living in the colony and the Taiwanese. However over time the education became the main instrument in spreading the Japanese language and policies of assimilation. The education of the Taiwanese people was closely connected to the overall goals of the Japanese colonial government. Tsurumi considers the education as key in understanding identity change during the Japanese colonial era. (Tsurumi, 1977) Masahiro Wakabayashi analyses the anticolonial struggles as well as the Japanese state in Taiwan. Wakabayashi stresses the importance of the role of the Taiwanese elites as mediators between the Japanese colonizers and the Taiwanese masses. The relationship. 10.

(18) between the Taiwanese elites and intellectuals led to the establishment of a Taiwanese anticolonial movement. (Wakabaysahi, 2005) Edward I-te Chen analyses the goals, leadership and political influences on the Taiwanese anticolonial movements. According to Chen the movements arrived as a result of cooperation between the Taiwanese elites and intellectuals. The movements resorted to peaceful means of anti colonial struggles. (Chen, 1972) For the Japanese colonial institutions I rely on the scholarship conducted by Caroline Hui-Yu Tsai. Tsai analyses the key institutions for Japanese colonial rule. I rely on her dissertation covering the Japanese adoption of the Hoko system. Tsai gives an excellent breakdown of the policies implemented by the institutions as well as how the developments affected the daily lives of the Taiwanese people. (Tsai, 1990; Tsai 2006) In her articles and dissertation Chou Wan Yao describes colonial Taiwan during Second World War. Through the intensified assimilation processes of Kominka, the Japanese sought to mobilize and make the Taiwanese people imperial subjects. Chou recognizes the Language campaigns, the religious campaigns, the name changing campaign and the volunteer campaigns as the main areas of the Japanese mobilization. (Chou, 1991; Chou, 1996) I also recommend the edited volume Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule, 18951945, edited by Liao Ping-Hui and David Der-Wei Wang. The volume offers a comprehensive collection of chapters discovering the history, culture and memory of the Japanese colonial rule. (Liao and Wang, 2006) Compared to the other aspects of colonial rule the health implementations in Taiwan are severely studied. The studies include articles in the fields of medical science as well as public policy and governance. There is a consensus in the academic community that the Japanese did a tremendous job in implementing sanitation and eradicating diseases in Taiwan.. 11.

(19) 1.6. Outline of Paper The thesis is divided into four chapters: Introduction, Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan, Analysis of Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan, and Conclusion. In Chapter 1 I have established the general context of my paper. My question statement: How did the identity of the people living on Taiwan transform during the Japanese colonial period 1895-1945? Further I have established that I will conduct a comparative case study based on the framework put forth from Identity as a variable using historic interpretive methodology. I will end chapter 1 with an overview of contemporary scholarship on Taiwanese national identity as well as an overview of the English literature covering the period of Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan. I will start Chapter 2 by introducing the historic context of Taiwan during the Qing Dynasty. Although my thesis covers identity change in Taiwan between 1895-1945 I include Taiwan during Qing Rule in order to discuss the state of Taiwan before 1895. Thus I am establishing a basis of comparison for my analysis of identity change. The Period of Japanese rule is divided into three parts signifying the three important periods of Japanese rule on the Island. The first part covers the first half of the Japanese colonial rule. I investigate the main Japanese policies concerning governance and control of the island, and how these policies effected the Taiwanese population. I will introduce the Japanese adoption of the hoko system and Japanese colonial education. The next section will cover the period of Japanese colonial rule from the early 1920s to the start of the war. In this timespan the Japanese carried out policies aimed at assimilating the Taiwanese into Japanese. I investigate the role of the Japanese policies in establishing Taiwanese anticolonial social movements. I then explore the goals and significant areas of the Taiwanese anticolonial social movements. The third part covers the years during Second World War. During the war the Japanese intensified their assimilation policy in order to mobilize and turn the Taiwanese population into Japanese imperial subjects. I investigate the Japanese campaigns carried out to transform the population and their effect on the Taiwanese. To end Chapter 2, I will shortly discuss the restoration of Chinese rule and the postcolonial legacy. After restoration the Chinese and the Taiwanese had different. 12.

(20) opinion of the impact of the Japanese period on the Taiwanese people. I will investigate the debate of the vestiges of the colonial period. The post-colonial debate illustrates the changed identity and the impact on identity during the period. In Chapter 3, I conduct my analysis on identity changes during the Japanese period. I discuss changes to the content for each of the four types of content, followed by an analysis of contestation of the same category. For constitutive norms I argue that the Japanese period created the norm of law abiding citizens, created norms of sanitation as well as transformed the status of women on the Island I argue that the institutionalized threat to use force and education were key factors changing the norms in society. For contestation I argue that there is a difference between elites and masses and between urban and rural population and their colonial influence. The elites and urban population were more exposed to change, and internalized the norms further than the masses and rural population. Yet the rural population also internalized the norms. For social purpose, I argue that the colonial context led the Taiwanese elites to create the notion of Taiwanese as a collective unit deserving improved rights. The goals of the social movements became to improve the rights and opportunities for Taiwanese people. The different social movements had different ideologies divided by liberal and Marxist philosophy. In addition the different social movement varied in their connection to Mainland and their willingness to remain within the Japanese Empire. Although their ultimate goals differed, all the social movements sought to improve the standard of living for Taiwanese. In my analysis of relational comparison I argue that a series of Japanese interventions and policies created the notion of Taiwanese as a single identity. First the Japanese destroyed the basis of identity cleavages between Taiwanese sub ethnic groups. Further the modernization and education brought people from different parts of the island together. The Japanese also created a lingua franca between the different Taiwanese. Most important was the collective oppression and lack of unity for Taiwanese creating the notion of Taiwanese belonging to the same group. For Contestation I argue again that there is an urban-rural and elite masses divide. In addition there is a division among age. A large number of the youth entering adolescence 13.

(21) identified as Japanese at the end of the colonial period. The middle-aged population adopted more Japanese influences, where as the older generations remained more within the Chinese culture. For cognitive reality I argue that the Japanese modernization practices created a single community in Taiwan. First the Japanese brought modern governance and created a modern state based in the rule by law. Second, the modernization processes created a single economy on the island. Third, the education and mass media allowed for public sphere on the island. Discussing the contestation of the cognitive model I argue that the different opportunities for the elites and the masses created different colonial experience for the different classes of the Taiwanese population.. Chapter 2. Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan 2.1. Before Japanese Rule: Qing Dynasty Taiwan 2.1.2. Historic Origin and Identities of Taiwanese When the Japanese entered Taiwan, the island was part of the Chinese Qing Dynasty Empire. Taiwan has been inhabited by different groups of Polynesian aborigines for thousands of years. Chinese rule on Taiwan dates back to the 16th century. After the Ming dynasty was replaced by the Qing dynasty Zheng Chenggong, known as Koxinga in western cultures, and his troops retreated to Taiwan. In 1662 Zheng defeated the Dutch and drove them out of the country. For the next 21 years Zheng would use Taiwan as a base in order to fight back and restore the Ming dynasty to power. Their reign ended in 1683 as the Qing Dynasty took control of the island. The majority of Taiwanese settlers originated from Southern Fujian or Eastern Guangdong province. From 1680 to 1811 the Chinese population on Taiwan grew from about 100,000 to 1,945,500. In 1887 Taiwan was turned into a separate region in the Chinese Empire. (Song, 2001) By the time of the Japanese takeover Taiwan had been under Chinese rule for more than 200 years. Yet there seemed to be no cross-island common Chinese identity on the island. Instead the different groups of the island can be described as sub ethnic Han 14.

(22) Chinese. The two key factors of the sub divide between the different groups are the Chinese origins of the population as well as the lack of governance and control in the colony. The Chinese population in Taiwan originated almost entirely from Southern Fujian and Eastern Guangdong province. Mountain ranges and rivers dominate the landscape of the region. The geography tended to settle the people into lowland and highland people. Separated by the mountains and rivers the different groups developed different identities. Thus the different groups immigrating to Taiwan was not the same ethnic group. According to Lamey, the Taiwanese subcultural groups differed in dialects and provenance. Most of the population was Hakka or Hokkien speakers, whose dialects remained mutually unintelligible. The Majority of Hakka speakers came mainly from eastern Guangdong province, while the Hokkien speakers came from southern areas of Fujian, especially Chuan-chou and Chan-chuao prefectures. The rivalry between the different Chuan-chou and Chan-chou groups in effect created three different sub ethnic groups in Taiwan. In addition Hokkien groups tended to settle in areas according to their local origin. All the groups shared a number of the same traditions, beliefs and forms of organization. All the groups were characterized by the prevalence of powerful kinship and surname groups. Immigrants settling in new areas tended to regroup themselves according to their surnames. Settler bands emigrating from other parts of Taiwan tended to settle according to surnames groups. (Lamey, 1981:284) 2.1.2. Qing Governance As a land-based power China was not accustomed to dealing with an overseas island as part of its territory. The main argument in holding on to Taiwan after defeating Zheng Cheng-gong was to prevent the island from being a base for attacks against the mainland. (Wang 2000:19) From 1684 to 1895 China restricted the migration to Taiwan. Until 1760, only married men were allowed to migrate to Taiwan. After 1760 the families were allowed to enter as well. Chinese people were also prohibited from crossing the border to aboriginal reservoir or to marry aboriginal women. Reasons being, one that Chinese intruders could. 15.

(23) cause rebellion among the aboriginals, and second that the population might turn into a force to threaten the Qing authority. Taiwanese people were forbidden to manufacture guns or extract sulphur. Only troops from the mainland were stationed in Taiwan. The Qing rulers did not enact any special legal structure to govern Taiwan. As the Qing rulers were not willing to develop Taiwan, no special laws were promoted in response to economic or social conditions and differences on the island. “The Qing general official code, which incorporated the restriction was applied to Taiwanese people, thus “Local customs, unofficial sources of law in imperial China, therefore played an important role in settler society in Taiwan”(Wang, 2000:19). The population in Taiwan was described as having a general disrespect for the Law. Taiwan was under weak and careless control of the Chinese officials mainly living in a few villages. As reported by the American consul James Davidson: “Though industrious, the emigrants have deservedly a reputation for insubordination and lawlessness”(Mendel 1970:15) According to Wang the disrespect can be given a number a reasons. First the prohibition of migrations was not effective. Poor men from Fujian and Guangdong migrated to Taiwan for economic opportunities. Despite the prohibition, many of them also brought their families with them. From 1680 to 1811 the Chinese population on Taiwan grew from about 100,000 to 1,945,500. As immigration was prohibited during the period, most of the people were smuggled in, or bribed officials to enter the island. Technically a vast majority of the population was considered illegal immigrants. Since the settlers had immigrated illegally, they were not compelled to follow the prohibition of entering the aboriginal lands. Chinese immigrants would cultivate the arable land they could find, even if the land was inside aboriginal territory. Settlers would acquire the land either by force, or by peaceful means such as purchase, lease or even fraud. The Qing officials turned a blind eye to settlers claiming aboriginal land. In most cases the government would consider the Chinese who occupied the aboriginal land as the rightful landowners. (Wang, 2000:20) At the same time laws and prohibitions against intermarriage and manufacturing of weapons were neither enforced. Most of the immigrants to Taiwan were men. Many of 16.

(24) them wanted to marry aboriginal women. In addition to getting a family, marrying aboriginal women meant that they could also acquire her land. In the lawless environment of the island, settlers also needed weapons. Either to fight against rival groups, protecting themselves against bandits or fighting the aboriginals. (Wang, 2000:21) The taxation levels in Taiwan were considerably higher than those in the mainland. The taxations could not be changed even due to special cases like natural disasters like typhoons. As a result Taiwanese landowners concealed a number of their fields in order to pay a lower number of taxes. Officials knew about the fraud, but did not report it due to fear of uprisings due to higher taxes. (Wang, 2000:22) Another major cause of the disrespect of the law was the incompetence and corruption of officials. As noted by Hsu Tsung-kan, “In the Empire, the Fujian government is the worst; within Fujian, the Taiwanese government is the worst”. (Wang, 2000:21) A similar observation was made by the Canadian missionary George Mackay who wrote, “From the highest to lowest, every official in Formosa has an itching palm, and the exercise of official functions is always corrupted by the money bribes”. Few of the officials on Taiwan were honest or capable. The majority of the officials did not speak the local dialects; as a result they would delegate their administrative and judicial tasks to clerks and runners. Known among locals as “tiger sires” for their ferocity, these runners would use the law to mistreat people and collect money for themselves and the officials. The officials would ignore criminal actions against the settlers. If detained, the accused would usually be released on arrival after paying bribes. Criminals thus became accustomed to the fact that they would be freed by paying a large enough bribe. (Mendel, 1970:16) Given the disrespect for the law combined with lack of governance Taiwan severely lacked public order. The largest cause of unrest was banditry. With more settlers, but no more land, unemployment rates went higher. Young men with no job would join into gangs and brotherhoods of bandits. Over time the bandits became more violent and crimes more serious. Despise the death penalty for banditry by imperial laws. The bandits would get away after bribing officials. To the end of the Qing era, the officials were not able to resolve the banditry problem. (Mendel, 1970). 17.

(25) Community conflicts were another cause of disturbance in Taiwan. In addition to the aborigines the major groups of Chinese settlers consisted of Fujianese and Hakka. Immigrants from the same local groups tended to settle in the same geographical area on Taiwan. The groups would often worship different patron deities. Community conflicts would revolve around land disputes, or irrigation and commercial facilities. The local corrupt and incapable local officials were unable to settle the disputes. As a result, the local leaders would consolidate their power through ethnic ties with a focus on protecting their own members. Communal strife occurred. The division between the groups became deeper after repeated conflicts. Over time, even the smallest arguments could lead to an outbreak of a communal strife. “Bloody battles raged among ethnic and sub ethnic groups of settlers, as rivalries among families, surname groups, local associations, and whole communities found an outlet in private warfare.” Although the communal strife gradually decreased after 1860, the original ethnic sentiments remained prevalent until the end of Qing rule of the island. (Wang, 2000:23) The third source of unrest came from uprising against the government. When dissatisfaction with the local officials reached a certain degree, a popular uprising would break out. A popular saying at the time stated that there would be “a minor revolt every three year, and a major one every five”. The protesters would usually be lower class peasants and come from each of the three ethnic groups. During the 2012 years of Qing rule, scholars have estimated a number between sixty-eight and eighty-five uprisings against the regime. During the uprisings the regime would use “righteous volunteers” from the other ethnic groups to suppress the rebellions. The volunteers would join more as revenge towards the other groups than support of the regime. The regime stayed in power, while the ethnic groups would further strengthen the resentments towards other groups. The conflict between the different ethnic groups made the people not able to join themselves against the government. (Wang, 2010:25) 2.1.3. Taiwanese Society, Economy and Education before 1895 Before 1895 there was no cross-island functional government. The majority of the people were illiterate and unable to travel far beyond their native villages. They had limited means of communication, as roads connecting major cities with surrounding 18.

(26) villages were in in many cases just 30 cm wide and not paved. People relied on walking or single wheeled sedan chairs for transportation. Postal service between the north and the south of the country took more than one week. With the lacking infrastructure there was no integrated economy across the island. Commodity prices fluctuated greatly over different areas of the island. As an example one koku of rice could cost 5 yen 36 sen in Taipei, while the price in the southern regions would only be. 3 yen 20 sen. Another example shows price of 100 kg of coal as 1 yen in Chiayi, while the price in Taipei was only 36 sen. (Shozo, 2006:68) The land owning system during the Qing era was complicated. Due to a triangular ownership between among plain aborigines, Chinese settlers and the state, the ownership and taxation base was not clear. The majority of taxes was not paid directly from the landowner.(Shepherd, 1993) Tsurumi describes the ownership in practice.. “The tenant worked on the land and paid an annual fixed rent in grain called shoso to a holder who possessed the right to the shoso(small rent). The holder in turn paid an annual grain rent to the holder of Taiso (great rent) , who had originally received the land from the government, an aborigine, or an aborigine tribe. The Taiso holder was the acknowledged owner insofar as ownership can be said to have existed. (Tsurumi, 1967: 113) Before the nineteenth century, the elite group in frontier Taiwan was small. Chen argues that this was natural as Confucian scholars were not pioneer types. At the time of the takeover it was only a small portion of Taiwanese with gentry degrees. Although the exact number is not clear, According to one writer, "In 1895, Taiwan could claim only about 350 upper gentry members who at that time held the higher academic titles and degrees” an additional 5000 people was estimated some sort of lower degree. On a total, it is estimated that out of a population of about two and a half million. Only 5,350 had some sort of degree at the time of the Japanese takeover. (Chen, 1988:28) Of the entire population it is estimated that less than 1 percent were literate. The Taiwanese elites at the time could be described as Han Chinese Confucian culture. Even as the different groups were different sub ethnic groups, the Chinese population all derived from China. As a result the society belonged to Chinese culture. Families were organized in a Confucian matter, where the older members were the. Similar the majority of the male population was wearing queues. The majority of the female population was had their feet 19.

(27) bound. The Confucian ideas concerning women were still valid in Taiwan. The purpose of women was to carry a son for the family lineage to continue. As a result the women in Taiwan did not receive any education, and did not have any role in as members of society. (Gao, 2003:117) The first signs of modernization in Taiwan arrived with general Liu Ming-chuan. In the period from 1887 to 1891 he started to modernize transportation, communication and land ownership on the island. Despise of Liu’s ambitious plans of modernization, the success were limited. After protest from the conservative government in Beijing, the funding was cut and a number of the plans were put on hold. When the Japanese arrived in Taiwan the island was not modernized. The island was lacking communication links such as telegraph and transportation. The people were uneducated, and the government was not functioning. As the Japanese arrived in Taiwan, Taipei was described in the following matter: “Dirty water was rushing around the houses, and some people lived together with dogs and pigs. Though there were toilets in Taihoko (Taipei) excrements are found everywhere … the inhabitants seem to possess no knowledge of sanitation.” (Mendel, 1970:17). 2.2. Japanese Takeover After the Chinese loss in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895, Taiwan together with the Penghu islands was ceded to Japan as the result of the Sino Japanese Peace Treaty (Shimonoseki treaty). In response to the takeover the leaders established the Republic of Formosa. Their declaration of independence stated: “all national affairs should be conducted by officials who were chosen by citizens through public election”. However the leaders of the new republic were from the southern provinces of China, and fled the country only ten days after the declaration of independence. (Shozo, 2006:69) Before the Japanese takeover, whoever wanted was allowed to move back to China. As a result, most civil servants from the Qing Dynasty fled the island. As the Japanese entered the Island they did not meet any organized resistance. The Qing soldiers stationed on the island were for the most part Cantonese; the soldiers had troubles communicating the local dialects and disbanded before the Japanese entered the island 20.

(28) and eventually became a gang of bandits. During the Japanese landing there was no organized resistance against the new rulers. (Shozo, 2006:70) In the period from 1895 to 1902 the Japanese launched a series of military campaigns to pacify the island. Resistance from Taiwanese mainly arouse spontaneously in reaction to disgust of the behavior and mistreatment shown by the Japanese soldiers. Taiwanese resistance mainly arose due to mistreatments by Japanese soldiers. Several leaders were initially not against the Japanese rule, but turned against the colonial power due to their unjust treatment. Japanese soldiers ruthlessly slaughtered and burned houses in some areas of Taiwan. However as some groups of people fought the Japanese, there was also groups who did not care about the war or cooperated with the Japanese.(Shozo, 2006:70) During the pacifying period the Japanese officials ordered new laws concerning Taiwanese guerrilla activities. The penalty of such activities was always death penalty. It is worth noting that a number of the guerillas were not anticolonial in a nationalistic sense. The reaction to mistreatment was similar to their response to unjust leadership during the Qing era. If the leaders acted unjust, the Taiwanese would respond to such mistreatment by rebellion. However the response to rebellion by the Japanese compared to the Qing Government were radically different. Where the Qing era would tolerate the rebellions and hit them back with other ethnic groups, the Japanese would army would punish the rebellions as bandits by death penalty. It is estimated that 32,000 people were killed between 1895 and 1902. (Wang, 2000:110). 2.3. Japanese Period of Constructing and Policing 2.3.1. Colonial Policy By 1898 the military campaigns started to give way for the era of colonial governance. In 1898 Governor General Kodama Gentaro and his deputy Goto Shimpei arrived in Taiwan. Goto became a key person in shaping colonial policy in Taiwan. The initial stage of the Japanese colonial era can be summarized as the period of construction and policing. By becoming Japanese territory and part of the Japanese Empire, the Japanese constitution should have been valid on Taiwan and created the basis of law in 21.

(29) the colony. However after the initial resistance and troubles governing the colony, the colonial governance proposed a change in the policy. The Japanese diet agreed to let the officials in Taiwan, not Tokyo make and policies regarding the colony. Law no. 63, relating to Law and ordinance on Taiwan was enacted August 6th 1895. Having no colonial experience the Japanese had to create new colonial policies. The first goals of the Governor General were to pacify the island and establish an economy. In order attain these goals Goto created two principles for colonial control: Rule on the principles of biology, and rule through mediation and exchanges with the Taiwanese elites. (Ching, 2001:26) An important factor to their rule was the principles of threat and mediation toward the Taiwanese elites. In order to secure the cooperation and obedience from the Taiwanese, the colonial rulers in the Japanese in the words of Wakabayashi launched a “top-down colonialist modernization project”. Using the carrot and stick method the Japanese combined the threat of force and tight control with the promise of modernization and opportunity to mediate the elites on the island. After the takeover there was a power vacuum on the island. Previous Qing rulers had all fled the island. Those who stayed behind lost their status. In addition local strongmen and militia leaders had been destroyed or disarmed by the Japanese military. The Japanese government used economic policies to create a new land owning elite on the island. The Japanese changed the land ownership structure on Taiwan. By eliminating the shared ownership of land, they changed owners of the land and ensured that land ownership would go to the actual proprietors, and protected their rights to collect rent. The system allowed the upper classes from the Qing era remain to remain the people with fame and property. Thus the Japanese stripped the Taiwanese elites from power, but secured their economy and social status. Further the Japanese took advantage of the elites to secure a smooth transition of power. The system allowed for the colonial governance to mediate control of the Taiwanese. Judging by their willingness of cooperation, the new government would decide the future status of the Taiwanese elites. By doing so the Japanese took the place of the old rulers of redistributing power and authority. In addition the land reforms eradicated questions of land ownership and gave room for consistent collection of taxes. The collaboration of the elites became a key area for the Japanese colonizers. By the 22.

(30) promise of modernization and the possibilities of economic and educational advancements, the Japanese were able to seize control of the population; elites receiving privileges could not oppose a threat to the Japanese Empire. The following table explains the control mechanism during the Japanese Colonial rule. As the table shows: exchange and mediation, as well as the threat of force were key instruments in keeping control of the island. (Wakabayashi, 2006:25). 23.

(31) Table 2. Japanese Means of Control Control. Target. Institutions. Purpose. Elites. Local administration,. Manipulation of elites. and. consulting institutions,. collaboration, non-elite. mediation. economic monopoly,. obedience silent. distribution of authority. subordination through elites. mechanism. Exchange. collaborationist mediation.. Disciplining. All. School education, Hoko. Creating the body of the. and training. inhabitants. system, Rituals,. imperial subjects and. (Focus on. ceremonies, athletic. disciplining its obedience. students). gathering. Punishment. All. Military force, police,. and threat. inhabitants. prison system. Maintaining the public order. Source: Wakabayashi, Masahiro. 2006. “A Perspective on Studies of Taiwanese Political History: Reconsidering the Postwar Japanese Historiography of Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan”. in Taiwan under Japanese colonial Rule 1895-1945 History, culture, Memory. Edited by Liao Ping-hui and Wang Der-wei David. (19-36). New York: Columbia University Press.. The principles of biology was based on the ideas of conducting research and understanding of local circumstances in order to later adapt policies to fit local needs. Goto acknowledged the importance in understanding the local customs and practices in colonial governance, according to goto: “Any scheme of colonial administration, given the recent advances in science, should be based on principles of biology. What are these principles? They are to promote science and develop agriculture, industry, sanitation, communication and the police force. However one would not be able to carry out the principles of biology without understanding the traditional culture. To carry out the 24.

(32) principles of biology, the Japanese did extensive research in order to use existing Taiwanese structures and institutions to their own advantage”. (Tsai, 2006: 121) By analyzing existing customs and cultures, local laws and customs were regulated and changed to fit Japanese rule. Other customs were manipulated in order to gradually impose control and policies on the island. Designing the new legal structures the Governor-general sought to establish a new Taiwanese legal system by combining traditional elements of the Chinese imperial laws, with the Japanese western style laws. (Wang, 2000:58) In 1897 Goto installed the modern police force on Taiwan. The transfer from military to police force was one of the steps to modernize Taiwan. The police organization was established on all administrative levels. The police covered a wide range of areas, including: including security, residence control, tax collection, surveillance of speech, confiscation of land, the forced purchase of insurance policy by Japanese companies. (Song, 2009:80) The land surveys were essential in the principles of biology in drafting and implementing Japanese policies on the island. The principle can be linked to the theory of scientific colonialism. Goto believed that the best approach for effective management was based on systematic, research oriented, and scientific methods. In 1898 colonial government created the Provincial Commission for the Investigation of Old Customs in Taiwan, conducting extensive research on the traditional institutions, laws and customs of the Taiwanese society. In addition the Japanese researched extensive land surveys, in order to utilize and build a modern economy on the island. As George Barclay observed in his Colonial Development and Population in Taiwan: “While under Japanese rule Taiwan probably had the distinction of being the most thoroughly inventoried colonial era in the world. Huge complications of statistics and numerous special surveys were made from year to year. The economy, the terrain, the mineral wealth, the agricultural output, industrial production and foreign trade have been studied until there is little to be added to their knowledge.” (Yao, 2006:41). 25.

(33) The land surveys gained the Japanese knowledge of the geography in Taiwan important for the pacifying processes and military purposes. In addition, it gave the government a basis of economic planning and policies. During the Qing period, registration of land was highly inaccurate. The land surveys discovered that the revenue yielding area was much larger than reported. The Qing regime had registered 361,447 chia of land on the island. The Japanese surveys found the number to be 777,80 chia, more than double the amount of land registered under the Qing government. As a result the Japanese were able to collect more taxes. The total land revenue in 1903 was 920,000 yen, after the land surveys the number rose to 2,980,000 yen. (Yao, 2006:51) The first statistics surveys done by the Japanese were surveys covering public health. Including doctors, hospitals, and epidemic mortality. Goto saw the importance of public health “not because individuals had the right to healthy lives but because a good state demanded a healthy citizenry” (Chin, 1998:328) In the colonial context Goto believed that medical sciences were “ the basis for improvement of the health conditions and progress of society in Taiwan. The health survey concluded that due to the lack of proper sanitation facilities combined with tropical weather it was considered unsuitable for Japanese residents to live in Taiwan. As a result the colonial rulers vowed to bring sanitation to Taiwan. One of the first measures was to promote personal hygiene. Taiwanese people were taught not wipe their nose or to rub their eyes with their hands. Unhygienic customs such as spitting in the streets were severely punished. In addition the Japanese did a series of educational preventive steps such as vaccines creation of a healthy environment. (Lo, 2002:36) The Japanese considered Taiwanese buildings to be poorly built and bad for the heath of the people. They were not only small and dirty, but also humid and poorly ventilated. Thus the Japanese required every household to double the number of windows and enlarge the window frames. A number of houses did not have bathroom or lavatory. Accordingly people took baths infrequently and used chamber pots inside. The Japanese promoted the use of bathrooms. They also build public baths and bathrooms, so that people who could not afford bathrooms could also take baths. The problem with bathrooms was taken serious by the colonial government. The use of chamber pots inside was not only unhygienic and uncivilized. But it was also a real problem because it 26.

(34) attracted flies and mosquitos. The Japanese perceived mosquitos as the root cause of malaria. (Wong and Yau, 2013:349) 2.3.2. Japanese Adoption of the Pao-chia System The implementation of the traditional Pao-chia system was in line with both the principles of biology and the basis of top down hegemonic control. Over time the hoko system became a key institution in controlling and mediating the population. The Paochia can be dated back to eleventh century. The system was set up in China proper in 1644 when the imperial court ordered local officials to set up Pao-Chia units. In 1733 Taiwan was included in the system however the rural control system was never universally adapted on the island. The lacking control, supervision, and police control the system only gained a limited degree of function on Taiwan. It was not until the last decade of Chinese rule and the start of modernization that the system gained effectiveness. (Chen, 1975:343) In the summer of 1896, after breaking down an uprising in the Central Taiwan, the Japanese adopted the Pao-chia system in local areas in order to keep control. After the success in Central Taiwan, the system was adopted over the entire island. In October 1896 Internal Affairs department of the Government General formulated a set of rules and criteria for the system. The local authorities could grant permission for village leaders to organize self-defense associations. The goal was to protect the lives and properties of the villagers. When organizing a militia, the local groups had to get permission from the prefectural governor or the district head. Once permission had been granted the local police chief was in charge of supervision, orders, and training of the militia. For the first three years however the system did not succeed the Japanese expectation. It was not universally adopted, and never gained effectiveness. The Japanese themselves was not able to set up proper policing in the initial period and therefore was not able to control the system. (Chen, 1975:394) After the arrival of General Kodama Gentaro and Goto Shimpei, the system gained importance. Goto found the system to be effective in dealing with insurgent problems and commanded the draft of a bill to make the system a supplementary organ of. 27.

(35) the police. General-Governor Kodama promulgated the “Hoko Law” and the “Regulations Governing the Executions of The Hoko Law” in august 1898. The system was not mandatory applied, but central pressure combined with support from the local authorities made the system spread throughout the island, except from in aboriginal districts. Compared to the Pao-Chia system the Hoko changed the component of the registrar from individuals to household. The household referred to any individual legally living in the household, both family and hired workers. The head of the household represented the entire household. The system was only adapted for the Taiwanese. Japanese living in Taiwan did not have to register in the system. (Chen, 1975:394) In contrast to the old system existing of three levels, pao-chia-pái the hoko had two levels, pao and chia. Approximately ten households made up one chia, and about ten chias made up one pao. The number of households in the unit however varied depending on local condition. In some cases such as cities, larger pao and chia were adopted. Each chia had an elected headman representing the chia. The leaders were elected by the members of the unit, served for two years at the time, and were eligible for reelection. The leaders had to be the leader of the household; they were suppose to come from the respectable families and had to be literate. People under twenty and people who had served a prison term was disqualified from holding the position of leader. The elected leader had to be approved by the local authorities. The leaders therefore needed to be cooperative with the local government. Similarly the leaders of the chia elected the leader of the pao (pao cheng). The Pao Chengs role was to keep law and order in his jurisdiction. Likewise the Chia Cheng had the same duty in the smaller units. The members of each unit paid for all the expenditure for the clerks, leaders and militia. Leaders as well as the militia members did not get salary for their job. Instead, they were given favors such as access to education, business opportunities and appointment to official positions. By giving opportunities the Japanese were able to secure the cooperation from the leaders of the units. At the same time they were able to create a working system for law and order financing itself. (Chen, 1975:395) For the first decade after its implementation the hoko was designed to cover five areas of Taiwanese life. 1) Household registration, 2) Population movement, 3) Social security, 4) Transportation and 5) Sanitation. In addition each of the units had its own 28.

(36) rules it had to adopt. In practice all the rules had to 1) include the name and boundaries for the unit, 2) Regulations concerning social order and security. Such as investigations or observations of arrivals and departures in the community, 3) The role of the hoko in local administration such collecting taxes, tracking infectious diseases and, rehabilitation of opium smokers, repairing and clearing roads and bridges, and eradicating harmful insects and cattle diseases. And 4) the rules regulated the bookkeeping in terms of the level of fines and rewards for the hoko. (Tsai, 1990:89) Two of the main purposes in the Hoko were household registration and control of movements of the population. According to the rules the head of each household had to report to their headman if any of the members of his household made a trip or stayed overnight elsewhere. They had to report about the destination, purpose and duration of the stay. Likewise they had to report the name, occupation and duration of stay for any visitors. In some cases local authorities could prohibit residents to travel or receive visitors without police permits. These restrictions were applied at times of diseases or social unrest. Whoever failed to report to their hoko officials were subjects to fines. (Tsai, 1990:91) The fines were crucial in implementing the system. The following is an example of the fines from an 1899 Tainan hoko code. 1) Failure to hang a door placard: ¥0,05 to ¥1,5; 2) Failure to report a birth or death in the household within seven days: ¥0,05 to ¥1,5; 3) Failure to report the stay of visitors ¥0,1 to ¥3,0; 4) False report on population movement ¥0,5 to ¥3 and ¥0.2 to ¥2 for the hoko leader connived at the falsification; 5) hiding or affiliating with rebels ¥3,0 to ¥25; 6) Failure to give aid to neighbors during robbery:¥1.0 to ¥5.0; 7) Failure to help other households in times of emergency: ¥5.0 to ¥50.0 on the whole unit; 8) Failure to guard against security problems: ¥5,0 to ¥10.0 on the whole unit. 9) Hoko official's resignation without proper reason up to ¥10.0 and 10) refusal to join the corps of able bodied men after appointed: up to ¥5.0. (Tsai, 1990:101) The headman was responsible to make sure the people were following the rules. They also had the role of reporting to the police about suspicious people or behavior, report on population change, including births and deaths, report on diseases, assisting. 29.

(37) officers in search of criminals, instructing the members to be law abiding, and punish those who did not follow rules. (Tsai, 1990:93) The key to the system was the application of collective responsibility. If a member of a unit was convicted, the other members would be fined for not informing the government about the crime. In order to prevent people from helping and supporting insurgents and bandits, there was a collective punishment for ignoring the unit rules. If one of the members violated the rules of the unit, all members were punished. In the initial years, the collective responsibility was not very effective. However around 1901 the Japanese had gained control of the island and did now have an effective police force. The government appointed police officers to oversee each unit, making sure that colonial policy penetrated every corner of the policy. As the police force grew more competent the fear of collective punishment made the units cooperate with the government and report and turn in suspicious behavior. The organization and financing of the system was in line with the general policies. By giving opportunities the Japanese were able to secure the cooperation from the pao chia leaders. (Chen, 1975:398) The hoko system was also utilized in the efforts to improve sanitary conditions on the island. Some of the obligations for the hoko leaders were to guide the people and extinct the bad habits from its members. A more practical example of the hoko is the Campaign for Rat Extermination. The campaign required each household to turn in a fixed quota of dead rats every month. The campaign was carried out through the hoko leaders in cooperation with the police. Those who exceeded their monthly quota would be rewarded. As the same time, those who failed to turn in their quoted number of rats had to pay a fine per missing rat. An example of a fine would be ¥0,5 per missing rat. The campaign was effective in removing the number of rats. In August 1912 alone, the number of caught rodents amounted to 41.923.641 In addition the hoko system would be used to detect diseases and follow up with quarantines. (Tsai, 1990:113) The hoko system became a successful means of control over the Taiwanese people. As Goto wrote “This institution has been powerful enough to keep the native insurgents in check and preserve the peace of the community”. The effectiveness of the system was demonstrated in the first half of the 1910s after the Chinese revolution. As 30.