For the YouTube generation, it seems that history only appeals if it contains all the right ingredients for successful storytelling in the noughties--sex, violence, betrayal and enough bling to make even the most cashed-up cognac-swilling "gangsta" rapper swoon. Tales of peoples and places that do not appear to have any bearing on popular culture, or fit into the Western media's political agenda, simply fail to cut it in terms of capturing the public's interest.
Take the Battle of Thermopylae for instance. Originally treated by Greek historian Herodotus as the defining clash between East and West, and critical to the story of democracy, the tale had fallen out of fashion until 2006, when acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker Zack Snyder adapted Frank Miller's graphic novel "300" for the big screen. Almost overnight, the epic clash between the Persians and Spartans took on a new lease of life, with some holding that it made a clear-cut case for the U.S. wars in Iraq. Others though, saw it as a bastardization of history and little more than a 117-minute salacious romp for those who worship at the altar of bulging biceps and ripped abdominals. Regardless, historians worldwide agreed that the film succeeded in one aspect: generating fresh interest in an ancient story.
By interpreting the past and producing relevant historical accounts for the societies of their times, great historians, such as Herodotus, Thucydides, Edward Gibbon and his intellectual heir Paul Cartledge, have had to walk a fine line. It can be argued that the process of recording and analyzing events puts historians in the position of actually making history, as comprehending the past in its totality is a feat of Gordian proportions.
For those who have chronicled Taiwan through its trials and tribulations, avoiding this pitfall is all the more complicated given the subject's uncommon emotional appeal. To produce works that seamlessly guide readers through the island's turbulent history and impart a deeper understanding of the nation is a true accomplishment--something that only the most talented proponents of the historian's craft fulfill without producing pseudo-history masquerading as fact.
In his encyclopedic tome "The Island of Formosa: Past and Present," Davidson adopts a Gibbonian approach to his subject, paying homage to the ancient Greek historians who argued that if a story was to be told, then it needed to be told on a grand scale. This 776-page magnum opus, which includes several color maps and a hefty assortment of archival photographs and illustrations, remains as relevant and important today as when first published in 1903. Since then, Davidson's book has been reprinted numerous times, including 1988, 1992 and 2005.
Davidson was born June 14, 1872 in the midwestern U.S. state of Minnesota. By the age of 23, he had enough adventure under his belt to last a lifetime, and much like legendary explorers Henry Morton Stanley and Robert Peary, both whom he befriended while co-organizing their VIP tours stateside, Davidson was a man who hungered for an existence beyond the realm of common knowledge and ordinary experiences.
In 1893, he was a member of Peary's expedition to Greenland in search of a route to the North Pole, and just 24 months later, arrived in Taipei as the only Western journalist covering the conflict between the newly declared Republic of Formosa and Japan. After Japanese forces captured the city, Davidson embedded himself with the imperial army and reported on its conquest of the island. Filing articles for syndicated newspaper publication, his writing soon came to the attention of U.S. government officials, and by late 1896, was appointed the country's agent in Danshui. Two years later, this position was upgraded to U.S. consul for Formosa.
By 1904, Davidson had left Formosa and was consul in Antung, Manchuria. He was then transferred to Shanghai as commercial attache, and not long after, shifted to Nanking as consul. By the end of the year, Davidson was back in Shanghai, serving as vice consul and consul before taking up the Antung consulship again in 1905. Several months later, he was struck down by typhoid fever and evacuated to the United States. After regaining his health, Davidson emigrated to Canada in 1906 where he lived until his death July 18, 1933.
In seeking to examine Formosa's history in a broader setting, Davidson indulged his love of the minutiae. He combed through a "library" of Chinese, Dutch, Japanese and Spanish-language reference books, manuscripts and papers in painstakingly compiling his account, also using information gleaned from interviews with Japanese colonial government officials and residents in the island's rural districts. Such exhaustive personal research helped earn him a reputation as one of the premier Asia historians of the day, and in 1903, the Royal Geographical Society recognized his efforts with an award. Davidson's expertise was also known to Taiwan's government, which in the late 1980s, sent a high-level delegation to visit his family in Canada in search of correspondence and artifacts concerning the origin and history of the island's inhabitants.
Davidson's conviction that studying Formosa without its dimension of foreign rule was no more acceptable than ignoring its broader Chinese context led him to write a book that influenced the works of those who followed in his footsteps. Renowned titles, such as "Formosa Betrayed" by George H. Kerr and Jonathan Manthorpe's "Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan," both cite the journalist's account as essential reading on the general history of Taiwan.
The book's 31 chapters are organized around major events in Taiwan's history and generally propel the story forward chronologically. Davidson recognizes at the outset that he was visiting the island at a critical epoch in its existence--the Japanese occupation and termination of the Chinese regime--and devotes large tracts to this event and Japan's earlier expedition in 1874.
Yet, he is far too sophisticated a historian to neglect the other foreign powers that visited and ruled over Taiwan at different times. The chapters concerning Dutch occupation from 1514 to 1661 are particularly enlightening, as is the French campaign of 1884 to 1885. But for those whose interest lies in trying to answer the question of whether Taiwan is part of greater China, the truly fascinating chapters concern the island's existence under the rules of Koxinga (1624-1662), China, the short-lived Formosan Republic and Japan.
The author's approach to writing his book was influenced by strong anti-colonial sentiment and the belief that the United States should encourage democracy from afar. As an American who lived in a period marked by his country's first foreign military adventures outside of the Western hemisphere in China and the Philippines, such an outlook is to be expected. This slant also allowed Davidson to view characteristics of the Formosan condition as offering parallels to his own nation's experiences.
By classifying the imperial Chinese administration on Formosa as "deplorable" and "turbulent," Davidson tilts toward Japanese stewardship over the island, portraying this as freeing Formosa from the yoke of Chinese colonialism. He explains that of the two peoples, the Japanese and Chinese, the former were undoubtedly the most energetic in obtaining a foothold on the island. For those who reject the myth of greater China, these chapters go someway toward confirming this belief.
While Formosa's Chinese overlords are generally portrayed as corrupt, incompetent voluptuaries responsible for inflicting all manner of outrages upon the populace, Davidson also argues--somewhat paradoxically--that these rulers could also deliver progressive government when the right kind of "motivation" was at hand.
He writes that in 1885, the energetic spirit of the new Governor Liu Mingchuan, who is acknowledged in the text as an "intelligent, liberal-minded, progressive person with none of the conceit or bigotry characteristic of the Chinese officials," was responsible for the "remarkable" transformation of his temporary capital, Taipei.
The governor ordered a substantial wall constructed around the city, and a rearrangement of streets and their paving with stone. Liu also had an impressive official residence built and the city's roads lit with electric lights. This was believed to be the first time electricity had been used in any part of the empire.
But despite his efforts to deliver good government, which also included building harbors, bridges, and the empire's first railways, Liu was deeply unpopular with the people because of a tax imposed on exports in 1886. In fact, the governor aroused so much hostility that he avoided traveling outside the capital if possible. On one visit to the southern city of Tainan, he was chased by locals through the streets and imprisoned in his official residence. Upon being freed, Liu never ventured to the south again. Perhaps Zhang Mingqing, vice chairman of mainland China's Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait, knows exactly how the governor felt following his Oct. 21, 2008 visit to the city.
For readers who prefer their history written a la Plutarch, with a focus on great lives and anecdotes as opposed to finance, trade and diplomacy, the book's concluding section might not appeal. As an early 20th century historian who lived in an era dominated by industrial society, Davidson dedicates a good chunk of his account probing into Formosa's commercial affairs. Ironically though, as the state of history writing shifts away from a Thucydideyan style, with its emphasis on what men of power do in government toward the social, cultural and societal end of the spectrum, this part is now back in vogue and will interest those seeking a big-picture understanding of the island's economy.
Although Davidson's vivid portrayal of the island and its people boasts a degree of authority and range that is quite remarkable, the bottom line is that such a weighty tome will probably not resonate with the YouTube generation. Yet, the tale he tells is a page-turner on par with any from ancient Greece, touching on the essence of the relationship between governors and governed. For those looking to acquire a thorough knowledge of Taiwan and its future directions, "The Island of Formosa: Past and Present" is mandatory reading.
Copyright © 2009 by Jean Brisebois
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