The Island of Formosa Past and Present. By James W. Davidson. 1903. Reprint. Taipei: Southern Materials Center; Oxford, Hong Kong, New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. 646pp., plus illustrations, maps, diagrams, appendices, and index.
The turn of the century was a crucial period for Taiwan. As a result of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, concluded in April 1895 following the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan (along with the Pescadores Islands) was ceded to Japan. Panic broke out among the island's inhabitants, and the ensuing Japanese takeover gave rise briefly to warfare and a short-lived Taiwan Republic. Resistance of a more sporadic nature continued after 1895. Nevertheless, Japanese authorities were able to establish a formal government, impose local controls, and gradually improve upon and extend the modernization efforts begun under late Ching dynasty rule. More stable conditions prevailed by 1903, when the Taiwan Governor-General announced that armed resistance had ceased. Ching China's island province had been transformed into Meiji Japan's first colony.
The most graphic and in many ways the most informative account of this dramatic eight-year period is still to be found in James W. Davidson's book, The Island of Formosa Past and Present, published in 1903. The account remains valuable because Davidson resided in Taiwan during the entire period. As a foreigner, he had a unique opportunity to observe firsthand this political transformation, along with its turbulence and change. Almost two-thirds of his lengthy book concerns this brief period. The initial portion, a narrative dealing with the island's historical past up to 1895, serves mainly as a backdrop for what the author perceived to be the more promising contemporary era.
Davidson's book was the first comprehensive study of Taiwan to appear in English, and remains one of the most detailed works on the island in any language. The attractive 1988 reprint under review is an excellent rendition of the original 1903 edition, published internationally by Macmillan & Company and Kelly & Walsh Ltd. The 723 pages of text and the two colored maps, both done by the author, have been clearly reproduced, as have the 168 diagrams, illustrations, and photographs scattered throughout the volume. The reappearance of Davidson's imposing volume should contribute to the growing interest in Taiwan's history and progress.
The many old photographs, mostly dating from the late nineteenth century, are of particular value in this respect. They help to portray the past and to remind present-day readers of the profound change that Taiwan has experienced, not just over the last few decades, but since the turn of the century. Urban development is depicted, in particular the emergence of Taipei as a modern city with imposing government buildings. Alterations in dress and lifestyle are also apparent. Scenes of narrow-gauge push-carts, railway spans, and train stations evidence modernization as well as technological advances.
Despite the lasting value of Davidson's book, this recent reprint is not likely to receive such ready acceptance by readers today as did the original edition earlier in the century, when the primary audience was Western. Sections of the historical narrative appear outmoded, and the author's strong nineteenth-century views and biases are interjected in almost every chapter. These tend to make Davidson's book, including his account of the contemporary era, an ethnocentric period piece.
But his work is also a personal account that merits careful attention and understanding. Davidson, like most Westerners who frequented Asia in his time, had definite ideas concerning how the conditions he encountered could be improved. He envisioned that the betterment of Taiwan would inevitably be brought about by the introduction of Western ways, even if introduced by the Japanese. Hence, while Davidson wrote of past and present conditions, he had the future in mind, especially the material benefits that were likely to accrue to Taiwan and its inhabitants by way of economic growth and more productive use of the island's resources.
Davidson, twenty-two, arrived in Taiwan late in March 1895, when the island was about to be ceded. During that year he operated as the only war correspondent covering the Chinese resistance efforts and the Japanese military occupation. He remained in Taipei (Taihoku) as a resident of the small Western settlement situated in the Twatutia commercial district (the old Ta-tao-cheng port area). Eventually he became the first U.S. consul assigned to Taiwan. He served from 1898, when an American consulate was established in Twatutia, until his departure some five years later at the age of thirty-one.
The young Davidson was inquisitive by nature and an adventurer at heart. (He had previously been with the Peary Arctic Expedition in northern Greenland.) Soon after his arrival, he decided to write a book for English readers about the relatively unknown "Ilha Formosa." Subsequently, while engaged in eight years of study and writing in Taiwan, he developed a compelling interest in the remote island, its colorful past, and the change taking place there under Japanese governance.
His interest, as it broadened, inspired him to engage in painstaking research. Davidson made use of the available Western sources, and also consulted knowledgeable Western residents and Japanese officials posted in Taiwan. His acquaintance with several Japanese scholars further enabled him to cull in formation from Chinese and Japanese materials and to draw upon current studies being made on the native tribes people. Davidson relied as well on findings he made during his personal investigations, including frequent jaunts to secluded mountain areas, and once—in 1896, as a member of a Japanese exploration party—to nearby Orchid Island (Lanyu), then called Botel Tobago.
When organizing his extensive study, Davidson undoubtedly was influenced by C. Imbault-Huart's book, L'Ile Formose: Histoire et Description (Paris, 1893). Davidson also begins his work with a history of the island, then describes Taiwan's major industries, native products, and inhabitants. In between, however, he added his experiences and reports drafted while a war correspondent in 1895. The French publication contains only fourteen chapters, while Davidson's magnum opus consists of thirty-one chapters and four appendices. The long subtitle to his book suggests its broad scope and more comprehensive coverage: namely, History, People, Resources, and Commercial Prospects. Tea, Camphor, Sugar, Gold, Coal, Sulphur, Economical Plants, and Other Productions.
The first seven chapters cover the history of Taiwan from its "first known visitors" to the middle of the nineteenth century. This is the weakest portion of his book when judged by contemporary standards. More complete studies of the island's prehistory—as well as of the Dutch, the Ming dynasty loyalist Koxinga, and Ching dynasty periods—have since appeared in Chinese, Japanese, and Western publications. The early Ching dynasty period, beginning in 1683 and encompassing the eighteenth century, is treated in the least satisfactory manner. Instead of concentrating on the positive aspects of that remarkable period of Chinese settlement, Davidson focuses more on the disorder and corruption evident in Taiwan's frontier environment. The author also appears to have been discomfited by an era almost completely devoid of Western contact. Perhaps that is why he devoted an entire chapter to the turbulent, three-week visit in 1771 by an obscure European adventurer, the Count de Benyowsky, to Taiwan's secluded eastern seacoast.
Davidson's historical narrative more nearly parallels present-day scholarship as it extends into the nineteenth century when foreign intercourse with Taiwan was resumed. Historians continue to draw upon his descriptions of early Western contacts with Taiwan, as well as upon his lively accounts of trade and diplomacy after two treaty ports were established on the island in 1858. Also still valuable are Davidson's four-chapter study of the Japanese military expedition, dispatched to the southern tip of Taiwan in 1874, and his chapter on the 1884-85 French campaign in northern Taiwan.
In this final portion of his narrative Davidson assumes a more optimistic attitude. After all, progress was afoot! He cites the beneficial effects of the increasing foreign trade and the positive impact made by Western merchants and missionaries residing on the island. Moreover, he looks more favorably on late Ching rule after China, in 1875, began to initiate major administrative reforms and to introduce self-strengthening measures on the island. Davidson deals briefly with a number of improvements, including the construction of the first telegraph line in Taiwan, the initial planning and construction of Taipei, and technological advances such as the introduction of modern coal mining machinery. He also notes the better quality of key officials assigned to the island. In dealing with the 1886-94 period, when Taiwan enjoyed provincial status, Davidson provides a sympathetic account of the reforms attempted by Liu Ming-chuan, the capable first governor.
But Davidson's more favorable remarks appear to be grudgingly expressed, and are invariably coupled with negative accounts of conditions because he felt that Taiwan's population was still unruly (although he admits that the island Chinese were friendlier towards Westerners than those on the mainland). Furthermore, he states that Ching officials were greedy and corrupt on the whole, and remiss in providing for the Chinese and native tribespeople. Throughout his long narrative, Davidson fully approves of only two Chinese leaders: Koxinga (Cheng Cheng-kung), the courageous and enterprising Ming dynasty loyalist whose mother was Japanese, and Liu Ming-chuan, whom he describes as "intelligent, liberal-minded, and progressive."
The author expresses his biases even more strongly in his journalistic rendition of the 1895 takeover. Here he reports on the rise of the short-lived Taiwan Republic, which he mistakenly attributes to a Peking plot. He is disdainful of what he termed the "Butterfly Republic," as he is of the Chinese armed resistance to the military occupation. Davidson presents colorful as well as grim descriptions of the warfare, but usually praises only the Japanese exploits. Although biased, his vivid accounts of the occupation are nevertheless invaluable, for he accompanied Japanese forces during engagements in the northern, central, and southern sections of Taiwan. His eyewitness reports tend to complement those written by Chinese and Japanese observers who were equally prejudiced.
After the warfare ended, Davidson lauded the Japanese takeover. He hoped that modern government and reforms of a Western design could then be introduced. With these expectations in mind, he proceeded to accumulate data for what became eight chapter-length essays and the final chapter of his book. Davidson is more analytical and objective in this latter part. Although his nineteenth-century views and biases are still evident, the young adventurer seems to have mellowed during his stay as he assumed more of the proclivities of an international businessman. (Davidson entered into business several years after his return to the United States, and later was active in Rotary International.) This portion of his book indicates that he became keenly interested in the island's foreign trade and that his solutions for the betterment of Taiwan centered mainly on commercial and industrial growth, technological development, and profitable agricultural production.
Davidson's essays on Taiwan's major industries and native products are insightful. The author traces developments in each industry from the Ching period to his own time, and attempts to forecast the future prospects of each. According to his calculations, the three major industries, tea, camphor and sugar, had made modest gains since the Japanese takeover. So had coal (despite its low quality) and salt (after 1899) in terms of trade and production. The prospects for sugar seemed the brightest after the opening of the island's first modern sugar mill in 1901. Salt appeared promising as well after the establishment of a salt monopoly. Other industries lagged in production, however, while attempts had not yet been made to ascertain the extent and value of petroleum deposits.
The author indicates that the island's industries still faced serious problems. Tea and coal, for example, suffered from the rising costs of labor, and sulphur from low prices abroad. Meanwhile, camphor workers in the mountainous interior of northern Taiwan continued to be attacked by native tribesmen.
Davidson's essays not only reveal something of the complexity of the economy, but also that modernization proved to be a difficult process in the context of rural industrial development. Railway construction and harbor development had begun again, carrying on from late Ching projects, but the demand for workers for such massive construction projects had depleted the labor market and driven up wages. In addition, according to the author, the tea industry required much more improvement if tea exports were to make headway in the international market. Mining regulations had been issued, but coal and gold mining methods had not appreciably improved. In addition, the new administration had developed a modern banking system and was trying to attract Japanese investors. By 1901and 1902, however, only a vigorous campaign on behalf of the sugar industry had thus far succeeded in introducing modern facilities to the countryside in the form of two plantations with sugar mills.
Davidson also demonstrates that changes induced in native industries during this time did not necessarily bring about modern manufacturing techniques. He provides a fascinating description, complete with illustrations, of technological transfer taking place in the camphor districts, where the old Chinese stove was being replaced by a Japanese-type still. The latter was a crude but more effective device for distilling camphor.
Overall, the author's approach to the early Japanese period is different from other writers. Taiwan observers have tended to focus attention on the central government in Taipei and its attempts to create a modern polity and infrastructure, particularly after the appointment in 1898 of the reform-minded, fourth governor-general, Kodama Gentaro. Davidson, on the other hand, concentrates mainly on the rural sector where industrial development was only beginning to reflect initial Japanese modernization efforts. He was attentive to the change and reforms fostered by the government as well, but he deals with these matters only in a general manner in his last chapter.
This final chapter, entitled "Formosa of To-Day," clearly reveals Davidson's business interest and Western perspective. He treats briefly the new governmental structure and various physical improvements. Some of the reforms advanced by the Kodama regime relating to finance, sanitation, and education are mentioned, but the author fails to attribute them to Kodama and his progressive associates. In fact, he devotes more space to the Western missions and schools still in operation than to the newly established system of government schools. In the rest of the chapter Davidson deals with foreign trade, which he updates to 1902, along with more recent data relevant to his previous essays.
Davidson obviously had become preoccupied with matters of business and trade, abetted undoubtedly by his merchant friends and consular duties in Twatutia. He says nothing about colonialism, and fails even to acknowledge that Taiwan had become a colony of Japan. These omissions indicate how much the study of this period has changed since the turn of the century.—Dr. Harry J. Lamley is professor of Chinese history at the University of Hawaii—Manoa.