ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief overview of the historical changes in the course of the Zengwen River. Three environmentally unstable areas in the basin are explored with the assistance of GIS (Geographic Information System). Next, two land dispute cases in the valley are examined to illustrate how flooding and river migration became disasters for local communities in the context of Japanese colonial control in Taiwan. Finally, the chapter discusses how the stability of the Zengwen River became a necessary condition for the growth of the colonial economy in the late 1920s, leading to a thorough investigation efforts and river control projects by the Government-General of Taiwan. By examining the process of how the riparian communities and the colonial authorities interacted with the Zengwen River, respectively, this study shows that natural and social factors jointly determined the history of the people and the river.
