ABSTRACT
The early development of Taiwan during the Ch’ing dynasty took place approximately from 1680 to 1770 and is generally referred to as the “pioneering stage” in the island’s history. During that period, the Ch’ing government headquartered its administrative organs in the prefecture city (fu-ch’eng) of Tainan and gradually established a bureaucratic system of both civilian and military control. The Ch’ing also adopted policies for organizing and colonizing the P’ing-p’u aborigine tribes in the western region of the island. At the same time, the Ch’ing gradually converted to private property the royal lands and agricultural properties that had been established under the control of Cheng Ch’eng-kung (Koxinga) after his conquest of the island from 1662 to 1683. Under the new system, landowners had full property rights over their land with effective control over management and production decisions and with full tax obligations. As a result, many wealthy merchants from the coastal areas of the mainland in Fukien and Kuangtung provinces rushed to the island to explore and develop the vast open grasslands on the island to seek new opportunities for becoming wealthy. Some applied to local officials to acquire the requisite documents granting them the right to develop and acquire ownership over large tracts of land. Others leased land from the aborigines, which granted them cultivation rights, or they simply laid claim to underdeveloped, barren land. After securing their new properties, many of these homesteading property owners returned to their home villages and towns on the mainland to hire neighbors, relatives, and friends to return with them to Taiwan and assist in the opening up and development of their land.
