88 Boundaries and Beyond
He further stressed that, “once the territory is brought into the fold,
instead of dwindling it will be enlarged daily”. Taiwan was so fertile
that it naturally attracted people to come and explore the land. To
abandon it would only invite invasions by the Japanese and the Dutch, he
concluded.^124
The eastern sector of the island beyond the mountains (hou
shan) was settled by the aboriginal tribes. The civilized aborigines
were perceived to be Chinese subjects (min)^125 in contrast to the
“raw” aborigines beyond the Chinese cultural boundary.^126 During
the Qianlong reign Chao Yi wrote: “The eastern part of the island is
mountainous [and] settled by the raw Fan. They are deer hunters and
not included in the population registers (banji).”^127 In the late Qing,
Wang Tao commented that the raw aborigines (ye fan), though residing
within Chinese territory, were not considered Chinese people (Zhongguo
zhi minren).^128 Fearing possible clashes between the colonists and
the aboriginal peoples, the authorities did make some efforts to avoid
agitating the raw aborigines. One of their steps was to ensure that
farmlands pioneered by the Chinese settlers had well-deβined boundaries
separating them from the hunting-grounds of the indigenous people.
Those who encroached upon aboriginal lands were usually evicted by the
authorities before any incidents could occur.
Despite such enlightened ideas, the Qing government was seized
by a mounting sense of helplessness because of “Taiwan’s isolated
location beyond the seas” (guxuan haiwai) and, beset by bureaucratic
idleness in general, it tended to ignore the signs of instability revealed
in the incessant outbreak of uprisings. Being a remote frontier land, it
was governed by expediency. One example of this bureaucratic shilly-
shallying was the century-long debate about whether the government
should allow mainland migrants to settle on the island. This was a knotty
problem in traditional China, in which maintaining any extant policy was
always treated as a sacred cow. The Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723‒35) had
set out the time-honored principle that “unless the beneβits are ten-fold,
no changes in the laws will be necessary; unless the damage is ten-fold,
- For Lan’s arguments cited here, see Lan Dingyuan 蓝鼎元, Pintai jilue 平台記略
[A brief account of Taiwan paciβication], in TWWXCK, no. 14, pp. 29–32. - QCHJTS, in TWWXCK, no. 155, p. 117.
- HGTC, 1: 30a.
- In XFHCYDCC, 9: 133a.
- Wang Tao 王韜 (1828–97), “Liuqiu chaogong kao” 琉球朝貢考，in TWWHTK,
no. 292, p. 276.
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