Firearms, technology and culture: resistance of Taiwanese indigenes to Chinese, European and Japanese encroachment in a global context circa 1860-1914
type: CreativeWork
description: The aim of this dissertation is to explore the adaptation and the acculturation of foreign firearms amongst the indigenous people in Taiwan and the role of these firearms in resistance against the Western, Japanese and Chinese invasions in the period of 1860-1914. I argue that through the avenues of access to firearms and their absorption into indigenous cultures, the Taiwanese indigenes preserved some of their cultural and economic independence. The firearm did not only just serve as a killing weapon in the battles for the indigenes, but it also extended in purpose and meaning within indigenous cultures. To reveal the use of firearms by the indigenes and their firearms cultures, this dissertation has used various sources such as the British, Qing Chinese and Japanese official reports and documents, books, journals, and articles written by travellers, missionaries, consular officials, merchants, researchers, etc. in English, European and Chinese languages. We begin with the fundamental complexities of the geographical conditions between the western plains and the eastern mountain forests of Taiwan, the cultures of indigenous people, and the nature of resistances of the indigenes against Dutch, Spanish and Qing colonists and Chinese settlers before 1860. Since Taiwan was forced to open its ports under the Tianjin Treaty in 1858, the Western nations were eager to secure their strategic positions in Asia and exploit important industrial materials – such as camphor and coal – and the flourishing tea industries in the eastern mountain areas of Taiwan where many indigenous tribes lived. Political and economic encroachments within Taiwan had moved further and further eastward. Numerous clashes between the indigenes and the Qing armies and Chinese exploiters were inevitable. Ceaseless skirmishes by the Formosan indigenes obstructed the progress of resources exploitation, especially camphor. The process of the "opening up the mountains and pacifying the indigenes" scheme gre…
abstract: The aim of this dissertation is to explore the adaptation and the acculturation of foreign firearms amongst the indigenous people in Taiwan and the role of these firearms in resistance against the Western, Japanese and Chinese invasions in the period of 1860-1914. I argue that through the avenues of access to firearms and their absorption into indigenous cultures, the Taiwanese indigenes preserved some of their cultural and economic independence. The firearm did not only just serve as a killing weapon in the battles for the indigenes, but it also extended in purpose and meaning within indigenous cultures. To reveal the use of firearms by the indigenes and their firearms cultures, this dissertation has used various sources such as the British, Qing Chinese and Japanese official reports and documents, books, journals, and articles written by travellers, missionaries, consular officials, merchants, researchers, etc. in English, European and Chinese languages. We begin with the fundamental complexities of the geographical conditions between the western plains and the eastern mountain forests of Taiwan, the cultures of indigenous people, and the nature of resistances of the indigenes against Dutch, Spanish and Qing colonists and Chinese settlers before 1860. Since Taiwan was forced to open its ports under the Tianjin Treaty in 1858, the Western nations were eager to secure their strategic positions in Asia and exploit important industrial materials – such as camphor and coal – and the flourishing tea industries in the eastern mountain areas of Taiwan where many indigenous tribes lived. Political and economic encroachments within Taiwan had moved further and further eastward. Numerous clashes between the indigenes and the Qing armies and Chinese exploiters were inevitable. Ceaseless skirmishes by the Formosan indigenes obstructed the progress of resources exploitation, especially camphor. The process of the "opening up the mountains and pacifying the indigenes" scheme gre…
author: Lin, P-H
language: en
date published: 2016-03
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:30:54Z
provider: Nottingham Trent University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Nottingham Trent University