(Left: 福島安正 Fukushima Yasumasa, the first Japanese Administrator of Danshui)After the loss of Keelung, Danshui was the only remaining port accessible to the Qing soldiers in northern Taiwan. They managed to arrive by following either the coastal roads from Keelung by way of 金山Gin-Shan, or the railroad tracks from Keelung to Taipei and then traveled along the northern shore of Danshui River. By early June, 1895, about 5,000 men (?) waited impatiently on the shipping docks in front of the 媽祖宮MaZu Temple hoping to catch a boat ride back home to China. At that time, there were supposedly still 300+ battalions (360 men in each battalion) of Qing soldiers on the island ready to fight. However, it is known that the Chinese officials often inflated the number of enlistees and pocketed the pay of the ghost soldiers. So the true strength remains unknown.
Most of the soldiers who ended up in Danshui were from Canton previously brought over by 唐景崧Tang Jing-Song to fortify the defense of Taiwan. They owed no loyalty to the people of Taiwan and in fact ran away en masse at the first sight of the Japanese Forces. In retreat, they wrecked havoc wherever they went. The looting and killing in Taipei had prompted the merchants, both Taiwanese and European, to seek Japanese intervention. (Needless to say, these merchants are now branded as traitors of China.) On June 7, the Japanese cavalry pretty much trotted into Taipei unmolested. In so doing, they had also underestimated the resolve and the fighting capabilities of Taiwanese resistance south of Taipei and later paid for this oversight dearly.
There are two versions of what had happened to the Qing soldiers in Danshui:
The Chinese version (from "喋血台湾岛" published by 中国国际广播出版社, 1995):
June 5: Chinese merchant ship 駕時(the Cass) took a number of the soldiers back to Shanghai.
June 9: A Japanese force of about 500 men entered Danshui. There was some sporadic shooting from the Qing side. At 10AM, two Japanese warships 浪速Naniwa and 高千穗Takachiho sailed into Danshui River and fired warning shots at the soldiers. The Qing soldiers were now under Japanese custody. In the afternoon, 60+ men led by Col Fukushima Yasumasa arrived on warship 八重山Yaeyama and set up a Township Office quickly to register the soldiers. The Qing men did not comprehend the Japanese process believing that if they took off their uniforms and discarded their weapons, then they'd be free to go as civilians. The Japanese, however, saw this as a violation of the surrender and started shooting and killing those who tried to leave. It was unclear how many died. The estimate was 2,000 because it appeared only about 3,000 out of the 5,000 eventually made it back to China:
June 10: At 8:30PM, 1,200 boarded the Japanese ship 磯浦丸(? - might have been the 有磯浦丸 owned by 南嶋間作) which sailed for Hong Kong.
June 11: The remaining 1,700 were put on board of the Chinese ship 萬國號 and arrived back in Amoy.
The Japanese version (according to "淡水新政記", a 14-day diary written either by Fukushima Yasumasa himself or possibly recorded by his subordinates - several editions now exist):
June 9: Sent back 1,000+ Qing soldiers whose luggage was inspected by the military police and then allowed on board a British ship which then sailed for China. A hectic day with no time for meals. From early afternoon to dusk, representatives from several villages came to request protection from pillaging by the Qing soldiers.
June 10: Announced the exchange rate of Japanese and Qing monies. Hired 36 locals to do a census survey and purchase foodstuff plus cleaning and cooking. There was a report of a 14-men gang robbing 新莊Shin-Juang. Dispatched one military police with 11 soldiers to catch these bandits who ran off upon learning the impending confrontation.
June 12: Reported to the headquarters that 1,700 Qing soldiers were sent back to China yesterday. Decided to distribute rice to the local poor.
June 14: Appointed locals as policemen to maintain law and order. The eligibility included:
滬尾街有家屋者 (owns a house in Danshui)
年齡20-30歲 (is 20-30 years old)
娶妻成家者 (has a wife and family)
不抽鴉片者 (is not an opium addict)
能取得二人具保者 (can obtain guarantees from two others)
June 15: Announced the hygiene law. There was a one-day delay for a British ship to take on some Qing soldiers who were therefore given a one-day's ration. They were quite uncouth leaving filth and garbage scattering on the docks, had to force them to clean up at gun point. Census showed 1,019 families residing in Danshui.
June 16: The patrol found one dead Qing soldier, had to force 5 surprisingly unsympathetic others to bury their comrade. Distributed 308 boarding passes. In the afternoon, sent back 350 Qing soldiers. Paid 15 local laborers and 10 carpenters.
June 19: To speed up the repatriation process, negotiated with 3 Chinese ships, one could take 60 to 溫州Wen-Zhou, and the other two, 136 and 62, respectively. Finally, the repatriation was finished. Caught two escapees, a 44 year old tailor from 江西Jian-Xi and a 20-year old peasant.
The Japanese version is probably closer to the truth. The Chinese version argued for 2,000 massacred based on conjecture and an unsubstantiated estimate of 5,000 at the beginning. For one thing, the many westerners in town (including Dr George Leslie Mackay) would have taken notice as they had done during the Sino-French War and reported any large-scale killings to the outside world - not to mention the logistics needed for the burial of 2,000 that Danshui certainly did not have. [Note: JW Davidson's 1903 eyewitness account also did not report such an incident.] The Japanese house-keeping log indicated that in 10 days, around 3,300 Qing soldiers were repatriated. It was probably close to this number, not 5,000, who had arrived in Danshui. Fukushima also had written to the Chinese Government in Canton requesting humane treatment of these returning poor souls.
These poor souls came back 50 years later to re-claim the island. On Oct 8, 1945, the 9th Company (106 men) of the 4th Regiment of KMT Military Police (國軍憲兵第四團) arrived in Danshui on junks. They were called 雨傘兵 (the umbrella troop), disappointingly, by the welcoming residents of Danshui. Because, for some inexplicable reason, most soldiers carried on their backs a folded umbrella (on top of the pots and pans plus some rifles and bags of rice that they were also carrying). Yes, the rag-tag army had just landed. And Danshui-ren were stunned by their disheveled appearance not knowing that these soldiers had gone through hell before arriving in Danshui - not until recently anyway.
A postscript: In the 228 Incident of 1947, all three battalions (with the 2nd Battalion joining in from Foochow) of the 4th MP Regiment played a brutal role in northern Taiwan.
It must've have been hard for the Taiwanese, especially after watching the highly professional Japanese Imperial Army for 50 years and participating in it during WWII, to lump these ragged-ass incoming soldiers. I've read that Chiang Kai-shek supported a 70-30 pay policy for his own men: 70 percent of their pay came from looting on the back's of a local population while another 30 was in actual pay. When the looting of Taiwan's infrastructure started full-scale, partially to support the war effort in China and mostly to line the pockets of corrupt officials, a downward spiral of expectations must've started in earnest. I've read that incoming General Keh, upon landing, took the mic and explained to the Taiwanese that they were beyond the glory of Chinese civilization and furthermore a degraded people living in a degraded territory.
回覆刪除Interesting post. What's your source for this: "However, it is known that the Chinese officials often inflated the number of enlistees and pocketed the pay of the ghost soldiers. So the true strength remains unknown"? I'd like to read more about this topic.
Hi Patrick,
回覆刪除You are certainly very well-read. The bombing by the US in 1944-5 did cause a lot of damages to Taiwan. What's left was confiscated by the incoming Chinese. Not only the infrastructure but also the properties either handed over or abandoned by the Japanese (including those of the civilians). Some Japanese returnees later died in poverty in the winter cold in their home country.
Payroll padding in the military was a fairly common practice in China even though the penalty was generally capital punishment. You can look up 台灣通史 vol 13, in which special envoy 沈葆楨 in a report in 1874 had noticed in Taiwan that "...兵丁巧避差操，雇名顶替..." You can also dive into the payroll budgets in the book and look for discrepancies. For example, 50,000 men were reported by 邱逢甲, who happened to have run off with the entire payroll back to China in 1895, even though 10,000 was probably more realistic. More recent examples are the little children-soldiers (some 6 years old) in the KMT army - kidnapped to fill the quota (there are still survivors in Taiwan). The ranks were filled only when necessary, e.g., an inspection by the DOD was coming.
A side point: Kidnapping essentially by the state is known as 拉伕. The Japanese military rank had a 軍夫 who were actually drafted, not kidnapped. The confusion still persists even today - often to imply that the Taiwanese were forced to serve at gun point, i.e., as 軍"伕". This was not what had happened.
Of course ignorance breeds contempt. Not only the general whom you have cited. To this day, mainland Chinese still maintain that Taiwan was a culturally challenged land, not realizing that Taiwan was a much more advanced society by 1945.
Thanks for your comments.
The padding of troop numbers in order to apply for additional funds never occurred to me, though the moment I read it, it made perfect sense. I'm going to look into it more. Thanks for the insight: "You can look up 台灣通史 vol 13, in which special envoy 沈葆楨 in a report in 1874 had noticed in Taiwan that "...兵丁巧避差操，雇名顶替..."
回覆刪除My thesis advisor at NCCU, Dr. Chou's, father came from China. He was kidnapped returning from a Nanking university library late one night. That's how he ended up in Taiwan and Dr. Chou became a person in the forties.
I would like to dive back into this post again later on. It's really intriguing. I know I'm sidetracking for the moment, but I was reminded putting up my last comment about what a "foreign" friend from Hsinchu once told me. He's married a Hakka woman. One night over dinner, her grandma explained about how the KMT soldiers carried out home invasions in Hsinchu in the late 1940s. They just picked a home they liked, and where the household leader was vulnerable, and they home invaded. She said the house down the street had once belonged to a Taiwanese family. 60 years ago, it was home invaded by KMT invaders. She said their relatives live their today.
Have you heard of KMT home invasions in Danshui?
You are welcome. Please do come back and visit.
回覆刪除Most of us who have served in the military in the 60s know of these kidnapped old soldiers. In my artillery battalion, most of them came from He-Nan and Si-Chuan Provinces with some from Hokkien - none of them volunteered to join the army.
The type of home invasion was not heard of in Danshui. Most likely because much newer and better houses left by the Japanese were taken over by the KMT. Plus an entire area north of town was off-limits to us where the military stationed.
What's going on with that section of town now? It seems like you or Chosan mentioned it before....
回覆刪除"Most of us who have served in the military in the 60s know of these kidnapped old soldiers." Hopefully, you guys can get their story down, so it's not lost.
We will post more on the forbidden zone when the time is right.
回覆刪除After the recent publication of 龍應台's 大江大海一九四九, a lot of these old soldiers' stories are now collected by their sons and daughters or even the grandchildren and appear on the internet. What's needed is for someone to get them organized.
"We will post more on the forbidden zone when the time is right." Yes, this will be an unusual and difficult project. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to it.
回覆刪除Sorry guys, I cannot contribute too much on this subject since I only have visted Tamsui 3 times, less than 10 hours after I left home nearly half a century ago though I would like to follow both Eye-Doc and Pat's Blogs.
回覆刪除ChoSan
ChoSan, your memory of the old Danshui really boggles the mind. I think you'd agree that it bridges the past and the present making the whole history of Danshui complete. Please chime in any time you wish.
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