In search of the Tung-luo clan 東螺社人

Immediately after the surrender of Ming-Cheng or Tung-Ning Dynasty, turncoat 施琅Shi-lang (1621-1696) began ruling Taiwan as 福建水師提督Admiral of Hokkien Navy. This position continued for 37 years from 1684-1721 and it was held by 施琅, 張旺, 吳英, and 施世驃 (施琅's son). The 施 father and son governed Taiwan for a total of 25 years, who, together with their cohorts, took over huge tracks of land as war spoils and levied exorbitant taxes on the residents of Taiwan. Confiscatory taxation, started by 施, was the fundamental reason why there were one uprising every 3 years and one revolt every 5 years during the Qing rule. 施琅 alone amassed 7,500甲 of tillable lands (1甲 =9,699 square meter) or half of southern Taiwan. The yearly 1,200 silver taels of licensing fee from the fishermen in PengHu paid to 施 did not end until 1737, 41 years after his death. And those lands were known as 施侯租田園, the rental harvests collected from generations of tenant farmers and sent to the 施 family in Beijing continued until the Japanese colonial gov't abolished this archaic practice and nationalized their lands.

The Ming-Cheng dynasty lasted 22 years, most of which under Koxinga's son 鄭經. The Chengs' mission of re-taking the Ming territories from the Manchurian Qing required that the military machine be well-oiled. And to generate revenues for the preparation for wars, trading with Japan and SE Asia was vital. This became increasingly difficult after the Qing shut down the east coast of China where valuable merchandises must pass through. Export of sugarcane sugar, deer hides, and other commodities from Taiwan became a major source of income. Locally, a taxation system was also instituted. To increase productivity and tax receipts, the gov't encouraged migration of Han Chinese to Taiwan and its own soldiers were also allotted lands to inhabit and develop (known as the 明鄭屯墾部隊) - often at the expense of the Aborigines. These settlements were quite extensive with the bulk in southern Taiwan stretching all the way north to Danshui. The Han population of 100,000 at the end of the Dutch period increased to 200,000. In other words, 施琅 had inherited a vast tax base, not a sparsely populated island with only Aboriginal subjects that paid token tributes.

For the especial interest of this blog, we should point out that in Taipei County area, the following Ming-Cheng sites survived to this day: 桃澗堡 (the first settlement), 南崁港, 芝蘭三堡(i.e., 淡水港), 芝蘭二堡(唭哩岸), and 芝蘭一堡(大直).

In 1684, the Ming-Cheng soldiers and military-settlers (totaling about 10,000 men) were forced back to mainland China and the latter's lands taken over by the so-called "Hoklo-speaking Pinpu tribesmen or 閩南語化平埔族人". Thirty seven years of Dutch rule had failed to produce any identifiable Dutch-speaking Aboriginal groups and yet in 22 years of Ming-Cheng, they not only battled the Ming-Cheng soldiers but also learned to speak Hoklo at the same time? Based on this improbable scenario, some have postulated anyway that all Han-people then in Taiwan, not just the military, were all repatriated back to China, the Hoklo-speaking Aborigines [note: more likely Han in disguise] were therefore able to multiply quickly and populate all of Taiwan. They also cite the first of the Five Bans by the Qing, in support:

1. 渡台之禁 (no migration to Taiwan - more below)
2. 入蕃界之禁 (no entry into Aboriginal territories)
3. 冶鐵之禁 (no ironworks - except the officially sanctioned 27)
4. 竹筏之禁 (no bamboo raft construction)
5. 官吏攜眷之禁 (no families of the officials allowed - so that in time of trouble, the officials do not seek to protect their families first)
2-4 were unenforceable and were unceremoniously lifted in 1874 on the eve of the Sino-French war.

There has been quite a bit of misunderstanding as far as Ban No 1. First and foremost, it was not a total ban. It was immigration by permits and indeed only men were allowed. The purpose was to continue the Qing's Han-controlling-Han policy, for the newcomers to replace the original settlers. It was during this period that some of the Han-Chinese, known as the 羅漢腳 (temple-dwelling homeless bachelors), intermarried with the Aborigines, more for the latter's property rights than love. [And in a different vein, some propose that their offspring were the ancestors of the modern-day Taiwanese.] This, however, is not to say that no others showed up in Taiwan at the same time.

The first Qing royal inspector to Taiwan 黃叔璥 reported that "終將軍施琅之世，嚴禁粵中惠、潮之民，不許渡台。蓋惡惠、潮之地素為海盜淵藪，而積習未忘也。瑯歿，漸弛其禁，惠、潮之民乃得越渡。" Essentially, after 施琅's death, the ban was loosened and even the previously forbidden Cantonese Hakkas were moving in. The ban was never effective in the first place. Even during 施琅's time, there were many ways of circumventing the ban, thanks to the corrupt Qing officials who regarded Taiwan as a gold-mine to get rich from:

1. The time-honored bribery at one's hometown or port of origin for a permit
2. Bribery at the port of entry
3. Smuggled in via flat-bottomed junks
4. Landing at remote areas/sites
5. Using forged permits

There have been studies on the ancestry of Han-assimilated Aboriginal clans. The one by Prof 張素玢 is particularly enlightening. [Much more can be found in this publication, Section 2. In her exhaustive search of the 東螺社人, she has discovered the first male ancestor of the 茆Maw family in 二水Er-shui, Changhua, was a Mr 茆芽, born 1649 and died in 1694. His original name was actually 王Wang. He was from 漳州府詔安縣甲二社 in Hokkien arriving in Taiwan in his 30s [probably as a follower of the Ming-Cheng]. His name change indicated that he was either adopted by the 茆s or had assumed it through marriage. It was most likely the latter as most of his descendants had moved to 埔里Pu-li area in Taichung in 1827 and were identified as Aboriginal in the local registers. So Mr 茆's was a perfect example of the Han-Aboriginal intermarriage. 茆 is not a Chinese name, BTW; it is a shortened phonetic version of the original Aboriginal name. The 茆 family rule prohibits marriage to any 王s, a Chinese custom of no same-name marriages that also indirectly confirms 茆芽's origin.

And the reason why the 東螺社人 migrated out? Loss of ancestral lands to the Han-people. One such Han family is the 陳Chens who chose to settle in 二水 from nearby 田中Tian-jhong, having bought several parcels of land from the 東螺社人 (with the purchase agreement to prove) some 200 years and 7 generations ago. They were the Han-Chinese migrants arriving in Taiwan for a better life, not Aborigines who had adopted a Han name.

The Chens and numerous other Hokkien and Hakka immigrants who arrived in the 18th century from China with or without their families were the reason why the subsequent population increase in Taiwan. The plains Aborigines lost their homelands to the Han people and moved away in two large-scale migrations, the first in 1804 to 宜蘭Yi-lan followed by another in 1823 to 埔里Pu-li, but ultimately they were all absorbed, culturally, by the ever-expanding Han immigrant population.