dc.description.abstract | During the early reign of Emperor K’ang-hsi, China incorporated Taiwan, which had been considered a diminutive island on a distant sea, into her territory. What prompted China to invade Taiwan – in spite of possible epidemics on the island and the dangers of the sea? Yet, what caused China to relinquish her ownership of Taiwan in the 21st year of Kuang-hsu’s reign (1895 AD) and thus change the course of Taiwan’s history while other countries in the world were vying for additions to their territories – for strategic, logistic, and economic advantages – at every possible opportunity? This paper seeks to answer these questions with the historiography of Taiwan, as well as an analytical research into the documents from the Ming and Ch’ing dynasties, including the Veritable Records (shih-lu, 實錄), memorials and reports to the thrones, letters, telegrams, personal journals and notes, and the journals of The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), which are translated into Chinese.
China’s association with Taiwan began in the Ming dynasty, which caused the island to be considered part of “Land under Heaven” (天下). When Cheng Ch’’eng-kung (鄭成功) failed in his attempt to seize the city of Nan-king(南京), the first rulers of the Ch’ing dynasty had already conquered most of China and intended to bring Cheng Ch’’eng-kung under their reins by obliterating his forces and defeating hisfollowers. As a result, among the strategic points of Taiwan, Luzon, and Nagasaki -- all located on the monsoon route -- Cheng Ch’’eng-kung chose Taiwan to rebuild his forces, arrange for his military leaders and their families to settle, and establish a base of operation for the cause of “overthrowing Ch’ing, restoring Ming” (反清復明).
With Cheng Ch’’eng-kung leading the remnants of the Ming dynasty, failure to keep him from ever rebuilding and expanding his forces again would undoubtedly result in imminent threats to Emperor K’ang-hsi’s sovereignty. To secure his throne, the emperor had no other option other than to annihilate Cheng Ch’’eng-kung’s anti-Ch’ing forces. This approach was supported by the ranking officials in the region of Fu-chien (福建) on the basis that the takeover of Taiwan is closely related to the overseas trading in that region.
In the 21st year of Kuang-hsu’s reign (1895 AD), China suffered defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. As a result, Beijing was on the brink of falling under siege -- with the Japanese troops almost taking over Shanhai Pass (山海關) from the north and meanwhile claiming Weihaiwei (威海衛) in the north. Consequently, the Ch’ing administration was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, thus relinquishing the ownership of Taiwan.
Overall, when the rulers of both the Ming and Ch’ing dynasties chose between taking over Taiwan and relinquishing the ownership of it -- two conflicting and contradictory choices indeed -- it was a measure resulting from macroscopic consideration to secure the sovereignty of the dynasty as their first priority.
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