Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
concepts of the rule of law, and cities and towns were redesigned on modern principles of
urban planning (which included provisions for sanitation). Advanced agricultural prac-
tices saw food production increase over 10-fold and living standards and life expectancy
rose rapidly. Taiwan's population surged from 2.6 million in 1896, to 6.6 million by
1943. And this was just the start.
Within Taiwanese society and culture, huge changes were also taking place. From a
rural, superstitious and clan-based people, Taiwanese became increasingly urban and
modern. A professional class developed, and while there was still great inequality, it was
less entrenched than before. By the 1940s more than 200,000 students had studied higher
education in Japan and 60,000 had received college degrees.
As early as the 1920s, the economy began changing from primarily agricultural to a
mix which included light manufacturing and industries such as petrochemicals and ma-
chinery. With rising wages and living standards, Western-style leisure activities were in-
dulged in. People attended movies, concerts, sporting events, and engaged in tourism.
Civic associations also began to form among housewives, teachers and youth groups.
The early colonial experience also nurtured a growing sense of a unique Taiwanese (as
opposed to Chinese) identity. This identity is sometimes said to have been sparked by the
formation of the Formosan Republic in 1895, but it certainly began to take shape during
the 1920s as Taiwanese chafed under colonial rule (which still treated them as second-
class citizens in their own land) and local leaders pushed for civil rights and self-repres-
entation.
One of the most important figures in colonial rule, Gotō Shinpei, Chief of Civil Affairs
from 1898 to 1906, has been called the father of Taiwan modernisation. Gotō was quick
to suppress dissent, but he also believed that Taiwan should not be exploited for the be-
nefit of Japan. As such, he helped lay the foundation for transportation systems, public
buildings and urban planning, health care and a modern economy.
The Japanese colonial era is usually divided into three periods, which reflect the gov-
ernment's distinct developmental policies. After the first several decades of laying the
groundwork for economic development, the colonial government began to assimilate the
Taiwanese socially. Education policies began to mimic those in Japan, as did local gov-
ernance and laws.
In 1937, after the outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese War began, the Japanese gov-
ernment initiated the Kominka Movement, in which Taiwanese were encouraged to be-
come truly Japanese by changing their names, abandoning Chinese folk worship for Sh-
intoism, speaking Japanese, and pledging allegiance to the Emperor. The policy was suc-
cessful to a degree and many older Taiwanese still living, such as President Lee Teng-hui
