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My dear
I dont even know the purpose of this
Hello everyone! Welcome to Taiwan Bar
Today we're going to talk about Taiwan's modernization
Which might bring to mind
Liu Ming Chuan in the Qing Dynasty
and Chiang Ching Kuo's Ten Major Construction Projects
What about this gap in between?
Hmmm...Let's pause for a second and think about this
Ahem! Why is this gap always ignored?
The Modernization under Japanese rule
In 1895
Japan took over Taiwan according to the Treaty of Shimonoseki
Japan took this island in the middle of nowhere
and tried to turn it into a twinkle, twinkle little star
♪ How I wonder what you are ♪
So they made Taiwan modernize with them
But before explaining
why we're so unfamiliar with this gap
We're gonna have to say what's in the gap first
Ahem!
Here we go!
Taiwan's modernization under Japanese rule
included the visible change of infrastructure
and also the invisible change of lifestyle
In terms of infrastructure
First we're going to talk about Goto Shinpei's Urban Planning.
For example
the Governor-General's Office
which is now the Presidential Office Building
Also
You get the point
In addition
the two major harbors that led to Taiwan's economic take-off
(Garsh!)
The Port of Kaohsiung and the Port of Keelung
Along with the omnipresent Bank of Taiwan
And the ever-so-famous Guishan Power Plant
These were all built by Goto Shinpei
Recruited by Goto
Hasegawa Kinsuke designed the Western-line railway
Besides the infrastructure
the change of lifestyle
and customs were highlighted in the modernization as well
Japan considered foot binding
the queue hairstyle
and the use of opium as the Three Vices of Taiwan
As for the use of opium...
You can smash that link to review everything about that
After the Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1911
People started snippin' them queues
and freein' them shoes
In 1915
the Governor-General of Taiwan
used the Baojia system for...
And this reformation was successfully carried out under the police
Since girls didn't need to bind their feet anymore
they could work harder
and contribute more to Taiwan's economic growth
(a-hyuk!)
Aside from eradicating the three vices
Japan also stressed the importance of being punctual and obedient
First, about punctuality
The Governor General introduced the concept of a 7-day week
and set Sunday as a day off
So all the peeps who used to bust their asses off 24-7
started to have downtime
and though
"Hmmm...what am I gonna do with all this spare time?"
partay!!
And thus all kinds of recreational activities started to pop out
partay!!
Besides the week system
Japan also brought in the Standard Time System
With the introduction of Greenwich Mean Time
The concept of time changed from the Chinese Sexagenary cycle
into stuff like"eight p.m."
...or so
In terms of obeying the law
With the support of Baojia system
the police kept it sooooo peaceful that
People in Taiwan didn't even need to lock their doors at night
The Governor General also introduced the Western law system
so Taiwan's judiciary evolved from the guillotine
to a modern system with judges and lawyers
(Take double the payback!)
In the early years
these new rules were forced on the Taiwanese by the police
But after a while
People got used to it
and became punctual and obedient on their own
Let's clarify something real quick
Ano...
Everyone seems to think that
calling Taiwan a "Ghost Island" is a new thing...
The plague was a serious problem
at the beginning of the Japanese rule
You might get to Taiwan
and immediately want a free return in 7 days
So even a hundred years ago
people were already calling Taiwan
To solve this public health issue
the Governor General put in work
to set up public health and medical systems
The National Taiwan University Hospital was founded
aka the TGG Medical School at that time
Also
the Baojia system was in charge of supervising health ed
As a result
the Taiwanese became more civilized
That's why you don't see us spitting on sidewalks
or dropping doo-doos whenever, wherever
Also
the mortality rate dropped a lot
The population of Taiwan grew from 3 million people
to SIX POINT SIX MILLION
Uh...
Okay, we now know that
many antique and prestigious architectures we see nowadays
along with the change of lifestyle
A huge part was due to the Japanese rule in the past 50 years
Well... besides being “accidentally” forgotten by the KM...
by the ca--mpus
Another reason is because the Japanese Rule
was in essence a colonization
And that makes many people unwilling to admit the good parts
For example
Both at work and in education
It was obvious that the Taiwanese were excluded
Japanese people not only occupied most of the government positions
For the same position
Taiwanese people got paid much less
In terms of education
Taiwanese people either went to worse schools
or couldn't even go to schools
In addition to this unfair treatment
Agricultural exploitation was even worse
Remember Kodama Gentaro and Goto Shinpei?
They thought sugar manufacturing not only attracts investment
it's also the foundation of a colonial economy
So Goto went to Nitobe Inazo
who later wrote
to um...
reform the sugar industry
The next year
the Imperial Conference passed the
"Taiwan Sugar Business Encouragement Rules"
which restricted sugarcane sales to certain corporations
The price was directly controlled
No matter how bad the price was
Taiwanese farmers had no choice but to suck it up
This kind of colonial injustice
left sad Taiwanese farmers with happy Japanese capitalists
And the consequence of this exploitation
led to the saying
Al-righty
After telling you about both the exploitation
and how Taiwan was modernized under the Japanese rule
We have finally bridged the 50-year-gap!
Back to our topic
When we look back at this part of history
Either overpraising
or denigrating Japan's influence on Taiwan
is actually harmful for a full understanding of this period
Both can easily lead to bigotry
and make us victims to our own preconceptions
Like seeing a hot chick on the street
but when she turns around
(a-hyuck!)
Uh...
Okay, that's all for today
Let me finish this brandy
And we’ll see you next time!
Bye!