The Truku War (), is series of events happened between May and August 1914, involving the Truku indigenous group

uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

against colonial

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

forces in

Japanese Taiwan The island of Taiwan, together with the Penghu Islands, became a dependency of Japan in 1895, when the Qing dynasty ceded Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese War. The sho ...

. The conflict's main scope was to dominate the area around the area today known as Hualien County, until then controlled by the

Truku people The Taroko people (), also known as Truku people, are an Indigenous Taiwanese people. Taroko is also the name of the area of Taiwan where the Taroko reside. The Executive Yuan, Republic of China has officially recognized the Taroko since 15 Janua ...

. Since the beginning of the Japanese Occupation of Taiwan in 1895, the Truku Tribe was seen as a major target in that area and for many years before the capitulation

Sakuma Samata General Count was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and 5th Governor-General of Taiwan from 11 April 1906 to May 1915. Biography Sakuma was born in Abu District, Nagato Province (present day Hagi, Yamaguchi), as the younger son of O ...

. The Governor-General of Taiwan employed massive resources in order to contain and overpower the resistance of Truku warriors, mobilizing as many as 20,000 soldiers and police officers in the field against a population of about 2,000 aboriginals. During a battle,

was seriously injured but in the second half of August 1914, the Japanese declared victory over the Truku and on August 28, the Governor-General of Taiwan declared the end of the war.

Background

In 1896, due to the rising anger of the

, Japanese Second Lieutenant Yuuki and his 21 subordinates were ambushed and killed in Xincheng, Hualien. This episode is known as the

Xincheng Incident The Xincheng Incident () is an event that took place in 1896 in the city of Shinjō (present-day Xincheng, Hualien, Xincheng), Political_divisions_of_Taiwan_(1895–1945)#Early_years_(1895–1901), Tainan Prefecture, Taiwan under Japanese rule, Ta ...

. In 1906, the Weili Incident resulted in the death of 36 people among Japanese merchants and in the Hualien Administrative Division due to the dispute of the

over the Japanese monopoly production of natural camphor. Governor-General of Taiwan Sakuma Samata's ultimate goal was to attack the Truku tribe and to take control of the mountainous area in Hualien to exploit the natural resources such as minerals and wood. In 1913, the Governor-General of Taiwan gave orders to the relative divisions to evaluate and assess the number of the local population in the Hualien/Taroko area. The Truku people resided in eastern Taiwan and were pretty much isolated by natural barriers such as rivers, cliffs and the coastline. There were 15 villages in Btulan area, 33 villages in outer Taroko area and 46 villages in inner Taroko area with total population of around 15,000 people. About 5,000 of the was able to join the war. It is estimated that the local aboriginals were equipped with more than 2,000 modern weapons like Mauser, Murata rifle, Winchester rifle, and Matchlock with about 50,000 rounds of ammunition.

War

, at that time Governor-General of Taiwan, employed massive resources in order to contain and overpower the resistance of Truku warriors mobilizing as many as 20,000 soldiers and police officers on the field against a population of about 2,000 aboriginals. During a battle,

was seriously injured but in the second half of August 1914, the Japanese declared victory over the Truku and on August 28, the Governor-General of Taiwan declared the end of the war.

Consequences

After the war, the Governor-General of Taiwan conducted the restoration of damaged bridges, roads, and local police posts. The weapons owned by the aboriginals were confiscated and the escaped aboriginal tribal people were pacified. New subdivisions under Hualien Administrative Division were set up in Xincheng and inner-Taroko areas. Further police forces were introduced into remote mountain areas taking thorough and full control of the aboriginal neighborhoods. A lot of Truku people were moved in groups to the plains and were scattered into many different locations. Some of them were moved to Chinese Han neighborhoods as well. By taking this action, the Japanese hoped to undermine the Truku's social structure, traditional culture and beliefs. Children educational places were introduced in every police administrative areas in order to promote Japanese culture.金清山撰述，太魯閣族事件上引敘事，2006 Traditional tribal lifestyles and means of self-sustenance of Truku people such as hunting and local farming were also discouraged, pushing for the development of fixed-farming agriculture such as silk,

ramie Ramie (pronounced: , ; from Malay ) is a flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to eastern Asia. It is a herbaceous perennial growing to tall;

, and tobacco.

External links

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References

Rebellions in Asia Taiwan under Japanese rule 1914 in Japan 1914 in Taiwan Combat incidents Taiwanese aboriginal culture and history Violence against indigenous peoples Seediq people Truku people October 1914 events November 1914 events December 1914 events Conflicts in 1914 Military history of Taiwan Military history of Japan {{Authority control

Background

War

Consequences

See also

External links

References