The Tapani incident or Tapani uprising
in 1915 was one of the biggest armed uprisings
by Taiwanese
Han and
Aboriginals, including
Taivoan, against
Japanese rule in 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 ...
. Alternative names used to refer to the incident include the Xilai Temple Incident after the
Xilai Temple in
Tainan
Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of his ...
, where the revolt began, and the Yu Qingfang Incident after the leader
Yu Qingfang.
Revolt
Multiple Japanese police stations were stormed by Aboriginal and Han Chinese fighters under Chiang Ting (Jiang Ding) and Yü Ch'ing-fang (Yu Qingfang). The rebels declared a Da Ming Cibeiguo (大明慈悲國, Great Ming Compassionate Kingdom), the existence of which only lasted 12 days before the revolt was suppressed.
Consequences
Modern Taiwanese
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...
attempts to portray the Tapani Incident as a nationalist uprising either from a Chinese (
unification) or Taiwanese (
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...
) perspective. Japanese colonial historiography attempted to portray the incident as a large scale instance of banditry led by criminal elements. However, the Tapani Incident differs from other uprisings in Taiwan's history because of its elements of
millenarianism
Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin , "containing a thousand") is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenarian ...
and
folk religion
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
, which enabled Yu Qingfang to raise a significant armed force whose members believed themselves to be invulnerable to modern weaponry.
The similarities between the rhetoric of the leaders of the Tapani uprising and the
Righteous Harmony Society of the recent
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an Xenophobia, anti-foreign, anti-colonialism, anti-colonial, and Persecution of Christians#China, anti-Christian uprising in China ...
in China were not lost on Japanese colonial authorities, and the colonial government subsequently paid more attention to popular religion and took steps to improve colonial administration in southern Taiwan.
The aboriginals carried on with violent armed struggle against the Japanese while Han Chinese violent opposition stopped after Tapani.
See also
*
Wushe Incident
Notes
References
*
External links
Governmentality and Its Consequences in Colonial Taiwan: A Case Study of the Ta-pa-ni IncidentWhen Valleys Turned Blood Red: The Ta-pa-ni Incident in Colonial TaiwanTaiwan in Time: Magic amulets, tax breaks and a messiah
{{Empire of Japan
Taiwan under Japanese rule
Protests in Taiwan
1915 in Japan
1915 in Taiwan
1915 in international relations
Conflicts in 1915
Combat incidents
Rebellions in Asia
Military history of Taiwan
Military history of Japan
Taivoan people