The Beipu Incident, also called the Beipu Uprising (Chinese: 北埔事件) of 1907 was the first instance of an armed local uprising against the Japanese occupation

Taiwan under Japanese rule

Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century....

 of Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. In response to oppression of the local population by the Japanese authorities, a group of insurgents from the Hakka

Hakka people

The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....

 and Saisiyat indigenous groups in Beipu, in Hsinchu County

Hsinchu County

Hsinchu County is a county in north-western Taiwan. The population of the county is mainly Hakka; there is a Taiwanese aboriginal minority in the southeastern part of the county. Zhubei is the capital of Hsinchu, where the government office and county office is located...

, attacked Japanese officials and their families. In retaliation, Japanese military and police killed more than 100 Hakka people. The local uprising was the first of its kind in Taiwan under Japanese rule, and led to others over the following years.

Background

Following the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoeski in 1895 between the Empire of Japan

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 and Qing Empire of China

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

, Taiwan was ceded to Japan in perpetuity, along with the Penghu Islands . The Japanese rule saw Taiwan take large strides towards modernization, as they oversaw improvements to the island’s infrastructure, economy, and health and education systems . Despite this, much of the population still suffered hardships, and there were regular partisan disturbances against Japanese installations . These guerrilla raids often resulted in Japanese reprisals which tended to be more brutal than the initial attack, such as the 1896 ‘Yun-lin massacre,’ which resulted in 6,000 Taiwanese deaths . Although the situation improved under Goto Shinpei, these disturbances still continued under Sakuma Samata

Sakuma Samata

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, who succeeded Goto in 1905 .

As part of the push for modernisation under Japanese rule, Beipu prospered due to its nearby coal mines . The town of Beipu was predominantly made up of members of the Hakka indigenous group, while people of the Saisiyat ethnic group also lived in the area . As Taiwanese aborigines

Taiwanese aborigines

Taiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of creation myths, recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han...

, rather than Han Chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

, these groups were viewed as barbians and were particularly likely to face oppression from Japanese rule , especially under Sakuma Samata’s term as governer-general .

The Incident

In response to what was perceived as Japanese oppression, Cai Qing-lin (蔡清琳) organised a group of insurgents in November of 1907. The group, consisting mainly of Hakka aborigines with the support of the local Saisiyat tribes, seized a collection of weapons in Beipu Township on November 14th. The following day, the insurgents killed 57 Japanese officers and their family members. As retribution, Japanese authorities killed more than 100 Hakka over the following days, the majority of which were young males from Neidaping (內大坪), a small village in the area .

Significance

The Beipu Incident was the first incident of its kind against the Japanese rule in Taiwan. Although other disturbances had occurred since the takeover in 1895, this was the first of a series of local uprisings which flared up quickly, and marked a new phase in armed Taiwanese resistance . Following Beipu, other similar uprisings such as the Ta-pa-ni Incident

Ta-pa-ni Incident

The Ta-pa-ni Incident was one of the largest armed uprisings against Japanese rule in Taiwan. Alternative names used to refer to the incident include the , after Silai Temple where the revolt began, or the Yu Ching-fang Incident, after the leader Yu Qingfang.-Consequences:Modern Taiwanese...

 in 1915 and the Wushe Incident

Wushe Incident

The Wushe Incident or Wushe Event or Wushe Revolution / Rebellion / Uprising / Insurrection of 1930 was the last major uprising against colonial Japanese forces in Taiwan...

in 1930 occurred, the latter of which ultimately led to a change in approach to Japanese dealings with the aboriginal tribes of Taiwan .