英文摘要 |
In Chinese documents about Taiwan during the Ch'ing dynasty, the word she (tribe or village) is an important term referring to the organization of the plains aborigines (p'ing-p'u tsu). Research to-date, however, has not determined adequately what a she refers to: is it a village or a tribe of plains aborigines? Some twentieth century scholars have come to define she as a village and, as I will argue, misinterpreted the she's actual significance. Through a case study of the Nankang and Peikang she, this paper attempts to clarify our understanding of the term. I argue that the establishment of these to she in the eighteenth century was due to the creation of a tax system for aborigines who submitted to the authority of the Ch'ing dynasty. Out of imperial concern for its aboriginal subjects, the government applied a new system of reduced taxation known as the fan-ting-yin in the mid eighteenth century. The Nankang and Peilang she established at this time were initially set up as units of taxation and a commissioner (t'ung-shih) played an important role in overseeing land transactions between the aborigines and Han Chinese settlers. The tax reforms initiated by Liu Min-ch'uan in the nineteenth century brought about the end of the fan-ting-yin system and the abolition of the two she. The history of the origins, development, and end of the Nankang and Peikang she is therefore an excellent opportunity to discuss the nature of she in general. |