'A Highly Cultivated Country': Charles Le Gendre's Mappings of Western Taiwan,1869~1870

一塊高度開發的地帶：李仙得1869－1870年之臺灣西部圖譜

This article examines U.S. Consul Charles Le Gendre's mappings of 'the Chinese division of the island' of Formosa as documented in the geographical, geological, and textual representations he produced in the early 1870s. In late 1869, Charles Le Gendre conducted an investigative journey from the northern port city of Tamsui down along the western coast of Taiwan to the prefectural capital of Taiwanfu. Details of that expedition were recorded in Le Gendre's unpublished, illustrated travel report, Notes of Travel in Formosa, and sketched on a color-coded map, 'Formosa Island and the Pescadores,' which was revised by U.S. Coast Survey cartographers and published by the U.S. Government Printing Office in 1871. The texts, maps and geological sections produced by Le Gendre, as well as the photographs commissioned to illustrate his manuscript, are the primary materials employed for this historical research. In general, I analyze the work processes undertaken by Le Gendre as he mapped the topography and terrain of the western plains and bordering foothills, and the geographical, geological, cartographic and textual products of his investigative work. Le Gendre's cartographic discourse, his experiential encounters with the landscape, and his attempts to systematize and disseminate the knowledge produced on this 1869 trek are all subjects addressed in this article. Major sections are devoted to analyses of Le Gendre's unique mappings of western Formosan towns and villages, Qing administrative geography, local society and culture, agricultural resources, and geological formations. In addition, a counter-mapping of Le Gendre's experience on the road is attempted by focusing on the spots where Le Gendre and his party of chair-bearing coolies, European guides (John Dodd and William Pickering), and photographic artist halted. Brief attention is also given to Le Gendre's comparative historical geography in both textual and cartographic representations. Finally, I have shown how Le Gendre's mappings of western Formosa influenced official Euro-American cartographic production for several decades after the publication of his textual and cartographic mappings of Taiwan in the early 1870s.

1869年底，駐廈門的美國領事李仙得從淡水港出發，南下一直走到臺灣府城，一路上並詳細地調查臺灣西部的地理、地質等情況。其視察成果，紀錄在李氏的未刊稿《臺灣紀行》，以及他手繪的「臺灣與澎湖群島輿圖」。本論文利用收藏於美國國會圖書館的李氏手稿、手繪地圖和這兩項原始資料所附帶的照片與地質圖片，探討當時李仙得如何替褔爾摩沙島的「華人地帶」製造各種形式的圖譜，建立可能是當時歐美人士最詳細的「臺灣知識」。本研究有兩個重點：第一，分析李仙得調查、紀錄，以及敘述（包括文字、地圖與圖像方式的描繪）臺灣西部平原與丘陵地帶地形和地方社會的工作過程。第二，討論透過此調查與紀錄過程所製作的成果，即李氏留給後代的彩色臺灣輿圖、地質圖像、文字描繪之表徵等。李仙得的製圖論述、實地接觸經驗，以及如何有系統地製造與傳播其「西部臺灣知識」，都是本論文探討的課題。本研究除了專門探討李氏繪製的城鎮與鄉村地理、清朝行政區域、農業資源分布、地方社會與文化現象等題目，也試圖透過李仙得對其路上停留之處的紀錄，探討他與雇傭的苦力、攝影家與嚮導，如何經驗當地的地勢與村民。李仙得偶爾也比較十七、十八世紀歐洲人的臺灣地理知識與自己的認知，對此課題本論文亦有初步的分析。論文最後一段則說明李仙得的「臺灣西部圖譜」，如何影響往後歐洲與美國官方人士繪製與傳播的臺灣地理知識。