十九世紀下半葉竹塹地區商人面臨的挑戰

Zhuqian Area in Face of Tremendous Socio-Economic Challenges in Second Half of Nineteenth Century

眾所周知，1860年代的開港對臺灣經濟的影響甚深，不僅經濟型態更加市場化，也改變了地方社會的結構與權力關係。本文藉由檢視竹塹地區的社會經濟發展，透過對不同時期土地開墾狀況、市場與貿易路線的形成、及水利建設與農業密集發展等層面的討論，觀察自十八世紀中期以來直至十九世紀上半葉，由平原往丘陵地帶土地開墾為主的農墾經濟開始發展水利建設、提高農業生產效率，到開港後臺灣政治經濟發生巨大變化，此一區域性經濟體是如何面對這一波變化的浪潮。本文透過對開港前後竹塹地區經濟狀態之觀察，檢視開港嘉惠地方經濟甚多此一歷史命題。經濟成長使臺灣整體物質生活水準獲得大幅改善，對外出口成長的大量貿易順差也似乎使全臺雨露均霑。除了經濟之外，1870年代以後幾次行政區劃調整之衝擊和劉銘傳實施新政後形成的全島政治結構，理應在竹塹地區出現相應的變化。然而其在十九世紀下半葉仍是以產米為主之經濟型態、經濟作物茶與樟腦在本地的生產來得既晚、貿易又遭到瓜分。此外，清末竹塹最重要士紳之一的林汝梅選擇前往苗栗南庄發展的種種現象，促使我們重新思考十九世紀下半葉竹塹地區所面臨的巨大挑戰，其實可能是北臺灣各地開始出現的區域性差異發展，尤其，與全臺新興之政治經濟中心臺北對比之下，竹塹地區相形顯得邊緣化。

This paper examines a widely accepted view regarding the late Nineteenth-Century Taiwan. When discussing the economic boom brought by the growing export of tea, sugar and camphor after the opening of treaty ports in the early 1860s, it is pervasively perceived that Taiwan benefitted greatly from the economic progress and successive administrative reforms. However, by looking at the specific case of the Zhuqian area and its agricultural economy in the decades before and after the opening of treaty ports, the author finds that differentiation between regions was often hidden behind the seemingly prevailing prosperity. Zhuqian's economy, for example, remained mostly agricultural. Her trade and subsequent development were yet subject to a late-Qing Taiwan power structure which was molded by treaty port regulations, the successive administrative establishments, and numerous reforms enforced by Taiwan Governor Liu Mingchuan after the 1860s. These elements had led to a widening gap between Zhuqian and Taipei after the 1870s. In other words, even though the Zhuqian area also profited from the economic expansion in the post-treaty port era, it is also obvious that the Zhuqian society was marginalized, especially in comparison with the contemporary development in the Taipei area.