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Book Cover
E-book
Author Alsford, Niki, author

Title Transitions to Modernity in Taiwan : the Spirit of 1895 and the Cession of Formosa to Japan / Niki Alsford
Edition First edition
Published London : Taylor and Francis, 2017

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Description 1 online resource : text file, PDF
Series Routledge Research on Taiwan Series
Contents Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Table of Contents; List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Note on transliteration; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1 The petition: the history behind a document; 2 'The poor in China just grab a bag and run over': Han pioneer settlement in Formosa from the seventeenth century; 3 The British treaty-portcommunity; 4 'And there the twain shall meet': the formation of an urban gentry in a market town in northern Taiwan; 5 The spirit of 1895: occupation, capitulation, and resistance; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index
Summary "On 19 April 1895, British Consul Lionel Charles Hopkins, at the northern port of Tamsui, was summoned by Tang Jingsong, the governor of Taiwan, to his yamen in the western district of Taipei. Shortly after his arrival, Hopkins was handed a petition. Signed by a number of Taiwanese 'notables', the document appealed to the British government to incorporate the island into a protectorate in the wake of an impending Japanese invasion. The British declined. This book addresses the interconnectivity of these two communities, by focusing on the market town of Dadaocheng in northern Taiwan. It seeks to contextualise and examine the establishment of a 'settler society' as well as the creation of a sojourning British community, showing how they became a precursor of modernity and 'middle classism' there. By uncovering who the signatories of the petition were and what their motivation was to call upon the British consulate to bring the island under its protection, it brings into focus a remarkable period of transition not only for the history of Taiwan but also for the modern history of China. Using 1895 as a year of enquiry, it ultimately challenges the current orthodoxy that modernity in Taiwan was simply a by-product of the Japanese colonial period. As a social and transnational history of the events that took place in Taiwan during 1895, this book will be useful for students of East Asian Studies, Modern Chinese Studies and Asian History."--Provided by publisher
Subject British -- Taiwan
HISTORY -- Asia -- China.
HISTORY -- Asia -- Japan.
British.
Diplomatic relations.
Politics and government.
SUBJECT Taiwan -- Foreign relations. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85131985
Taiwan -- History -- 1895-1945. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85131990
Taiwan -- Politics and government -- 1895-1945. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85131999
Subject Taiwan.
Genre/Form History.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781315279213
1315279215