| Summary: | 博士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 地理學系 === 102 === Progress of Regional Development in Pingtung Plain, 1683-1945
Abstract
This research is intended to investigate the long-term and changeable interaction among people on the historical process of Pingtung Plain. By the collection, analyses and interpretation of literature and historical documents, the researcher attempted to rebuild the historical social-cultural features and further to construct the regional development progress of Pingtung Plain from Qing Dynasty to Japanese Colonial Period. First of all, the geographical environment of Pingtung Plain was examined to provide the basic ecological characteristics for further elucidation of the distribution of ethnic groups in Pingtung Plain. Next, the types of settlements and their survival among different ethnic groups were studied, followed by the influences to environment and settlements under the regulation of state policies. Finally, the approaches to build up mutually recognized belief spaces through social networks by certain Han settlements were explored.
Located in the southeast of Taiwan, Pingtung Plain borders the Central Mountain Range on the east. Sudden rainfall in summer and the river courses with alluvial fans led to constant changes. The interweaving influence of topography, hydrology, soil and climate often resulted in floods, endangering the lives and properties of inhabitants and causing severe impact on the daily life of people. In 1927, government began embankment construction continually, and such conditions improved gradually. Overall, the outlooks of settlements were changed accordingly.
Pingtung Plain accommodates a variety of ethnic communities, including indigenous groups, Han descendants immigrating from Fujian and Guangdong Provinces in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and immigrants from Dachen Island, Yunnan Province and Burma after World War II. Thus the process of regional development was characterized by ethnic diversity. Among those ethnic communities, Hakka communities highly centralized at Liudui. Through the investigation of the transformation from Chiyin to Liudui, it was found that the superficial, provisional mobilization structured Liudui Region after the Hakka value of extending orthodoxy and tradition and the characteristics of Hakka ethnicity had been internalized to the terrestrial space. For instance, Hsienfongying (Vanguard Camp), Chiendidui (Front Line Team) and Hsienfongdui (Vanguard Team) should have merely referred to the vanguard fighting soldiers at war. Later, the growing Hakka settlements around Wanluan area after the Zhu Yigui Incident inherited the title of Hsienfongdui (Vanguard Team) under the consideration of continuing the legitimacy of imperial summon.
In the early stage of colonization, Japanese government partially retained policies regulated by Qing Dynasty in order to stabilize and extend the deployment and operation of state power in Taiwan border regions. It also utilized existent individual power and organized groups to scrutinize, investigate and manage people with stick-and-carrot strategy. The government, considering the understanding to Taiwanese culture and customs still in progress, even allocated all of the settlements of the same ethnicity to one administrative district. It is evident that the distribution of ethnic communities played an essential role to the allocation of administrative district.
From the aspects of topography, climate and soil, Pingtung Plain can cultivate sugarcane and paddy. The utilization of agricultural farmland in Pingtung Plain presented a spatial centralization phenomenon. Fertile paddy fields were located mainly along the spring belt and partially in low swampy land or regions with developed canal systems. Those areas comprised major distribution areas of Hakka communities with relatively higher supportable capacity. Hoklo groups spread along the alluvial plain and focused on sugarcane cultivation. Pingpu groups were located in regions where were less cultivable with under-developed canal system and lower supportable capacity.
Folk belief was an important media for establishing regional society and maintaining interpersonal connections. Social relations were constructed through deity worship associations, worshipping gods and spirits, building temples, and the united worship activities among villages to establish complicated social network and gradually configure belief locality. Cultural locality was further structured with interpersonal social network and mutually recognized boundaries. Diverse geographic landscape and regional features were thus created in the geographic environment where people live.
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