臺灣總督府設置臺灣府評議員主要是迫於日本國會的壓力及為牽制臺灣議會設置請願運動所做的努力，林獻堂是上述運動的領導者，但他卻被田健治郎總督任命為臺灣府評議員，做為壟絡的手段。本文主要利用田健治郎日記、林獻堂日記、臺灣總督府相關檔案，探討林獻堂五次被任命為府評議員，卻為了表明心志或同儕壓力而辭退以示反抗，有時又迫於現實不能不接受的經過，換言之林獻堂的態度是既屈從又反抗。以往研究日治時期的抗日運動，常用二分法，不是反抗就是屈從，實則在殖民地的民族運動者身上充滿矛盾性，由林獻堂臺灣府評議員的任命與辭任可以看得相當清楚。

During Taiwan's colonial era (1921-1945), the Governor-General's Office established the position of Taiwan Advisory Councilor due to pressure from the Japanese Diet as well as repeated petitions by local elites to establish a Taiwan Council of elected representatives. Lin Hsien-t'ang was a leader of the movement to establish this Council, yet the Governor-General, Den Kenjiro, decided to appoint Lin to serve as a Councilor as a ploy to alleviate elite agitation. This project has utilized the diaries of Lin and Den, as well as the Archives of the Governor-General's Office, to investigate how Lin was appointed to the position of Councilor a total of five times, made every effort to resist such an appointment due to his own convictions as well as pressure from his peers, yet in the end had no choice but to accept the appointment, only to resign as soon as possible. In short, Lin made every effort to resist, yet ended up being forced to submit. Previous research on Taiwanese resistance during the colonial era has emphasized a simplistic dichotomy of resistance vs. submission. In fact, nationalist movements during the colonial era were highly complex, and embedded with contradictions. This case study of Lin Hsien-t'ang experience can shed light on this important era of modern Taiwanese history.