本文以《灌園先生日記》為例，說明日記的史料價值在於提供個人觀點，一方面可以補充從社會學組織互動的觀點來研究近代國家與農村社會的不足；另一方面對於個人與近代國家在經濟利益、政治權力、文化認同之間錯綜複雜的關係，在質的方面提供更為細膩的觀察與分析，可以補充官方史料偏重數量統計的不足。 霧峰地區有強大的林氏家族，在林獻堂的領導之下，配合祭祀公業雄厚的經濟基礎，在水利事業上和國家展開既合作又競爭的關係。公共埤圳組合阿罩霧圳的公權化、霧峰圳水利組合的營運及番子藔私設埤圳的投資都具有家族制度的基礎。然而1930 年代面對日本殖民政府的米穀統制和水利統制政策，加上日本侵華戰爭所帶來的沈重財政負擔，造成國家與社會的衝突。林獻堂對於總督府態度的轉變，說明被殖民統治的人民產生自覺，對政權的期望從水利建設轉為地方自治的訴求，進一步促成本土社會的凝聚與共識，甚且超越霧峰地域社會，林獻堂因此躍昇為全臺性的領導人物。

Diaries offer abundant data to study daily life based upon qualitative description, and can supplement official quantitative statistical census data of the Japanese colonial government. Wufeng was a clan-oriented local society with gentry elites such as the famous Lin families. Under the excellent leader Lin Xiantang, there was cooperation with the colonial government to push through changes in the irrigation association. However, the policies of rice production and irrigation construction during the 1930s greatly damaged the economy of the villages in central Taiwan which was based on rice export. The heavy tax burden due to the Sino-Japanese War also deepened the conflicts between society and government in the Japanese empire. These are the reasons why Lin Xiantang emerged as a leader of Taiwan instead of the local society of Wufeng.