日治時期爲了管理原住民，瞭解原住民語言成爲「理蕃」官員的主要任務，以成爲所謂的「蕃通」。在日本殖民當局檢討霧社事件發生的原因之後，理解到深入瞭解原住民事務的重要性，除了原住民語言的嫻熟外，在昭和六年的《理蕃大綱》中，確立了「人物中心主義」。由於日本人在原住民事務的管理上，採行「警察一體」的策略，警察必須擔任教師角色以從事原住民教育工作。因此，「蕃通」與「人物中心主義」除了是「理蕃」的原則外，也成了警察在教師角色上的兩大支柱。

For governing Taiwan indigenous people, mastering the indigenous language was the main task of an official of indigenous affair and become "an understanding official of the indigenous affair". After Japanese colonial authority had examined the causes of "Boo-Sia incidents", they recognized that the officials of indigenous affair had to understand indigenous people deeply. Including improving their abilities to use the indigenous language, the governing authority ascertained the person-centered governing strategy in ruling indigenous people, issued in 1931. Due to Taiwan-indigenous-affairunification policy, the police system had to play the two roles: to govern them and teach them. Therefore, the policies of "the understanding officials of the indigenous affair" and "person-centered" were structured as the two main principles to govern indigenous people, also formed as two poles which were played by a teacher.