日本殖民統治開始後，對於像新竹枋寮義民廟這樣重要的地方公廟的態度與處置辦法，是觀察殖民統治如何影響臺灣固有社會組織之運作之指標。作者經由幾則對義民廟「公共的」財產管理之相關新聞報導出發，探討設置於清代乾隆末年的義民廟，向來被認為全臺產業最豐，祭區又橫跨新竹、桃園十四大庄，在進入日本殖民統治之後所面臨的變化。作者認為，在「公共」的訴求背後，聯庄庄眾對向來私人把持廟產廟務的不滿、日本統治後對社寺廟宇監督法規的出臺、以及殖民初期地方公共建設的需要，促使義民廟於1910年代前後財產管理與人事經營的制度化，引導了1914年起義民廟協議會的產生，以及將大筆捐款用於贊助祭區內各地公學校之建設的現象。協議會之運作使得廟產管理人的產生更加制度化，在財產經營的方法上也開始了產生積立金（提存儲備金）、財產處分必須經過眾議，以及地方官廳監管財產處分的形式。上述變化若與自清代以來義民廟管理階層的權力行使形式相較，不管是管理人在地方社會的菁英地位、挪用義民廟租谷於提升地方教育之作法，都顯示了清末到日本統治初期的延續性。然而，以往管理人可以合法支用現金租谷結餘，次年度開會前歸還，而協議會成立後則喪失此彈性。考慮到國家與社會之間關係在清末至日本統治前期1910年代之際的實際改變，新竹枋寮義民廟廟產管理的制度化，不只避免權力被經理人而朝向十四庄代表共同協議之方向，政府也透過法規、臨監與交換，滲入民間組織運作，公共用途的訴求使得民間共有財產成為執行政府政策的資源。

The way the Japanese colonial government dealt with important and affluent local temples like Xinzhu’s Yimin Temple provides a means through which to understand the impact of colonial rule on the local societies’ long-existing social relations and autonomous operation of local affairs. Through the analysis of several newspaper reports, the author investigates the transformation of the history of Yimin Temple’s property management, which contributed to its large-scale sacrificial village alliance and huge fortune from the 1860s to the 1910s. The author finds that the appeal to call for public management among the allied villages towards Yimin Temple’s properties and rents, regulations on local temples, and the fiscal need to start public constructions led to the institutionalisation of Yimin Temple’s management in the 1910s. A Consultative Assembly was thereby established in 1914 to be responsible for the deliberation of the temple’s policy and management. Besides being responsible for the personnel selection of the assemblymen, the Consultative Assembly also ensured that the appropriation of properties and rents be decided by all assemblymen, fiscal supervision and budget system be inducted, and the surplus of each year’s accounts for Yimin Temple be transferred to the revenue of next year, all of which were put under the supervision of the local government. In comparison with the power structure of Yimin Temple’s management in the Qing period, the transformation to institutionalisation in the 1910s shows continuity with the Qing. However, through regulations, presence at the assembly meetings, and collaboration between local leaders and the government, the role of the colonial government did gain weight in interfering with the state-and-society relations of the Qing. Most significantly, through the process, constructions for “public good” became an important budgetary item for Yimin Temple. In other words, the government utilised the trend to facilitate the use of local resources in building local public facilities, especially primary schools.