Abstract
The essay is a study in the frontier area, San-sin of I-lan, which dealing with the historical process of this frontier society. It has focus on illustrating the regional specialty of this frontier area, by its original environment and nation mechanism.
Thus, the author attempt to express the following 6 topics:
(1) Analyzing the character of San-sin regional environment,
(2) Constructing the spatial process of land cultivation in Ching Dynasty,
(3) Exploring how the nation mechanism guided the development of this frontier area,
(4) Understanding the pattern of land cultivation in Japanese’s colonial regime,
(5) Finding the detail of economical production of San-sin area in Japanese capitalism and how the nation mechanism reconstructs the environment,
(6) Analyzing the rule of space structure and the character of society in San-sin area,
The results of this study are the follows:
1. San-sin plain is sited on the gate of Tai-Yia tribe, where it was the most dangerous region in Taiwan close-mountainous areas. Meanwhile, the natural environment of San-sin is an alluvial fan, accompanied with several furious floods annually.
Both of the two factors make the crucial key-point to influence San-sin region development.
2. Due to the dangerous environment, Han People experienced very hard time to cultivate this frontier area,but they gains few achievement ,finally.
It’s not until 1850, shugfan (the more civilized aborigines)begun to immigrate into the San-sin plains and developed their community by force.
They built their settlements from north to south, and from east to west on the southern I-Lan. But all the settlements were still sparse on San-sin plain during Ching Dynasty.
3. Japanese colonial authority had diversified its governing aborigine’s policy by setting up cordons from 1903 to 1911, and activated San-sin plain becoming a safe frontier for new immigrants to move in.
4. Shortly after Japanese colonial regime had controlled the aboriginal boundary, it attracted various groups to cultivate this great virgin land.
Under the powerful control of the colonial authority, Japan’s private corporations and I-lan land-owners cultivated the wild land, San-sin plain was well cultivated eventually.
5. After finishing land cultivation, nation mechanism and the capitals make more investments to transform the landscape to a stable area.
Forest resources, camphor trees and cane-sugar become the main business of the San-sin plain, too. In other words, San-sin plain pave its way to a capitalized economical system, ultimately.
6. In the meantime, nation mechanism was also the main power to influence the social structure on San-sin plain. Nation mechanism constructed a good space stratum, and the regional social activities also held in the same administrative division.
The local society was constructed by nation mechanism. It helped the cultivation of San-sin, but in another way, it also made San-sin the same as all other areas in Taiwan.