濁水溪中游地區本是原住民活動之區域，但自明末清初以後，由於漢人前來拓墾，漢人在濁水溪流域的拓墾路線是由西而東，溯溪而上，由下游、中游、再往上游拓墾。濁水溪中游的拓墾是由最西方之今竹山、名間、進而集集、鹿谷，最後才拓墾至水里、日月潭地區。清廷治臺初期採取消極之統治政策，一切以國防及治安為考量，禁止人民往原屬生番地界之濁水溪中游地區拓墾；而且採取劃界、立石之隔離漢番政策；乾隆末年，更採取「以熟番制生番」之隔離漢番政策，設「番屯」以隔離漢番。不過此一隔離政策不但無效；而且加速原住民之土地流失。因為漢人不斷地潛入番地拓墾，清政府通常採姑息之默許態度；即使偷墾被查獲，往往因治安考量，大多採就地合法之政策。因此漢人有恃無恐，一再勾結通事、土目、社丁首或官府人員偷墾番地禁區。嘉慶年間，漢人又違法進入水里及日月潭地區拓墾，終於引發郭百年事件。事件結束後，官府將漢人全部逐出界外番地，並立碑禁止再偷入拓墾，但水沙連原住民遭此事件之迫害，乃招引臺灣西部平埔族進入埔里共同抵禦漢人之侵擾，但「漢人卻陰持其後」，跟著平埔族之腳步，又潛入濁水溪中游界外禁區偷墾。一直到光緒元年（1875年）官府推動「開山撫番」政策，漢人才合法地進入濁水溪中游拓墾。 濁水溪中游地區經過明鄭及清代200餘年之拓墾，至清末臺灣改隸日本前夕，可耕地已被漢人拓墾殆盡，而居住於此地之原住民也因漢人之入侵而退居山中，原住民的部落被漢人的街庄所取代。不但經濟繁榮，交通四通八達，而且宗教蓬勃發展，寺廟如雨後春筍先後設立，整個的社會型態已由早期的原住民社會轉變成漢人的社會。

From the late Ming Dynasty and the early Chin Dynasty on, the Chinese cultivated the middle reach areas of Zhuoshui River, in which the aborigines had originally lived. The cultivation route along Zhuoshui River went from the west to the east, from the lower reaches to the middle reaches, and from the middle reaches upward to the upper reaches. The cultivated areas in the Zhuoshui River middle reaches extended from westernmost today’s Jhushan to Mingjin, and from Jiji to Lugu; and Shuei-Li and Sun Moon Lake areas were finally cultivated. The Chin government ruled Taiwan with the passive policy in the early stage. For the purpose of the defensive and social security, the civilians were not allowed to cultivate the Zhuoshui River middle reach land; besides, a demarcation policy was adopted to separate the Chinese and the aborigines. In the end of the reign of Emperor Chien-Lung, the civilizedaborigines-control-uncivilized-aborigines policy was implemented, and, on the basis of the policy, the civilized aborigines were given the land to cultivate. However, the policy not only was ineffective, but also accelerated the loss of land of the aborigines. The Chin government usually appeased the Chinese who cultivated the aborigines’land stealthily and illegally. Even if the stealthy and illegal cultivation was found out, it was legalized for the purpose of the social security. Therefore, the Chinese illegally collaborated with interpreters, aboriginal chiefs, aboriginal cultivation heads, or civil servants to cultivate the aboriginal land. During the reign of Emperor Chia-Chin, the Chinese illegally cultivated the land in Shuei-Li and in Sun Moon Lake, which resulted in the Guo Bae-Nian incident. After the incident, the government expelled all the Chinese from the aboriginal land, and prohibited the Chinese from cultivating the aboriginal land by making a demarcation with a law tablet. The aborigines in Shuei Sha Lian, after the Guo Bae-Nian incident, invited Pingpu in western Taiwan to Puli to jointly resist the Chinese invasion. Following Pingpu people stealthily, the Chinese illegally cultivated the aboriginal land in the Zhuoshui River middle reach areas. The legal cultivation by the Chinese occurred in the first year of Emperor Guang Shiun’s reign, the year 1875 in the western calendar, in which the government performed the exploiting-mountains-pacifying-aborigines policy. Land cultivation in the Zhuoshui River middle reach areas by the Zheng government and the Chin government lasted for more than 200 years, and the arable land there was fully occupied by the Chinese on the eve when Japan ruled Taiwan. The aborigines living in those areas were forced to evacuate from the occupied land to mountain ranges; as a result, the aboriginal tribes turned into the Chinese street-store villages. In the villages, the transportation systems were well-developed and convenient, and various kinds of temples were constructed one after another. Consequently, the early aboriginal society became the Chinese-style society.