Conservationism and Discourses on Natural Resources in Taiwan during the Qing Ruling Period

Title: Conservationism and Discourses on Natural Resources in Taiwan during the Qing Ruling Period The project focuses on the bureaucrats’ discourses and concepts of conservation in Taiwan during the Qing ruling period. A key method of the research will be analysis of archival documents. Under my supervision, the study team will conduct research for three consecutive years. Three major achieves will be thoroughly investigated: Compilation of Taiwan Archives in the Ming & Qing Dynasties, Archives of the Qing Emperors’ Edict on Relations with Taiwan, and Collection of Taiwan Local Accounts in the Qing Dynasty. To tackle the relationship of mankind and nature is a central theme in the study of environmental history. This project is to explore Taiwanese history from an environmental perspective. If, as an island Taiwan is regarded as an independent unit of geographical space, how was it treated in terms of conservationism before Japanese colonization? Taiwan was a colony of the Dutch and the Spaniards in the 17th century. After 1683, right after a short period under Cheng’s rule of the Ming dynasty, Taiwan was incorporated into the Qing’s political territory and under the jurisdiction of China. During the Dutch colonization period, natural resources were exploited, and the Dutch criticized Chinese who devalued the ecological systems. Did Chinese really have the attitudes towards the environment as what the Dutch accused? Therefore, I am interested in inquiring into how the bureaucrats under Chinese rule considered the conservation of natural resources in Taiwan and the discourses they used to talk about such an issue. The project will produce at least one journal (or conference) paper in each year of the research period. In addition, I expect to compose a preliminary version of a book on the subject after the study is completed. On the basis of the project findings on Qing period and my previous results on research into 17th century Taiwan, I look forward to launching a comparative study in the future, which will demonstrate how natural resources in Taiwan have been treated under various political authorities over hundreds of years.

Project ID:PE10107-0201
External Project ID:NSC101-2410-H182-012