Abstract：
People with visual impairment are often considered economically disadvantaged, restricted in mobility and consequently limited in range of activities. In fact, towards the end of the 19th century, the blind from Taiwan shuttled across the Strait under the auspices of Western Christian missionaries. During the Japanese colonial period, the blind from Taiwan travelled to study in Japan, while their Chinese counterparts came to study in Taiwan, again under the encouragement and assistance of missionaries. The then colonial employment policy is another important factor contributing to the mobility of the blind. Since the mid-19th century, many people with normal vision began working as masseurs and acupuncturists in Japan, jeopardizing the livelihood of the local blind. On the contrary, in Taiwan only the blind could learn massage and acupuncture in schools for the blind. With the banning of traditional Taiwanese massage in colonial Taiwan, many Japanese blind relocated to Taiwan for work during the first half of the 20th century.

Keywords：Blind, Movement, Massage, Acupuncture, Christianity

Abstract：
This paper examines the historical issues related to the dispatch of Taiwanese by the Japanese colonial rulers to British North Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia today) in 1917 and 1938. Research findings reveal that the recruitment of Taiwanese in 1917 to British North Borneo was mainly motivated by the shortage of Chinese laborers working on Japanese farms there. In other words, the Taiwanese sent served as substitutes for the Chinese workforce. On the contrary, the migration of Taiwanese in 1938 under a scheme launched by the Taiwan Development Corporation was more than exportation of human resources. Funding was provided by the Taiwan Government-General for settling the migrants in their new homeland. This migration scheme was considered one of the accomplishments of Japanization in Taiwan as mentioned in the Plan of Taiwan Development. Taiwanese migrants to Tawau had the mission to communicate or to confront with the Chinese residents there, who had become the majority. During the Southward Expansion of the Japanese imperial empire, Taiwanese also headed south, playing a role in the same policy implemented by the Taiwan Government-General.

Keywords：North Borneo, Tawau, Taiwan Government-General, Kuhara Estate, Hayashi Kenkichirou, Orita Ichiji, The Taiwan Development Corporation, Hakka

Abstract：
Of the Koreans in Manchuria, the majority were those who moved there out of poverty in Joseon. Owing to their poorer economic condition, they had a lower national status than the Japanese, Chinese, Russians and even the Taiwanese whether self-employed or engaged in commerce and industry in Manchukuo. Moreover, most Koreans yearned to return to Joseon with the money earned during their stay in Manchuria. Hence, they had little sense of belonging to Manchukuo and tried to evade tax payment. In addition, many of them were engaged in smuggling, prostitution, gambling and illicit works, making them easy targets of discrimination and contempt. Apart from those in civil or military service as well as those who managed to amass great fortune, most Koreans in Manchuria were in an abyss of alienation, shame and pessimism. Mired in an unfavorable social environment, Koreans in Manchuria could not feel at home and had no permanent abode, leading an itinerant life at the mercy of other ethnic groups. Belonging to nowhere, they were regarded as ‘nomad (流浪者) of Manchukuo’.

Keywords：Manchukuo, Koreans in Manchuria, Identity, Nomad, Ethnic Relations, Ethnic Hierarchy

Abstract：
Between 1952 and 1968, apart from the National Civil Service Senior Examination, there was also the Provincial Civil Service Senior Examination held for personnel selection in Taiwan. The two examinations were conducted on the same date for the same subjects and with the same admission criteria. Over these 17 years, there were 1,581 civil servants recruited through the Provincial Civil Service Senior Examination. Nevertheless, there has been little discussion on how this alternative channel for personnel selection originated and terminated and how it was related to the National Civil Service Senior Examination. This paper details how the Provincial Civil Service Senior Examination came into existence, why it was abolished, who the candidates were, what subjects were tested, how many were recruited and to what posts the newly recruits were assigned. The Provincial Civil Service Senior Examination was first introduced in 1952 as a remedial measure for the uneven/unfair recruitment of Mainlanders and Taiwanese as civil servants. In that year, there was a marked increase in the number of Taiwanese candidates passing the examination. However, the “District Quota System”, with the appointment ratio fixed according to the population of each province of China, resulted in only 9 candidates from Taiwan being selected while the majority of recruits were Mainlanders. Things changed in 1960 when the subjects tested by the Provincial Civil Service Senior Examination were reduced. Furthermore, in 1962, recruitment was guaranteed to all Taiwanese candidates who passed the National Civil Service Senior Examination (passing score: 60 on average). Thus, the Provincial Civil Service Senior Examination lost its appeal as a channel for admission into the civil service and was eventually abolished in 1968. Talents recruited through the Provincial Civil Service Senior Examination were assigned to various posts in the provincial government and many ultimately played significant roles in the central bureaucracy. Hence, not only did the Provincial Civil Service Senior Examination offer an alternative means for personnel selection, its existence was also deemed necessary for quelling conflicts among different ethnic groups.

Keywords：Provincial Civil Service Senior Examination, Archives of Examination Yuan, District Quota System, Doubling Enrollment

Abstract：
The past two decades had seen increasing discovery of diary materials and their growing importance as a source material for research, complementary to official historical records. Diary series stretching over years and across eras not only contain crucial insights of the past epochs but also offer historical narratives from a personal perspective of commoners rather than those in power, thus making dairy materials worthy of in-depth exploration. Diary research in Taiwan began in 1991 with the study of Lin Hsien-t’ang’s diary, followed by its publication and the establishment of the Taiwan Diary Knowledge Bank. From the traditional focus on diary contents, the emphasis of diary research has gradually extended to the analysis of the evolution of personal beliefs and attitudes of individual diarists as well as the prevalent mood and thinking of the times. Moreover, examining the reactions of diarists toward events would shed light on their political stance.

Keywords：Diary, Diary Research, Taiwan Diary Knowledge Bank