Abstract：
The southwestern coast of Taiwan used to be a vast lagoon with rich fisheries. This water attracted not only aboriginals to settle along the shore, but also merchants and commoners from southern China to trade, fish and hunt in the area. However, in merely five decades towards the end of the eighteenth century, this region witnessed rapid and large-scale deposit of sediment because of human exploitation, changes in river courses and natural disasters. This article is a case study of Gangkou (港口) area located at northeastern Old Taijiang Inland Sea (the present-day Anding District, Tainan City, Taiwan). With reference to past literature, historical materials, including a contract dated at 1814/15 among Gangkou villagers, and fieldwork findings, this article traces the historical and social development of Gangkou for a better understanding of how the villagers responded to a dramatically changing environment. Besides facing natural disasters that not only threatened their lives and properties but also transformed the natural environment and their subsistence style of livelihood, Gangkou villagers had to compete with inhabitants of neighboring areas for the dwindling marine resources. The situation was further complicated owing to state involvement in response to local armed conflicts. Both capable and insightful, the elites of Gangkou decisively united villagers with different opinions to cope with the strong competition from neighboring villages and harassment of corrupt governmental officials.

Keywords：Old Taijiang Inland Sea (Lagoon), Brackish Water Fish Pond, Land Development, Reclaimation of Tidal Land

Abstract：
After Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895, Zheng Jiazhen, a juren (first-degree/ provincial certified scholar) born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, migrated back to his ancestral hometown, Nan’an, Fujian, and made his living as a teacher. In 1913, as a well-known feng shui (Chinese geomancy) master, Jiazhen was invited to Taiwan to find a good burial place for a local gentry, Zheng Rulan. In 1919, Zheng Rulan’s descendants employed Jiazhen as their family teacher. During his eight-year stay as a teacher of this renowned Zheng family of North Gate of Hsinchu, Jiazhen had significant impact on the traditional Chinese-language education in Hsinchu area. On one hand, Taiwan of the 1920s was undergoing educational reform with new laws and policies introduced by the Japanese colonial government. Public schools were increasing but with classes taught in Chinese language decreasing. Traditional private studies were under close scrutiny or even banned. All these posed threat to Chineselanguage learning and education in Taiwan. Under this situation, what was the role played by teachers of traditional studies? How did traditional studies survive? Diary of a Guest is Jiazhen’s journal from 1923 to1926, in which he wrote about history, literature, feng shui, and education. In particular, his records of teaching hours, number of students, timetable and curriculum, attendance, school fee, school application, and the relationship between schools of traditional studies and poetry societies were precious historical materials for researching and reconstructing the operation of tradition private study education in Taiwan of 1920s. Jiazhen’s diary also served as a good starting point for understanding the challenges faced by school of traditional studies under the new colonial educational reform and Jiazhen’s plan and vision for traditional Chinese-language studies.

Keywords：Zheng Jiazhen, Diary of a Guest, Traditional Private Study Education, Hsinchu, Poetry Society, Kangaku Short Course

Abstract：
Most of the studies on the postwar US policy toward China regarded Taiwan and the Mainland as a unity. This article attempts to revise the Sino-American relationship from bipartite to tripartite involving the US, China and Taiwan as separate entities. Moreover, using the research approach of Cold War and decolonization, this article explores the characteristics of the Taiwan independence movement after the February 28 incident, the attitude of the US government, and the response of Kuomintang to this movement. Unlike the pro-communist left-wing movement in other Asian countries, the Formosan League for Re-emancipation (FLR), due to scarcity of resources, yearned for and welcomed US assistance. Hence, its independence movement showed characteristics of anti-communist, pro-American, and “dependent decolonization.” The US government had discussed on separating Taiwan from China since 1948. They hoped to see “a Taiwanese autonomous movement which is in the US national interest,” rather than the US unilaterally intervening in the Taiwan issue and taking on all responsibilities and consequences. Under the Cold War structure, the US government considered it costly to support the independence movement of Taiwan. After evaluation, the US shifted gradually its Taiwan policy to pressuring the Kuomintang (KMT) government to undertake political reforms and maintain stability, which was considered enough to prevent the Communist spread. Moreover, the US inclined to resolve the Taiwan issue through the UN mechanism, which allowed the international community to share the responsibility. In September 1950, the US proposed including the “question of Formosa” in the agenda of the UN General Assembly. In face of the CCP threat and the US policy sway, the KMT government quickly arrested FLR members. However, in response to the US concerns and in order to maintain friendly relations, a lighter sentence was imposed on the members of the Formosa independence movement. Since then, the KMT government cooperated with the request from the US, strived to introduce political reform and achieve economic stability, aiming to reestablish itself in Taiwan.

Keywords：Cold War, Decolonization, Formosan League for Re-emancipation (FLR), Peter Huang, Y. T. Tsong, Lin Ting-li

Abstract：
This paper discusses the retrospect and prospect of research on White Terror in postwar Taiwan. First, related research results are presented under four themes, namely historical materials, case classification, handling process and transitional justice. A comprehensive evaluation on these results reveals more diversified approaches to the study on White Terror in recent years, as well as an increase in cross-disciplinary researches, studies using official archives as core historical materials, master and doctoral dissertations on this issue. In addition, past investigations focus more on famous cases and Communist-related cases of the 1950s, and less on assessment of pro-communist figures or analysis of their conversion to communism. Moreover, topics such as the authoritarian party-state system and culture of the ROC under the Kuomintang (KMT) governance, changes of the times, regional networks, political cases of nominally non-political crimes have rarely been studied. Furthermore, there is still significant room for improvement in examining the association of the 228 Incident with White Terror, collective research, and studies of political prisoners’ families. Finally, the prospect of the abovementioned themes including historical materials, case classification, handling process and transitional justice is proposed and more integrated research results are expected. Suggestions for the use and collection of archival records as well as the organization and application of recollection materials are also put forward. It is hoped that Encyclopedia of White Terror and White Terror Research Report can be published soon and studies on White Terror would be encouraged to reach a new milestone in the research on national violence and development of human rights in postwar Taiwan.

Keywords：Postwar Taiwan, White Terror, Political Cases, Retrospect, Prospect