Abstract：
Focusing on Hâ-pau-sū Lake that had vanished for nearly a century, this article discusses the franchise system adopted for water governance on Jianan Plain before the early 20th century. Examining the impact of this system on how people managed and transformed Hâ-pau-sū Lake sheds light on factors leading to its disappearance. Although Hâ-pau-sū Lake finally vanished in the 1920s upon construction of the Jialan Great Ditches for irrigation, water governance and commercial management had long sown seeds for its eventual doom. On the water-stressed Jianan Plain, static lake water has always been a precious resource. People use lakes for different economic activities such as fishing, irrigation, animal husbandry, and aquaculture. Lakes are also important to human settlements, transportation, and even beliefs. Hence, lakes are of great significance in agricultural development as well as life and living. However, since the 17th century, many lakes and shallow waters along the coast of Jianan Plain, including Hâ-pau-sū Lake, were controlled under franchise. To maximize commercial profits and benefits, franchised merchants introduced transformations to the lakes. Take the case of Hâ-pau-sū Lake, the commercial operations of franchised merchants not only had negative impact on its ecology and landscape, but also jeopardized its diverse relationships with the surrounding inhabitants. After Taiwan came under Japanese rule, Hâ-pau-sū Lake was taken over by the government. In addition to their competitive advantage, the franchised merchants also had the support from the authority of the colonial rulers, and were thus able to promote more wide-ranging commercial operations. In line with the government policy of modernizing the sugar industry, their commercial strategy shifted from fishery and aquaculture to land development and sugarcane cultivation, foreshadowing the tragic disappearance of Hâ-pau-sū Lake in the 1920s.

Keywords：Hâ-pau-sū Lake, Franchise System, Jianan Plain, Aquaculture, Commercialization

Abstract：
From rice cakes and Han pastry to modern bread and Western snacks, the shift of baked goods consumed not only reveals the transformation of consumption culture, but also shows the development of bakery industry and the evolution of what bakery products mean in social life. All these changes signify an overwhelming revolution from the industry chain to the symbolic meaning of consumer goods. This article traces the emergence of bakery industry in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial era, including the promotion of wheat planting, establishment of milling industry, and social significance of Han pastry as “Taiwanese snacks/Taiwanese cakes” distinctive from that of bread and other Japanese/Western snacks. To the Hans in Taiwan, Han pastry comprises mainly festival foods enjoyed at Mid-Autumn and New Year, weddings and religious occasions. Made possible by industrialization under colonial rule, enhanced production of sugar spurred the making and eating of Japanese snacks, Western cookies and bread among urban population and the upper classes. Unlike “Taiwanese pastry,” which was complicated to make and bore ritual significance, these new snacks were non-ritualistic and endowed with symbolic meanings of modernity. By examining the emergence and transformation of the bakery industry during the Japanese colonial era, this article argues that the bakery industry had burgeoned even before wheat was brought into post-war Taiwan under American aid. In the first half of the 20th century, Taiwanese had started to consume bread and Japanese snacks, and the bakery industry chain was formed at the same time. New baking technology and changes in social significance of bakery products are all important factors influencing the transformation of bakery consumption culture.

Keywords：Bakery Industry, Bread, Han Pastry, Japanese Colonial Period, Consumption Transformation

Abstract：
This research aims to re-think the inception, transformation, development and revival of the idea of constructing a dam in Shihmen during the Japanese colonial era, an often neglected fact in previous studies that usually adopt an oversimplified or monotonous perspective. Shihmen Dam, completed in 1964, was the first multi-purpose reservoir in post-war Taiwan. However, this idea, once considered utopian, emerged as early as the beginning of the 1900s. It originated from an integrated water management concept that prevailed in the West, was transplanted to the East Asian colonies in the 19th century and repeatedly appropriated under various political, social and economic considerations during the whole colonial era. This study traces the implementation of this idea, and discusses the significance of this case study in the context of technological history and environmental history.

Keywords： Shihmen Dam, Talsperre, Official Irrigation Systems, Flood Control Project of Tamsui River, Water Control

Abstract：
Following the defeat of the Kuomintang in the civil war of 1949, the US changed its mind, becoming reluctant to carry out the promise of the Cairo Declaration and intending to resolve the Taiwan issue through mechanisms of the United Nations. With the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, President Truman dispatched the Seventh Fleet to defend Taiwan. At the UN, the Soviet Union and the PRC condemned such as an act of aggression and raised the “Complaint of Armed Invasion of Taiwan”. As a countermeasure, the US delegation put forward the motion of “Question of Formosa”. Internationalization of the Taiwan issue was brought forth against the complex background of the KMT-CCP Civil War, the Korean War and the Cold War in East Asia. The US advocated further investigation of the issue and a final resolution to be proposed a year later. In particular, “the wish of the inhabitants of Formosa” to be taken into account was put forward; and such principle of self-determination might lead to the repudiation of what was stipulated in the Cairo Declaration. Raising the Taiwan issue was a manipulative act of the US and the hidden agenda was to prevent the CCP from joining the Korean War and to entice it with a UN seat. However, the situation in East Asia changed drastically when the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army crossed the Yalu River and got engaged in the Korean War. With the CCP siding with the Soviet Union, settling the issue of Taiwan’s status was no longer urgent. In February 1951, the UK motioned adjournment of the debate, “the Question of Formosa” was thus shelved indefinitely. To the KMT, internationalization of the Taiwan issue posed a rigorous challenge to its claim of Taiwan’s sovereignty. Owing to its dependency on the US support, the KMT could not oppose the US proposition and was marginalized during the debate, falling completely into a disadvantageous position in foreign relations.   Nevertheless, the KMT remained the only dominant power on the island. Instructions were issued by the propaganda department and support was demanded from chief editors and writers for a concerted claim on “China has sovereignty over Taiwan”. Even though such claim was untenable under international law and practice, the systematic discourse gained success as an internal operation. Instead of becoming a crisis of governance, internationalization of the Taiwan issue was turned into an effective promotion for greater identification with and loyalty to China.

Keywords：Motion of “Question of Formosa”, Korean War, Cold War in East Asia, Cairo Declaration, United Nations, Kuomintang

Abstract：
Spanish sources related to Taiwan, their studies and compilation, and fruits of associated research are mainly of the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries, with particular importance given to the collections, translations and publications of historical materials on Spanish colonization of northern Taiwan. This paper attempts to contribute in the following areas: (1) review research on Spanish documents about Taiwan in the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries, focusing especially on studies published before 2010 in Spanish, which were mostly neglected by the academia in Taiwan, as well as publications in different languages (including Chinese, English and Spanish), released after 2010; (2) release other 18th-century documents on Taiwan, apart from that on the Lin Shuangwun event; and (3) make known some new documents of the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries other than the recognized sources.

Keywords：History of Taiwan-Spain Relationship, Spanish Colonization Era of Northern Taiwan, Dominican Order, Spanish Documents, Research Review, Prospect