Abstract：
The jiao (brokerage cartel) was a merchant organization constituted by sea merchants who spoke Fujianese dialects or other related vernaculars. Jiao merchants were very active in the East Asian trading world in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Furthermore, they created their own commercial and cultural groups. These merchants not only built up trade networks between Taiwan and the port cities of China and expanded across East Asia, but also formed dense intelligence networks through the transmission of messages first by letter and later by telegram between both sides of the trade.
Jiao merchants were dependent on long-distance, trans-regional or trans-country trade. What sorts of commercial problems were they likely to encounter? How did they attempt to employ the norms developed across merchant organizations in order to pursue profits, avoid trade risks, and settle disputes? Moreover, through war and the subsequent treaties, foreign merchants became a significant presence in the East Asian trade from the mid-nineteenth century on, bringing with them a revolution in maritime transport and communications. How did jiao merchants respond to the commercial disputes that arose between foreign and Chinese businessmen? In what ways did they draw on customary practice as well as international law to resolve such issues?
In sum, from the middle of the nineteenth century on, jiao merchants that engaged in trade across East Asia confronted a period of transition and transformation in means of conveyance, information transmission and international law practice. Due to the limitations of the historical sources, this article first focuses on the private correspondence of merchants in Lugang (a non-treaty port in Taiwan), Ningbo (a treaty port in China), and Nagasaki (a treaty port in Japan) from the end of the nineteenth century to the early years of the twentieth century. It reconstructs changes in the forms of information transmission and maritime transport used by jiao merchants. It further examines how they employed customary practices to deal with all sorts of business disputes, both domestic and international. It then turns to commercial conflicts that occurred between Chinese and foreign businessmen once ports in Taiwan were opened to foreigners in 1860. Taking these as an example, it analyzes the types of disputes, how both sides negotiated and handled them, and the initial experience of jiao merchants with international law and its application.

Keywords：Jiao, Brokerage Cartel, Foreign Firms, Whole Ship Trade, Commissioned Trade, Zongli Yamen, Arbitration

Abstract：
This article delves into the multifaceted career of Robert Hart, a pivotal figure in 19th-century cross-cultural diplomacy and international relations, renowned for his role as the Inspector General of China’s Imperial Maritime Customs Service. Amidst the intricate negotiations and power dynamics of Qing China’s engagement with the Western world, Hart’s pragmatic approaches emerge as a central theme. This study sheds light on his involvement in resolving the 1874 crisis surrounding Taiwan’s territorial sovereignty, drawing from previously unexplored diaries that uniquely unveil his daily discussions with Qing and Japanese officials during the crisis. While scholarly discourse has focused on the differing notions of sovereignty held by Qing and Japanese officials, this research offers fresh insight into Hart’s integral role in navigating this diplomatic challenge. Moreover, Hart’s pragmatic influence extends beyond diplomacy to Qing military affairs, wherein he championed naval reforms to counter foreign powers’ expansion, as well as his engagement with Qing colonisation efforts in Taiwan.

Keywords：Robert Hart, Hart’s Diaries, International Law, Taiwan, Qing Dynasty, Meiji Japan

Abstract：
The practice of selling daughters into prostitution was once prevalent in Taiwan’s Han society. Under Japanese colonial rule, this practice was influenced by the public prostitution system, which involved bringing women from Japan and elsewhere to Taiwan, to work in the sex trade. It was not until the 1920s, that this issue began to attract the attention of intellectuals both in Taiwan and abroad. In addition to successive calls for the liberation of prostitutes from the first-generation Taiwanese intellectuals studying in Japan, Japanese abolitionist groups also expanded their activities to various colonies. Nevertheless, Taiwanese intellectuals did not understand the actual situation of the sex market in Taiwan, and their primary discourse focused on women’s education and freedom of marriage, which did little to alleviate the suffering of women in the sex trade. Meanwhile, the abolitionists needed support from the colonial government to promote their movement, leading their Taiwanese branch to adopt favorable attitudes towards the Japanese regime. Consequently, although the abolition movement did exist in Taiwan, its actual operations and impact were limited.
In contrast, the 1922 Free Cessation Movement, an independent local social movement, also aiming at the abolition of prostitution, developed concurrently in Taipei and had a more significant impact. Encouraged by Inagaki Tōbei, many prostitutes in Taipei and red-light districts across Taiwan sought to resign from their work, causing a sensation. Notably, Tsiúnn Ūi-súi, a local Taiwanese intellectual participated in the movement out of concern for human rights. Rather than being a provocation instigated by outsiders, this Free Cessation Movement was indeed a product of exchange and concrete planning by Tsiúnn Ūi-súi and Inagaki Tōbei within the new cultural context of Taiwan in the 1920s. Even more significantly, the Free Cessation Movement was able to effectively establish legitimacy and viability for abolitionism within Taiwanese society through public judicial hearings and rulings.

Keywords：Prostitution Abolitionism, Free Cessation Movement, Hayashi Utako, Japan Christian Women’s Organization, Inagaki Tōbei, Tsiúnn Ūi-súi

Abstract：
The creative activities of the Tai-Yang Art Association (hereafter referred to as Tai-Yang) can rightly be described as one of the most critical chapters in the history of modern art in Taiwan, second only to government-sponsored fine arts exhibitions. Its impact spanned through the Japanese colonial period to the post World War II era. Nevertheless, influenced by the anti-Japanese historical perspective, the role of Tai-Yang in the pre-war years remained ambiguous and unexplored. This paper combs through Tai-Yang’s early history, examining first its internal organization, exhibitions, members, and interaction with Taiwanese literati, followed by analyzing its social activities of auction sponsorship or patriotic donations, and the diverse subject matters and styles of its artworks. In conclusion, this paper points out that Tai-Yang was engaged in dynamic interaction with Taiwanese literati and was inspired by the ideal of autonomy, translating it into the realm of art and striving for the subjectivity of Taiwanese Art under the colonial regime. However, the development was still constrained by the prevailing political situation with the ideal often veiled behind obscured expressions.

Keywords：The Tai-Yang Art Association, The Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition, Taiwanese Art History, The Autonomy of Art