| Title |
Changes in the Irrigation Association and Local Society in Wufeng during the Japanese Colonial Period
|
| Abstract |
Diaries offer abundant data to study daily life based upon qualitative description, and can supplement official quantitative statistical census data of the Japanese colonial government. Wufeng was a clan-oriented local society with gentry elites such as the famous Lin families. Under the excellent leader Lin Xiantang, there was cooperation with the colonial government to push through changes in the irrigation association. However, the policies of rice production and irrigation construction during the 1930s greatly damaged the economy of the villages in central Taiwan which was based on rice export. The heavy tax burden due to the Sino-Japanese War also deepened the conflicts between society and government in the Japanese empire. These are the reasons why Lin Xiantang emerged as a leader of Taiwan instead of the local society of Wufeng. |
| Keywords |
irrigation, local society, diary |
