Political divisions of Taiwan (1895–1945)
Taiwan was under Japanese rule after the First Sino-Japanese War, as per the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895. There were still several changes until the Japanese political system was adopted in 1920.
Introduction
Administrative divisions of Taiwan by types and times. Like the administrative divisions in mainland Japan, most of them are translated to "prefectures" in English.
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Early years (1895–1901)
The political divisions changed frequently between 1895 and 1901.
| Date | May. 1895 – Aug. 1895 | Aug. 1895 – Mar. 1896 | Mar. 1896 – Jun. 1897 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Names | Taihoku Ken | 臺北縣 | たいほくけん | Taihoku Ken | 臺北縣 | たいほくけん | Taihoku Ken | 臺北縣 | たいほくけん | ||
| Taiwan Ken | 臺灣縣 | たいわんけん | Taiwan Minseishibu | 臺灣民政支部 | たいわんみんせいしぶ | Taichū Ken | 臺中縣 | たいちゅうけん | |||
| Tainan Ken | 臺南縣 | たいなんけん | Tainan Minseishibu | 臺南民政支部 | たいなんみんせいしぶ | Tainan Ken | 臺南縣 | たいなんけん | |||
| Hōkotō Chō | 澎湖島廳 | ほうことうちょう | Hōkotō Chō | 澎湖島廳 | ほうことうちょう | Hōkotō Chō | 澎湖島廳 | ほうことうちょう | |||
| Div. No. | 3 Ken, 1 Chō | 1 Ken, 2 Minseishibu, 1 Chō | 3 Ken, 1 Chō | ||||||||
| Date | Jun. 1897 – Jun. 1898 | Jun. 1898 – Apr. 1901 | May. 1901 – Nov. 1901 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Names | Taihoku Ken | 臺北縣 | たいほくけん | Taihoku Ken | 臺北縣 | たいほくけん | Taihoku Ken | 臺北縣 | たいほくけん | ||
| Shinchiku Ken | 新竹縣 | しんちくけん | |||||||||
| Taichū Ken | 臺中縣 | たいちゅうけん | Taichū Ken | 臺中縣 | たいちゅうけん | Taichū Ken | 臺中縣 | たいちゅうけん | |||
| Kagi Ken | 嘉義縣 | かぎけん | |||||||||
| Tainan Ken | 臺南縣 | たいなんけん | Tainan Ken | 臺南縣 | たいなんけん | Tainan Ken | 臺南縣 | たいなんけん | |||
| Hōzan Ken | 鳳山縣 | ほうざんけん | Kōshun Chō | 恆春廳 | こうしゅんちょう | ||||||
| Giran Chō | 宜蘭廳 | ぎらんちょう | Giran Chō | 宜蘭廳 | ぎらんちょう | Giran Chō | 宜蘭廳 | ぎらんちょう | |||
| Taitō Chō | 臺東廳 | たいとうちょう | Taitō Chō | 臺東廳 | たいとうちょう | Taitō Chō | 臺東廳 | たいとうちょう | |||
| Hōko Chō | 澎湖廳 | ほうこちょう | Hōko Chō | 澎湖廳 | ほうこちょう | Hōko Chō | 澎湖廳 | ほうこちょう | |||
| Div. No. | 6 Ken, 3 Chō | 3 Ken, 3 Chō | 3 Ken, 4 Chō | ||||||||
Chō (1901–1920)
The former system was abolished November 11, 1901, and twenty local administrative offices (chō) were established.[1] Usage of Ken divisions was discontinued.
Structural hierarchy
Administrative divisions of Taiwan in 1901.[2] The red line marks the approximate boundary separating savage district and territories under actual Japanese administration.
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prefecture 廳 chō | Subprefecture 支廳 shichō |
District 區 ku | Town 街 gai |
| Village 庄 jō |
Prefectures
| Nov. 1901 – Oct. 1909 | Oct. 1909 – Aug. 1920 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taihoku Chō | 臺北廳 | たいほくちょう | Taihoku Chō | 臺北廳 | たいほくちょう | |
| Kīrun Chō | 基隆廳 | きいるんちょう | ||||
| Shinkō Chō | 深坑廳 | しんこうちょう | ||||
| Giran Chō | 宜蘭廳 | ぎらんちょう | ||||
| Giran Chō | 宜蘭廳 | ぎらんちょう | ||||
| Tōshien Chō | 桃仔園廳 | とうしえんちょう | Tōen Chō | 桃園廳 | とうえんちょう | |
| Shinchiku Chō | 新竹廳 | しんちくちょう | Shinchiku Chō | 新竹廳 | しんちくちょう | |
| Byōritsu Chō | 苗栗廳 | びょうりつちょう | ||||
| Taichū Chō | 臺中廳 | たいちゅうちょう | ||||
| Taichū Chō | 臺中廳 | たいちゅうちょう | ||||
| Shōka Chō | 彰化廳 | しょうかちょう | ||||
| Nantō Chō | 南投廳 | なんとうちょう | Nantō Chō | 南投廳 | なんとうちょう | |
| Toroku Chō | 斗六廳 | とろくちょう | ||||
| Kagi Chō | 嘉義廳 | かぎちょう | ||||
| Kagi Chō | 嘉義廳 | かぎちょう | ||||
| Ensuikō Chō | 鹽水港廳 | えんすいこうちょう | ||||
| Tainan Chō | 臺南廳 | たいなんちょう | ||||
| Tainan Chō | 臺南廳 | たいなんちょう | ||||
| Hōzan Chō | 鳳山廳 | ほうざんちょう | ||||
| Banshoryō Chō | 蕃薯寮廳 | ばんしょりょうちょう | Akō Chō | 阿緱廳 | あこうちょう | |
| Akō Chō | 阿猴廳 | あこうちょう | ||||
| Kōshun Chō | 恆春廳 | こうしゅんちょう | ||||
| Taitō Chō | 臺東廳 | たいとうちょう | Taitō Chō | 臺東廳 | たいとうちょう | |
| Karenkō Chō | 花蓮港廳 | かれんこうちょう | ||||
| Hōko Chō | 澎湖廳 | ほうこちょう | Hōko Chō | 澎湖廳 | ほうこちょう | |
| 20 Chō | 12 Chō | |||||
- Shinkō, Byōritsu, Toroku, Ensuikō were split and merge with the two Chō in the right.
Population
Population of Formosa according to census taken 31 December 1904, arranged by district.[3]
Shū and Chō (1920–1945)
Political division of Taiwan
Under a "Dōka policy" (同化) in which the Japanese considered the Taiwanese to be separate but equal, the political divisions in Taiwan became similar to the system used in mainland Japan in 1920.
Structural hierarchy
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prefecture 州 shū (5) 廳 chō (3) |
City 市 shi (11) | 大字 ōaza | 小字 koaza | |
| District 郡 gun (51) or Subprefecture 支廳 shichō (2) |
Town 街 gai (67) | |||
| Village 庄 jō (264) | ||||
| Aboriginal Area 蕃地 banchi | ||||
Prefectures
| Name | Kanji | Kana | No. of Subdivisions | Wade–Giles | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | District | Subp. | ||||
| Taihoku Prefecture | 臺北州 | たいほくしゅう | 3 | 9 | Taipei | |
| Shinchiku Prefecture | 新竹州 | しんちくしゅう | 1 | 8 | Hsinchu | |
| Taichū Prefecture | 臺中州 | たいちゅうしゅう | 2 | 11 | Taichung | |
| Tainan Prefecture | 臺南州 | たいなんしゅう | 2 | 10 | Tainan | |
| Takao Prefecture | 高雄州 | たかおしゅう | 2 | 7 | Kaohsiung | |
| Karenkō Prefecture | 花蓮港廳 | かれんこうちょう | 1 | 3 | Hualien Port | |
| Taitō Prefecture | 臺東廳 | たいとうちょう | 3 | Taitung | ||
| Hōko Prefecture | 澎湖廳 | ほうこちょう | 2 | Penghu | ||
- Hōko Prefecture was divided from Takao Prefecture in 1926
Cities
There were 11 cities in Taiwan in 1945. Most of them are still the most populous municipalities in the country today. The ōaza (大字) in the city center may named chō (町).
| Prefecture | Name | Kanji | Kana | Wade–Giles | Prefecture | Name | Kanji | Kana | Wade–Giles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taihoku | Taihoku City | 臺北市 | たいほくし | Taipei | Tainan | Tainan City | 臺南市 | たいなんし | Tainan | |
| Kīrun City | 基隆市 | きいるんし | Keelung | Kagi City | 嘉義市 | かぎし | Chiayi | |||
| Giran City | 宜蘭市 | ぎらんし | Yilan | Takao | Takao City | 高雄市 | たかおし | Kaohsiung | ||
| Shinchiku | Shinchiku City | 新竹市 | しんちくし | Hsinchu | Heitō City | 屏東市 | へいとうし | Pingtung | ||
| Taichū | Taichū City | 臺中市 | たいちゅうし | Taichung | Karenkō | Karenkō City | 花蓮港市 | かれんこうし | Hualien | |
| Shōka City | 彰化市 | しょうかし | Changhua |
Population
The 1941 (Shōwa 16) census of Taiwan was 6,249,468. 93.33% of the population were Taiwanese which consisted of both Han Chinese and "civilized" Taiwanese aborigines. Tainan had the largest population followed by Taichū and Taihoku. The largest concentration of ethnic Japanese were in Taihoku followed by Takao and Tainan.
| Area | Japanese | Taiwanese | Korean | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taihoku Prefecture | 153,928 | 1,053,372 | 1,051 | 25,531 | 1,233,882 |
| Shinchiku Prefecture | 20,693 | 815,274 | 150 | 1,894 | 838,011 |
| Taichū Prefecture | 46,371 | 1,329,620 | 333 | 3,863 | 1,380,187 |
| Tainan Prefecture | 53,446 | 1,489,621 | 253 | 7,375 | 1,550,695 |
| Takao Prefecture | 59,633 | 863,313 | 598 | 6,839 | 930,383 |
| Karenkō Prefecture | 20,914 | 130,720 | 119 | 2,032 | 153,785 |
| Taitō Prefecture | 7,078 | 85,068 | 35 | 957 | 93,138 |
| Hōko Prefecture | 3,619 | 65,694 | 74 | 69,387 | |
| Total | 365,682 | 5,832,682 | 2,539 | 48,565 | 6,249,468 |
| Percentage | 5.85% | 93.33% | 0.04% | 0.78% | 100% |
Changes in 1945
When the Republic of China began to rule Taiwan in 1945, the government simply changed the names of the divisions and gave names to the Aboriginal areas.
| Before | After | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Prefecture (州 shū and 廳chō) | County (縣 xiàn) | Level 1 |
| Level 2 | City (市 shi) | Provincial city (省轄市 shěngxiáshì) | |
| County-controlled city (縣轄市 xiànxiáshì) | Level 2 | ||
| District (郡 gun) | County-controlled district (縣轄區 xiànxiáqū) | ||
| Subprefecture (支廳 shichō) | |||
| Level 3 | Town (街 gai) | Urban Township (鎮 zhèn) | Level 3 |
| Village (庄 jō) | Rural Township (鄉 xiāng) | ||
| Aboriginal Area (蕃地 banchi) | Aboriginal Rural Township (山地鄉 shāndìxiāng) | ||
- Most of the cities in Taiwan became provincial cities, but Yilan (宜蘭市 Giran) and Hualien (花蓮市 Karen) became the first two county-controlled cities in the ROC.
- The more basic 大字 ōaza or 小字 koaza are merged to the districts in provincial cities, and/or reformed to villages (村 cūn or 里 lǐ).
See also
- Prefectures of Japan
- Administrative divisions of the Republic of China
- List of Governor-General of Taiwan
References
- ↑ Davidson (1903), pp. 597-8: "In place of the former system, which divided the island into 3 prefectures and 3 prefectures of second class, and which was abolished November 11th, 1901, local administrative offices known as "Cho" have been established at the following points: Taihoku, Kelung, Giran (Gilan), Shinko (Chim-hua), Toshien (Tao-hong), Shinchiku (Teck-cham), Bioritsu (Maoli), Taichu, Shoka (Chang-wha), Nanto (Nam-tau), Toroku (Tau-lak), Kagi, Yensuiko (Kiam-tsui kang), Tainan, Banshorio (Han-chu-liao), Hozan (Fang-shan), Ako (A-kau), Koshun (Heng-chun), Taito (Tai-tong), and Boko (Pang-hoo). The Administrative or District Offices (Cho) are in charge of chiefs of Sonin rank, who are assisted by clerks, police inspectors, assistant experts, interpreters, and assistant police, all of Hannin rank. These officers of Hannin rank number 1230 for the whole island. The administration of Formosa, under the direction and superintendence of the Governor General, is entrusted to these district offices."
- ↑ Davidson (1903), map.
- ↑ Takekoshi (1907), p. 199.
Bibliography
- Davidson, James W. (1903). "Chapter XXXI: Formosa of To-day". The Island of Formosa, Past and Present : history, people, resources, and commercial prospects : tea, camphor, sugar, gold, coal, sulphur, economical plants, and other productions. London and New York: Macmillan. OCLC 1887893. OL 6931635M.
- Takekoshi, Yosaburō (1907). "Chapter XIII: Population and future development of the island resources". Japanese rule in Formosa. London, New York, Bombay and Calcutta: Longmans, Green, and co. OCLC 753129. OL 6986981M.
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