淺談台灣經濟發展史(中a)－Thomas66's Blog

An Overview of Taiwan’s Economic Development (IIa)

Abstract

While developing trade and commerce, the Dutch had found that high temperatures and abundant rainfall of the island made the plains very suited to agriculture, leading to the production of rice and sugar for export. They also introduced know-how to grow sugarcanes, and an emerging industry in Taiwan was booming. For some three centuries, rice and sugar would thus endure as the cornerstones of agricultural economy on the island (although the problem of so-called "cannibalization between rice and sugar" often occurred and the subject tagged along Taiwan’s agriculture from the Ching to Japanese eras). To promote agriculture, the Dutch leased land and agricultural tools to peasants and raised oxen for tilling rice fields, and at the same time, dug wells, conducted land surveys, etc. They not only improved the breeding of plants, but introduced new crops such as cabbage, bean, tomato, mango, and chili pepper, which became popular produce today in Taiwan.

During the Cheng period, Taiwan’s agriculture was further developed. Due to the sudden increase in population, more lands were opened to farming. The total cultivated land increased greatly; hence, production of foods was multiplied. In order to fund agricultural development and gigantic government spending, the Cheng regime taxed residents rigorously. In addition to the head tax invented by the Dutch, the Cheng government also introduced property tax. Taxing objects were extended to all areas of industry. Tormented by heavy taxation, residents gradually grew bitter against the Cheng regime and were soon in deep despair.

In the Ching era, there existed the so-called “Two Lords to a Field” system regarding land cultivation by Chinese immigrants. Each year, the Chinese immigrant would pay the aborigine landlord a rent, called “aborigine large-rent.” The Chinese tenant might in turn sublet the land to other farmers for cultivation, and the rent he received was called “small-rent.” Although the government forbade the Chinese to buy aborigine lands, it turned out that most of the aborigine lands were lent out to the Chinese for reclamation. Why (and how) did aborigines lose their lands eventually? More studies are required to explain the phenomenon.

At the beginning of the Ching rule, the government policy toward Taiwan swayed between pro-colonization and quarantine. Following the quarantine policy, Chinese immigration to Taiwan was restricted, and Taiwan’s rice export was regulated. All the cross-strait trade had to pass through Tainan in Taiwan and Amoy in Fukien. Having been in such a "domestic colony" for a long time, various importers and exporters in Taiwan developed unique trade organizations called "guilds." These guilds, which were similar to present-day trade organizations, enjoyed monopolized business approved by the government. They would later become the capitalists of Taiwan commerce. In the early 18th century, the quarantine policy was gradually replaced by the pro-colonization policy, partly because Taiwan’s rice export would help to alleviate the food shortage problem in southeastern China. But the booming trade economy faced a downturn in the early 19th century. It seemed that China’s economy was in continued depression from the early to mid-19th century. In addition, China began to import a large amount of rice from Southeast Asia.

Upon the Opium war, four Tientsin treaties were concluded during 1858. Since Perry's report on occupying Taiwan had been noticed by European powers (and rapidly aroused their interest in Taiwan), Taiwan was also forced to open up ports for international trade, e.g., Tamsui in the north (1862) and Takao in the south (1864). Taiwan then rejoined the world. This immediately enabled a new industry to emerge in northern Taiwan. Before the mid-1850s, there was only a very small amount of tea produced in Taiwan, and probably only for domestic consumption. After Taiwan opened up to the world again, John Dodd, a Scotch merchant, successfully developed a tea industry in northern Taiwan. Almost all the tea produced in Taiwan was for export. And at the end of Ching era, tea became the most important export from Taiwan, surpassing rice and sugar.

米糖經濟

除了貿易轉運以外，荷蘭人亦逐漸發現，台灣土地氣候適合栽種稻米、甘蔗等作物 (當時鹿皮、砂糖、烏魚是三項主要出口貨品)。荷蘭人首先季節性引入閩粵沿海居民，來台從事大規模開墾；其次為興修水利、改良農耕器具，並致力於耕牛的培育 (自印度引入)；再來則是引進南洋種蔗及製糖的技法，台灣糖業遂開始萌芽 (當時其經濟重要性勝於稻米)。開墾的區域，乃以大員 (今安平附近) 為農業聚落中心，往北發展至北港，南迄阿公店 (岡山) 一帶。荷人亦曾教導平埔族人種植稻作；又以日用品、農具等物，和原住民交換大量鹿皮。除大規模生產甘蔗、稻米以外，還引進荷蘭豆 (碗豆)、番介藍 (高麗菜)、番茄、番薑 (辣椒)、芒果、釋迦、波羅蜜、呂宋菸草等新作物。在土地制度方面，荷蘭時期採行王田制與結首制。荷蘭人控制下的台灣土地，皆屬東印度公司所有，稱為「王田」；「漢人」僅是拓墾佃戶，必須承租才能耕種，且未有土地所有權。土地管理採取層層控管的方式 (「大結首」、「小結首」、「佃戶」等三階級)，由大墾民管制小墾民；土地面積以「甲」計算，田地抽稅的單位是「犁」 (一張犁可耕五甲地)，房屋面積則以「坪」計算。

鄭氏家族入台後，為解決軍需民食 (入台前估計台灣原有人口約為十萬人)，拓墾範圍也由今台南府城一帶往外擴張 (此時稻穀重要性超過蔗糖)。降清之時，台南附近已有相當程度的開發，亦擴及鳳山縣 (今高雄)、雞籠、竹塹、琅嶠等地之局部墾植。在土地開發方面，將荷蘭時代的王田收歸公有 (成為「官田」)，由政府招佃耕作；又鼓勵鄭氏宗室、文武官員、士紳等招佃開墾私田 (稱為「文武官田」)；並指派各地駐防營兵，分地屯墾 (即是「營盤田」)。此種軍隊直接屯墾方式，留下許多有關地名 (如新營、左營、林鳳營、前鎮等)。而此種軍屯田，可增多開墾面積、解決軍糧不足問題，但亦可能引發當地動亂與反抗。例如，鄭軍前往原住民部落屯墾徵糧，中部大肚王國沙轆社曾經激烈反抗鄭軍入侵，死傷極為慘重。