艋舺商人的改朝換代：1895

1895年6月，臺灣成為日本的殖民地，開啟了臺灣史的新篇章。從1895年6月日清交接臺灣統治權，到1897年7月地方行政運作骨幹的街庄制度正式形成的這兩年間，是臺灣人與臺灣總督府相互摸索統治方式、磨合雙方關係的關鍵時期。透過深入調查這兩年間，領導臺灣地方社會的地方有力者與總督府的互動，可以更仔細並立體地觀察臺灣地方如何面對1895年的改朝換代。因此本文以19世紀末的臺北河港城鎮艋舺為案例，藉由研究臺北城周邊臺灣地方有力者活動軌跡，究明總督府與臺灣地方有力者間的互動與雙方互動的意義。艋舺是一座發源於清代的河港商業城鎮，該地的重要商人多是透過兩岸戎克船貿易發家致富的泉州三邑人，並透過同鄉會及商業組織壟斷商業利益。這些商人往往會提供社會救濟與福利、維護地方治安、協助官府收稅，補足了清代官府在地方治理的缺口，並藉此累積名望與影響力，以換取特權、擴張利益。不過至19世紀末，由於亞州貿易環境出現變化，艋舺商人的利潤與實力下降。同時，臺灣政治局勢也發生劇變，讓曾叱吒一時的艋舺商人，必須轉變態度及方針。艋舺商人的轉型正發生在1895年至1897年，總督府與臺灣地方有力者相互摸索統治平衡的時間點。從該地商人的動向可以發現，艋舺的商業與政治問題相互牽動，使艋舺商人必須積極與臺灣總督府達成管理地方的共識、展開合作仲介的關係。而這些變化也改變了百年來，河港城鎮艋舺的發展。

關鍵字

保良局；士商公會；專賣制度；地方社會；街庄制度；地方菁英；改朝換代

並列摘要

In June 1895, Taiwan became a colony of Japan, opening a new chapter in Taiwan’s history. The two years between Qing Dynasty handed over its dominion over Taiwan to Japan in June 1895, and the implementation of the new local administrative system for Taiwan under Japanese rule in July 1897, is the most crucial period for Taiwanese local elite and Government-General of Taiwan to probe each other. Through an in-depth investigation of the interactions between the local elite and Government-General of Taiwan in the past two years, we can observe how Taiwan’s local society faced the Regime Changing in 1895. As the result, this text takes Bangka, a river port town in Taipei at the end of the 19th century, as an example. By studying the activity of Taiwan’s local elite around Taipei City, this text investigates the interaction between Government-General of Taiwan and Taiwan local elite and the significance of their interaction. Bangka is a river port commercial town that originated in the Qing Dynasty. Most of the important merchants in Bangka were from Sam-ip area in China Quanzhou, made their fortunes through the trade between Taiwan and China, and monopolized commercial interests by local associations and commercial organizations. Bangka Merchants provided social welfare, maintained local security, and assisted the government in collecting taxes. Their work in a local society filled the defect in local governance of Qing Dynasty, and accumulated fame and influence to exchange for privileges and benefits. However, by the end of the 19th century, due to the changes in the Asian trade environment, the profits and influence of Bangka merchants declined. Meanwhile, the pollical situation in Taiwan had also undergone drastic changes, making Bangka merchants had to change their attitudes and policies. The transformation of Bangka merchants was taking place from 1895 to 1897, the period that Government-General of Taiwan and the local elite in Taiwan explored the balance of rule. From the movements of Bangka merchants, it can be found that the business and political issues of Bangka are interrelated. So that Bangka merchants had to reach a consensus on the management of the local society with Government-General of Taiwan and develop a cooperative intermediary relationship. These changes also changed the development of the river port towns of Bangka in the past century.