On October 15, the 10th year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty (1871), subjects of the Ryukyu Kingdom (a tributary state of China), who were traveling by two small boats to Naha, encountered a typhoon and drifted ashore at Bayao Bay (Jiupeng Village) in Manzhou Township, Taiwan Province Island.
After landing on the coast of Taiwan Island, the sailors became lost and sought food at the Gaoshifo village of the Fanren (Austronesian peoples, now called Indigenous Peoples) in Mudan Township. They were initially hosted but later tried to escape secretly. The Fanren viewed their actions as hostile, resulting in the killing of fifty-four Ryukyuan subjects.
The remaining twelve people were successively rescued by Deng Tianbao, a Chinese man who ran a trading post at Shuangkou Creek, and Yang Youwang, the head of Baoli village, assisted by Lin Ajiu and his son Lin Pengshi from Tongpu village. The bodies of the killed Ryukyuan subjects were moved and interred at the current site of Tongpu village.
In 1867, Japan’s “Restoration of Imperial Rule” took place, and the young Emperor Meiji began direct rule, officially launching the “Meiji Restoration,” a major reform movement aimed at modernization, enriching the country, and strengthening the military.
Later, in 1872, Japan finally annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom.
However, in 1874, Japan used the pretext of seeking justice for the Ryukyuans as an excuse to dispatch over three thousand troops to attack the Mudan She in Pingtung.
Due to the Japanese army’s Westernization policy and the acquisition of large quantities of modern weapons, the Fanren resistance was quickly overwhelmed. The Japanese military burned down villages and engaged in extensive burning, killing, looting, and capturing.
Subsequently, the Chinese Qing court also dispatched troops to aid the Fanren villages, resulting in a standoff with the Japanese forces.
Finally, China and Japan negotiated a peace agreement, and Japan withdrew after receiving compensation for the victims.
The Mudan She Incident prompted the Qing court to strengthen naval defenses in the Taiwan Prefecture. Fujian Shipping Minister Shen Baozhen built fortresses such as the “Eternal Golden Castle” in Tainan to enhance defense.
As for Japan, the Mudan She Incident in Taiwan Province occurred just seven short years after the formal start of the Meiji Restoration, demonstrating Japan’s strong ambition for external military expansion. It is also defined by historians as the beginning of modern Japanese militarism’s bloody foreign aggression.