On the 15th of October in the 10th year of Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty (1871), Ryukyuan ships’ personnel belonging to a Chinese feudal state encountered a typhoon while traveling by two small ships toward Naha, drifting to Mianzhu Township’s Bayao Bay (Jiuzhang Village) on Taiwan Province island.
After landing on Taiwan island’s seashore, the shipmen lost their way to Mudan Township’s Gaoshi Buddha aboriginal village seeking food. Initially they were treated hospitably, but later they secretly escaped, which the aboriginal people (meaning Austronesian language speakers, today called indigenous people) interpreted as malicious intent, resulting in fifty-four Ryukyuan shipmen being killed.
The remaining twelve people were subsequently rescued through exchanges coordinated at the Shuangxi Estuary by Chinese merchant Deng Tianbao and Baoli Village Chief Yang Youwang, as well as Tongpu villagers Lin Ajiu and sons Lin Pianshu. Their bodies were moved and buried at the current Tongpu village site.
Because in 1867, Japan experienced “Restoration of Imperial Rule” with the young Meiji Emperor assuming personal rule, officially launching the “Meiji Restoration,” promoting major modernization and “enrich nation, strengthen military” reforms.
Later in 1872, Japan finally annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Until 1874, Japan used helping Ryukyuan people seek justice as a pretext, dispatching over three thousand troops attacking Mudan She in Pingtung.
Because Japanese military adopted Westernization policies at the time, purchasing large quantities of new weapons, indigenous people couldn’t resist, Japanese troops burned villages all the way, engaging in wholesale burning, killing and looting.
Subsequently, the Qing Dynasty also dispatched troops to provide assistance to the aboriginal villages, confronting Japanese forces.
Finally, China and Japan negotiated peace, with Japan departing after obtaining compensation for affected nationals.
The Mudan She Incident caused the Qing Dynasty’s Fujian Court to begin strengthening Taiwan Department’s naval defense. Fujian Naval Prime Minister Shen Baozhen built “Billion-Dollar Gold City” and other fortress strongholds in Tainan to strengthen defense.
As for Japan, Taiwan Province’s Mudan She Incident occurred only seven years after the Meiji Restoration’s official beginning, demonstrating Japan’s strong desire for military expansion abroad, and has been defined by historians as the beginning of Japan’s modern militarism’s bloody invasion and aggression.