Battle of the Burning Village
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Battle of the Burning Village | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Japanese Invasion of Taiwan (1895) | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Hakka militias remnants |
 Empire of Japan |
||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Chiu Feng-yang |
|
||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200~300 | 2,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 100+ | Killed: 15 Wounded: 57 |
||||||
|
|||||
Battle of the Burning Village (traditional Chinese: 火燒庄之役) was last of the series of battle during Japanese invasion of Taiwan. It was fought by Hakka militia and armed civilians against the invading Imperial Japanese Army in Changhisn village (traditional Chinese: 長興村). The battle earned its name from the fact that the entire village was burnt to the ground by the Japanese trying to drive out the Formosan.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Background
After the signing of Treaty of Shimonoseki and the formation of Republic of Formosa, Chiu Feng-yang, a Hakka leader from Pingtung, called upon his supporters to form what was called the Liutui Hakka militias (traditional Chinese: 六堆客家義軍). The militias were organized into six units according to the villages they were recruited, hence the name Liutui was applied (traditional Chinese: 六堆, six stacks). The militias first engaged the Japanese at Chiatung, and were defeated due to poor training and weaponry. By the time the militia regrouped, President Liu Yung-fu of the Republic of Formosa has already abandoned his government and fled the island, and the city of Tainan capitulated to the Japanese peacefully. Seeing no hope to match the Japanese in fighting, Chiu ordered a retreat to Changhsing village, Pingtung to make a last stand.
[edit] The Battle
Soon after their arrival at the village, the militias quickly fortified the village and brought in supplies.[2] When the Japanese arrived, they found not only the village was surrounded by stone wall and strong defensive positions, but almost the entire population of the village were armed, most of them with primitive weapons.[3] The Japanese attempted to force-storm the village, but were pushed back several times by the Formosan. This was because that a typical Hakka village in Taiwan of that time were often constructed to sustain frontal assault, partly due to the threat from the aboriginal tribes who often conduct head-hunting on the villagers; a village might be surrounded by ditches and wooden spikes, as well as wooden wall with towers and crenels, which would be difficult to storm without heavy weaponries. After hours of fierce fighting but little gain, the Japanese commander then resorted to the usage of massive bombardment to set fire to the village, and was successful in his attempt. The defenses were broken up and vicious hand-to-hand fighting ensued. In the end, more than half of the defenders were either killed or badly wounded, and the village was burnt to the ground by the fire; the Japanese suffered 15 killed and 57 wounded.
[edit] Aftermath
The battle officially ended all formal resistance to the Japanese invasion, but sporadic insurgency continued on for several more years, and would only end when the Japanese governor-general adopted a more flexible policy toward local population. On the other hand, out of respect toward the defenders, the Japanese commander personally paid homage to the Formosan fallen. In 1901, Governor-General Kodama Gentaro also paid homage at the Chung-Yi house, or the "House of the Loyal and Just Ones" (traditional Chinese: 忠義亭), and ordered annual commemoration to be held. [4]
Several decades after the battle, Yu Youren, the then chairman of Control Yuan of Republic of China, visited the site of battle and wrote a poem honoring the battle:
| Original Text | Romanization | Translation |
|---|---|---|
|
氣與河山壯 |
chi-yu-he-shan-chuang |
Imposing as the rivers and mountains |
Furthermore, a monument was erected in 1995 dedicated to the fallen in the battle.
