Political divisions of Taiwan (1895–1945)

Taiwan was under Japanese rule after the First Sino-Japanese War, as per the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895. There were still several changes until the Japanese political system was adopted in 1920.

Introduction

Administrative divisions of Taiwan by types and times. Like the administrative divisions in mainland Japan, most of them are translated to "prefectures" in English.

Early yearsChō (廳)Shū (州) and Chō (廳)
  • 3 Ken, 1 Chō (1895)
  • 1 Ken, 2 Minseishibu, 1 Chō (1895–1896)
  • 3 Ken, 1 Chō (1896–1897)
  • 6 Ken, 3 Chō (1897–1898)
  • 3 Ken, 3 Chō (1898–1901)
  • 3 Ken, 4 Chō (1901)
  • 20 Chō (1901–1909)
  • 12 Chō (1909–1920)
  • 5 Shū, 2 Chō (1920–1926)
  • 5 Shū, 3 Chō (1926–1945)
Types of the divisions
NameKanjiKana
Ken縣けん
Shū州しゅう
Chō廳ちょう
Minseishibu民政支部みんせいしぶ

Early years (1895–1901)

The political divisions changed frequently between 1895 and 1901.

DateMay. 1895 – Aug. 1895 Aug. 1895 – Mar. 1896 Mar. 1896 – Jun. 1897
Names Taihoku Ken臺北縣たいほくけんTaihoku Ken臺北縣たいほくけんTaihoku Ken臺北縣たいほくけん
Taiwan Ken臺灣縣たいわんけんTaiwan Minseishibu臺灣民政支部たいわんみんせいしぶTaichū Ken臺中縣たいちゅうけん
Tainan Ken臺南縣たいなんけんTainan Minseishibu臺南民政支部たいなんみんせいしぶTainan Ken臺南縣たいなんけん
Hōkotō Chō澎湖島廳ほうことうちょうHōkotō Chō澎湖島廳ほうことうちょうHōkotō Chō澎湖島廳ほうことうちょう
Div. No.3 Ken, 1 Chō1 Ken, 2 Minseishibu, 1 Chō3 Ken, 1 Chō
DateJun. 1897 – Jun. 1898 Jun. 1898 – Apr. 1901 May. 1901 – Nov. 1901
Names Taihoku Ken臺北縣たいほくけんTaihoku Ken臺北縣たいほくけんTaihoku Ken臺北縣たいほくけん
Shinchiku Ken新竹縣しんちくけん
Taichū Ken臺中縣たいちゅうけんTaichū Ken臺中縣たいちゅうけんTaichū Ken臺中縣たいちゅうけん
Kagi Ken嘉義縣かぎけん
Tainan Ken臺南縣たいなんけんTainan Ken臺南縣たいなんけんTainan Ken臺南縣たいなんけん
Hōzan Ken鳳山縣ほうざんけんKōshun Chō恆春廳こうしゅんちょう
Giran Chō宜蘭廳ぎらんちょうGiran Chō宜蘭廳ぎらんちょうGiran Chō宜蘭廳ぎらんちょう
Taitō Chō臺東廳たいとうちょうTaitō Chō臺東廳たいとうちょうTaitō Chō臺東廳たいとうちょう
Hōko Chō澎湖廳ほうこちょうHōko Chō澎湖廳ほうこちょうHōko Chō澎湖廳ほうこちょう
Div. No.6 Ken, 3 Chō3 Ken, 3 Chō3 Ken, 4 Chō

Chō (1901–1920)

The former system was abolished November 11th, 1901, and twenty local administrative offices (Chō) were established.[1] Usage of Ken divisions was discontinued.

Structural hierarchy

Administrative divisions of Taiwan in 1901.
Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4
Prefecture
廳 chō		Subprefecture
支廳 shichō		 District
區 ku		Town
街 gai
Village
庄 jō

Prefectures

Nov. 1901 – Oct. 1909 Oct. 1909 – Aug. 1920
Taihoku Chō臺北廳たいほくちょうTaihoku Chō臺北廳たいほくちょう
Kīrun Chō基隆廳きいるんちょう
Shinkō Chō深坑廳しんこうちょう
Giran Chō宜蘭廳ぎらんちょう
Giran Chō宜蘭廳ぎらんちょう
Tōshien Chō桃仔園廳とうしえんちょうTōen Chō桃園廳とうえんちょう
Shinchiku Chō新竹廳しんちくちょうShinchiku Chō新竹廳しんちくちょう
Byōritsu Chō苗栗廳びょうりつちょう
Taichū Chō臺中廳たいちゅうちょう
Taichū Chō臺中廳たいちゅうちょう
Shōka Chō彰化廳しょうかちょう
Nantō Chō南投廳なんとうちょうNantō Chō南投廳なんとうちょう
Toroku Chō斗六廳とろくちょう
Kagi Chō嘉義廳かぎちょう
Kagi Chō嘉義廳かぎちょう
Ensuikō Chō鹽水港廳えんすいこうちょう
Tainan Chō臺南廳たいなんちょう
Tainan Chō臺南廳たいなんちょう
Hōzan Chō鳳山廳ほうざんちょう
Banshoryō Chō蕃薯寮廳ばんしょりょうちょうAkugu Chō阿緱廳おくぐちょう
Akō Chō阿猴廳おくぐちょう
Kōshun Chō恆春廳こうしゅんちょう
Taitō Chō臺東廳たいとうちょうTaitō Chō臺東廳たいとうちょう
Karenkō Chō花蓮港廳かれんこうちょう
Hōko Chō澎湖廳ほうこちょうHōko Chō澎湖廳ほうこちょう
20 Chō12 Chō

Population

Population of Formosa according to census taken 31st December 1904, arranged by district.[2]

Shū and Chō (1920–1945)

Political division of Taiwan

Under a "Dōka policy" (同化) in which the Japanese considered the Taiwanese to be separate but equal, the political divisions in Taiwan became similar to the system used in mainland Japan in 1920.

Structural hierarchy

Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5
Prefecture
州 shū (5)
廳 chō (3)		 City
市 shi (11)		大字 ōaza小字 koaza
District
郡 gun (51)
or
Subprefecture
支廳 shichō (2)		 Town
街 gai (67)
Village
庄 jō (264)
Aboriginal Area
蕃地 banchi

Prefectures

NameKanjiKanaNo. of SubdivisionsWade–Giles
CityDistrictSubp.
Taihoku Prefecture臺北州たいほくしゅう39 Taipei
Shinchiku Prefecture新竹州しんちくしゅう18 Hsinchu
Taichū Prefecture臺中州たいちゅうしゅう211 Taichung
Tainan Prefecture臺南州たいなんしゅう210 Tainan
Takao Prefecture高雄州たかおしゅう27 Kaohsiung
Karenkō Prefecture花蓮港廳かれんこうちょう13 Hualien Port
Taitō Prefecture臺東廳たいとうちょう 3 Taitung
Hōko Prefecture澎湖廳ほうこちょう 2Penghu

Cities

There are 11 cities in Taiwan in 1945. Most of them are still the populous municipalities in Taiwan now. The ōaza (大字) in the city center may named chō (町).

PrefectureNameKanjiKanaWade–Giles PrefectureNameKanjiKanaWade–Giles
Taihoku Taihoku City臺北市たいほくしTaipei Tainan Tainan City臺南市たいなんしTainan
Kīrun City基隆市きいるんしKeelung Kagi City嘉義市かぎしChiayi
Giran City宜蘭市ぎらんしYilan Takao Takao City高雄市たかおしKaohsiung
Shinchiku Shinchiku City新竹市しんちくしHsinchu Heitō City屏東市へいとうしPingtung
Taichū Taichū City臺中市たいちゅうしTaichung Karenkō Karenkō City花蓮港市かれんこうしHualien
Shōka City彰化市しょうかしChanghua

Population

The 1941 (Shōwa 16) census of Taiwan was 6,249,468. 93.33% of the population were Taiwanese which consisted of both Han Chinese and "civilized" Taiwanese aborigines. Tainan had the largest population followed by Taichū and Taihoku. The largest concentration of ethnic Japanese were in Taihoku followed by Takao and Tainan.

AreaJapaneseTaiwaneseKoreanOtherTotal
Taihoku Prefecture153,9281,053,3721,05125,5311,233,882
Shinchiku Prefecture20,693815,2741501,894838,011
Taichū Prefecture46,3711,329,6203333,8631,380,187
Tainan Prefecture53,4461,489,6212537,3751,550,695
Takao Prefecture59,633863,3135986,839930,383
Karenkō Prefecture20,914130,7201192,032153,785
Taitō Prefecture7,07885,0683595793,138
Hōko Prefecture3,61965,694 7469,387
Total365,6825,832,6822,53948,5656,249,468
Percentage5.85%93.33%0.04%0.78%100%

Changes in 1945

When the Republic of China began to rule Taiwan in 1945, the government simply changed the names of the divisions and gave names to the Aboriginal areas.

BeforeAfter
Level 1 Prefecture (州 shū and 廳chō)County (縣 xiàn) Level 1
Level 2 City (市 shi)Provincial city (省轄市 shěngxiáshì)
County-controlled city (縣轄市 xiànxiáshì) Level 2
District (郡 gun)County-controlled district (縣轄區 xiànxiáqū)
Subprefecture (支廳 shichō)
Level 3 Town (街 gai)Urban Township (鎮 zhèn) Level 3
Village (庄 jō)Rural Township (鄉 xiāng)
Aboriginal Area (蕃地 banchi)Aboriginal Rural Township (山地鄉 shāndìxiāng)

References

  1. ↑ Davidson (1903), pp. 597-8: "In place of the former system, which divided the island into 3 prefectures and 3 prefectures of second class, and which was abolished November 11th, 1901, local administrative offices known as "Cho" have been established at the following points: Taihoku, Kelung, Giran (Gilan), Shinko (Chim-hua), Toshien (Tao-hong), Shinchiku (Teck-cham), Bioritsu (Maoli), Taichu, Shoka (Chang-wha), Nanto (Nam-tau), Toroku (Tau-lak), Kagi, Yensuiko (Kiam-tsui kang), Tainan, Banshorio (Han-chu-liao), Hozan (Fang-shan), Ako (A-kau), Koshun (Heng-chun), Taito (Tai-tong), and Boko (Pang-hoo). The Administrative or District Offices (Cho) are in charge of chiefs of Sonin rank, who are assisted by clerks, police inspectors, assistant experts, interpreters, and assistant police, all of Hannin rank. These officers of Hannin rank number 1230 for the whole island. The administration of Formosa, under the direction and superintendence of the Governor General, is entrusted to these district offices."
  2. ↑ Takekoshi (1907), p. 199.

Bibliography

See also