Police during Japanese rule
The "Hexing Police Station" was first established in 1907 during the Japanese rule
as the "Hexing Police Officers' Station".
Let's learn more about the Police during Japanese rule together!!
"Shhh! Stop crying, the 'Big person' is coming!"
The older generation of Taiwanese remember that mothers used to use " Big person " as a pretense when they used to frighten children.
" Big person " refers to the police in the era of Japanese rule(1895-1945).
The police assist the local government in handling general administrative affairs,
control Taiwanese local society for a long time,
and handle and interfere with the daily life of Taiwanese people with fearful authority.
Hexing police station , Lukang , in1926
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Lukang Police Officers Station
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Police as gods with a thousand hands
This is a poster displayed at the Taipei State Police Sanitation Exhibition in 1926.
In the poster, the police are incarnated as gods with a thousand hands, holding a knife in one hand and a bead in the other, representing the sugar and whip, and also representing that the police must control everything, from sanitation ban, ideological ban, aboriginal production, arrest of prisoners, rescue and so on.
“Bao-Jia System”(保甲制度) and
“Strong man group”(壯丁團)During the Japanese rule, the police station was the last administrative unit of the local police.The “Bao-Jia System”(保甲制度) and the “Strong man group”(壯丁團) serve as police assistance agencies.
“Bao-Jia” system(保甲制度) is established everywhere. 10 family are included in 1“Jia(甲)" ;10 “Jia(甲)” are included in 1 ”Bao(保) " . When someone in the Bao-Jia system commits a serious crime, if no one in the group fulfills the responsibility of reporting in advance, the residents may be fined (a fine of less than 10 yuan, roughly equivalent to about 10,000 Taiwan dollars today).
In order to assist the police in suppressing insurgents and preventing natural disasters, men in Baojia system (保甲制度) aged 17 to 47 (later changed to 17 to 40) formed a ” Strong man group”(壯丁團), all of which are honorary posts without pay.
Lukang Bao-Jia (保甲)Cooperation Office
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The Police in Literature During Japanese Rule
Lai He(賴和) can be said to be a writer who uses writing to confront the police.
In his work “A Scale”(一桿稱仔), he describes the Taiwanese Qin Deshen(秦得參), who had no choice but to go to the market to sell vegetables because he was exploited by the sugar company and could not continue farming. However, he encountered the Japanese police again and took away his scale that did not meet the rules of weights and measures.
The end of the story hints that the oppressed Qin Deshen(秦得參) is hopeless and ends up dying with the Japanese police.
Lai He (賴和 1894-1944), a writer, poet, physician and social activist from Changhua.
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traditional scale
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Article Source
- Xiumei,Cai. “Pioneers of the Colonial Network-Police Station and Baojia and Strong man group”. [Online]
https://www.ntl.edu.tw/public/Attachment/571414361480.pdf- Huipin, Cai.” " Big person " in Taiwanese Literature” [Online]
https://www.ntl.edu.tw/public/Attachment/571415502852.pdf- Taiwan Memories Expedition."On August 31, 1898, Japan implemented the Baojia system in Taiwan"[Online]
https://www.twmemory.org/?p=10001
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