Tapani incident

Tapani incident
Chinese	噍吧哖事件
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jiaòbānián Shìjìan Wade–Giles Chiao4-pa1-nien2 Shih4-chien4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Ta-pa-nî sū-kiāⁿ
Alternative name
Traditional Chinese	西來庵事件
Simplified Chinese	西来庵事件
Literal meaning	Xilai Temple Incident
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīlaí'ān Shìjìan Wade–Giles Hsi1-lai2-an1 Shih4-chien4
Alternative name
Chinese	玉井事件
Literal meaning	Yujing Incident
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yùjǐng Shìjìan Wade–Giles Yü4-ching3 Shih4-chien4

The Tapani incident in 1915 was one of the biggest armed uprisings by Taiwanese Han and Aboriginals against Japanese rule in Taiwan. Alternative names used to refer to the incident include the Xilai Temple Incident (Japanese: 西来庵事件, Hepburn: Seirai-an jiken, Chinese: 西來庵事件) after the Xilai Temple in Tainan, where the revolt began, and the Yu Qingfang Incident after the leader Yu Qingfang.

Revolt

Multiple Japanese police stations were stormed by Aboriginal and Han Chinese fighters under Chiang Ting (Jiang Ding) and Yü Ch'ing-fang (Yu Qingfang).

Consequences

Modern Taiwanese historiography attempts to portray the Tapani Incident as a nationalist uprising either from a Chinese (unification) or Taiwanese (independence) perspective. Japanese colonial historiography attempted to portray the incident as a large scale instance of banditry led by criminal elements. However, the Tapani Incident differs from other uprisings in Taiwan's history because of its elements of millenarianism and folk religion, which enabled Yu Qingfang to raise a significant armed force whose members believed themselves to be invulnerable to modern weaponry.

The similarities between the rhetoric of the leaders of the Tapani uprising and the Righteous Harmony Society of the recent Boxer Rebellion in China were not lost on Japanese colonial authorities, and subsequently, the colonial government paid more attention to popular religion and took steps to improve on colonial administration in southern Taiwan.

The aboriginals carried on with violent armed struggle against the Japanese while Han Chinese violent opposition stopped after Tapani.

See also

• Wushe Incident

External links

• Governmentality and Its Consequences in Colonial Taiwan: A Case Study of the Ta-pa-ni Incident [1] [2] [3] [4]
• When Valleys Turned Blood Red: The Ta-pa-ni Incident in Colonial Taiwan