從「南洋」到戰爭：穿梭在帝國之間的台灣人，1895-1950

Abstract

過去關於日治時期海外臺灣人歷史的研究，多關注由日本官方政策主導或是影響的活動。但是根據對台灣人「海外旅券」（1897-1934）、日記、《臺灣日日新報》等材料所進行的初步分析，本研究發現在同一時期，其實許多臺灣人在東南亞地區的活動不但不是受到日本官方政策的鼓勵或影響，反而有許多是刻意的與日本官方保持距離。 本研究特別關注日治時期臺灣人由民間所主導在東南亞的活動，而以臺灣的士紳階級爲主要的研究主體，以他們的1）商業貿易活動、2）就職、3）行醫、以及4）求學等主要活動爲核心，同時延伸分析旅遊、傳教、文化藝術等活動所留下的記錄。根據初步的資料搜集分析，本文將以活動比較密集的1）香港、2）新加坡（當時多寫爲新嘉坡）、3）蘭印（爪哇、泗水）等地點爲焦點。臺灣人在上述這些海外地點的活動，跨越了帝國的邊界、進而跟英國/荷蘭的亞洲殖民地的經濟、社會、文化活動都有密切的互動和結合。 而由於階級的關係，士紳階級的臺灣人在海外的活動，在臺灣出版的幾種類別的資料中比較留有具名的記錄；本研究將名人錄/工商名鑑、工商活動記錄等作爲主要分析的史料，以個別人物爲切入點，來勾勒日治時期士紳階級的臺灣人在東南亞的活動、以及在其中所建立的各種跨越帝國邊界的人際網絡。

After becoming subjects of the Japanese Empire in 1895, Taiwanese going to Southeast Asia were facing a rather unique situation. On the one hand, these Taiwanese were themselves colonized people who moved across the boundary of the Japanese Empire; and on the other hand, these Taiwanese moved into the boundary of several European Empires and faced other colonial authorities and other colonized subjects. This experience of “crossing empires” took place in the context of imperial competition/cooperation among the Japanese and European Empires, and its context distinguished the Taiwanese going abroad from other overseas Taiwanese experiences within the Japanese Empire (Japan, Korea, Manchuria) and in mainland China. This project will focus on the Japanese colonial period and delineate the history of “overseas Taiwanese” in the British and Dutch colonies in Asia, namely Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Borneo, and the Dutch East Indies (the present-day Indonesia). The “expansion of empires” and the “war between empires” serve as two major contexts in which the history of “overseas Taiwanese” will be analyzed. This project will first look into the knowledge (and “imagination”) of Southeast Asia produced and made available to the Taiwanese during this period through analyzing the dual structure of traditional Chinese conception of Nanyang (“South Sea”) and the modern Japanese conception of nanshin (“going to the south”). Then it will utilize materials from Singapore, Hong Kong, and beyond to delineate Taiwanese activities crossing the Japanese and British/Dutch Empire, before, during, and after the Second World War.