Beipu Uprising

Date	November 1907
Location	Taiwan
Result	Japanese victory

Belligerents

Hakka
Saisiyat

Empire of Japan

Commanders and leaders

Tsai Ching-lin

Sakuma Samata

Casualties and losses

~100 killed

57 killed

The Beipu Incident (Chinese: 北埔事件), or the Beipu Uprising, in 1907 was the first instance of an armed local uprising against the Japanese rule of the island of Taiwan. In response to oppression of the local population by the Japanese authorities, a group of insurgents from the Hakka and Saisiyat indigenous groups in Hokuho, Shinchiku Chō (modern-day Beipu, Hsinchu County), attacked Japanese officials and their families. In retaliation, Japanese military and police killed more than 100 Hakka people. The local uprising was the first of its kind in Taiwan under Japanese rule, and led to others over the following years.

Following the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 between the Empire of Japan and Qing Empire of China, Taiwan was ceded to Japan in perpetuity, along with the Penghu Islands. The Japanese rule saw Taiwan take large strides towards modernization, as they oversaw improvements to the island’s infrastructure, economy, and health and education systems. Despite this, much of the population still suffered hardships, and there were regular partisan disturbances against Japanese installations. These guerrilla raids often resulted in Japanese reprisals which tended to be more brutal than the initial attack, such as the 1896 ‘Yun-lin massacre', which resulted in 6,000 Taiwanese deaths. Although the situation improved under Goto Shinpei, these disturbances still continued under Sakuma Samata, who succeeded Goto in 1905.

As part of the push for modernisation under Japanese rule, Beipu prospered due to its nearby coal mines. The town of Beipu was predominantly made up of members of the Hakka indigenous group, while people of the Saisiyat ethnic group also lived in the area. As Taiwanese aborigines, rather than Han Chinese, these groups were viewed as barbarians and were particularly likely to face oppression from Japanese rule, especially under Sakuma Samata’s term as governor-general.

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