Taiwan Prefecture

Timeline

1. 1683–1684Penghu · PenghuAfter Shi Lang defeated Penghu in 1683 and Zheng Keshuang surrendered to the Qing, some at court advocated relocating the population and abandoning the territory. Shi Lang submitted a memorial arguing that Taiwan was the bulwark of the southeastern provinces; if abandoned it could be seized by pirates and foreigners, but if held it could supply troops and provisions. Kangxi ordered Vice Minister Su Bai to confer with the Fujian governor-general, governor, and commander, and in spring 1684 it was finally decided to establish officials and retain Taiwan, providing the political precondition for founding the prefecture.
2. 1684Taiwan Prefecture city · TainanOn the fourteenth day of the fourth month of the 23rd year of Kangxi, it was approved to establish one prefecture and three counties in Taiwan: Taiwan Prefecture under Fujian Province, administering Taiwan County, Fengshan County, and Zhuluo County, with Penghu attached to Taiwan County; for civil officials, the Circuit Intendant of Taiwan-Xiamen was separately established, coordinating defense jointly with Xiamen. The prefectural seat was set in Dong'an Fang, reusing the former Ming Zheng government offices. First prefect Jiang Yuying took up his post, and the Qing prefectural-county system thereby covered Taiwan island and Penghu.
3. 1684–1696Taiwan Prefecture yamen · TainanAfter taking office, Jiang Yuying surveyed households, wards, and indigenous communities, and began compiling the first Gazetteer of Taiwan Prefecture, recording the territory, taxes and corvée, and customs of the one prefecture and three counties. Shi Lang, as Marquis Who Pacifies the Sea, also advised on coastal defense, with the naval commander system running parallel to the prefectural and county civil officials. By the 1690s, Gao Gongqian continued the gazetteer, and by then prefectural administration, the imperial examinations, and the rotation of garrison troops were broadly in place, and the normal pattern of governing Taiwan as a prefecture of Fujian Province had taken shape.