Introduction to the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office Archives
The Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office Archives keeps official records about the retrocession and reconstruction of Taiwan in the early years of the post-war period. These written records contain various administrative measures taken by the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office, such as reconstruction of all levels of the administrative system of government authorities, the employment and discharge of official personnel, the takeover of properties owned by Japanese, and the restoration of the nationality and Chinese names, etc. These important historical records can help us understand the transitions experienced by Taiwan in the early post-war period.
 
The Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office Archives preserved by Taiwan Historica can be divided into three parts in chronological order beginning with the earliest collected records. Part one contains the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office Archives originally preserved by the Provincial Secretariat, and then transferred to Taiwan Historica in June, 1999, at a total of 4,098 files. Part two holds the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office Archives first kept by the National Museum of History and then transferred to Taiwan Historica on March 14, 2002, at a total of 1,226 files. Part three mainly comprises the files acquired by Taiwan Historica itself. These three categories have reached a total of 5,226 files, approximately 320,000 pages.
 
The files in the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office Archives are wide-ranging in content, which can be divided into four major categories:
  1. General Affairs: Annual work plans, work progress reports, the organization of all administrative levels of the government authorities, the employment and discharge of official personnel, laws and regulations, work instructions, the deportation of Japanese and so on are included.
  2. Civil Affairs: Population figures for counties and cities, acreage surveys, the demarcation of districts in counties and cities, the management of registration of social organizations, the registration of publications, the nationality, the restoration of Chinese names, the social relief programs and so on are included.
  3. Finance: Documents on exchange between Old Taiwan and New Taiwan dollars, the takeover and reconstruction of financial institutions, the takeover and inventory check of properties owned by Japanese, various tax levies, annual budget reports from Taiwan’s government authorities and administrative institutions and so on are included.
  4. Supplements: A great number of lists and reports kept in the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office Archives—name lists of government personnel, lists of the names of administrative institutions, local governments, and companies registered for handover, registration forms for the takeover of public and private land owned by Japanese, mining application documents and so on are included.
 
What follows shows part of the image file collection from the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office Archives, which includes the preparation work for takeover, the restoration of the nationality and original names, the takeover of Japanese properties, the reports about takeovers, the administrative organization of each government institution, the administrative performance evaluation conference, etc.
 
The Preparation Work for Takeover
On August 15, 1945, Japan formally surrendered. The National Government then established the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office and the Taiwan Provincial Garrison Command as official authorities in charge of the takeover of Taiwan and assigned Chen Yi to serve as the Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief. The Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office was allied with the Taiwan Provincial Garrison Command to set up the “Forward Command Post”, which relocated to Taiwan in order to coordinate the preparation work necessary for takeover with Japanese Governor-General's Office in Taiwan.
 
Restoration of Nationality and Original Names
On January 12, 1946, the Administrative Executive Office received instruction from the Executive Yuan, and announced on January 28 of the same year that all citizens of Taiwan would be restored to their original nationality forfeited ever since October 25, 1945.
 
During the 51-year Japanese colonization, many generations had been born in Taiwan. Under the encouragement of Japanese colonial government, many people had adopted Japanese names. On May 20, 1946, the Administrative Executive Office promulgated “Regulations on Restoration of Original Names of Citizens of Taiwan”, and required all citizens with Japanese names to recover their original names within the given time limit.
 
The Takeover of Properties Owned by Japanese
In November 1945, the Administrative Executive Office joined the Garrison Command in setting up the “Taiwan Provincial Takeover Committee” headed by Chen Yi as Chief Commissioner, under which the “Japanese Property Management Committee” and its branches located in the 17 counties of Taiwan were established to handle the disposition of properties owned by Japanese. Since the takeover work was huge, complicated, and unprecedented, the Executive Office needed to add or amend regulations occasionally, issue written expositions to supplement the work procedures concerning the planning and implementation of the takeover and the appraisal of Japanese properties, in order to cope with the demand of work in practical settings.
 
Takeover Reports
The Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office not only kept the takeover reports submitted by local governments, administrative organizations and departments, but also needed to report to the Central Government the updates on current takeover work. In February, 1946, the Executive Office compiled the “Detailed Takeover Report from the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office”, totaling up to 123 pages. This report were thoroughly categorized according to document types, which can be viewed as a written witness to the Executive Office’s interpretation of what had happened in Taiwan at that time.
 
Organization of Administrative Systems of Government Institutions
The document files preserved by the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office are fairly complete, which cover administrative institutions under the direct jurisdiction of the Executive Office, provincial government enterprises, county and city governments, village and township offices, regulations on school structures and organizations, staff quota, adjustment or change of status, etc. In addition, a number of files about the organization of civic groups, public welfare associations, and associations of the professions have also been included, thus increasing the repertoire of file types.
 
Administrative Performance Evaluation Conference
The 25th of October in 1946 marked the first anniversary of the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office’s takeover of Taiwan. In order to reexamine the pros and cons of administrative performance for the past year, and give renewed impetus to future work, the Executive Office, at the end of 1946, began planning on holding the “Administrative Performance Evaluation Conference”. The first meeting, held on January 6, 1947, was attended by all county and city governments. It ended up by taking in an abundance of administrative information and served as an activity of evaluation on administrative work performed by all administrative institutions in Taiwan. Moreover, the preparation work for this conference, agenda, and regulations on evaluation work have been all well kept in the file.
 
Copyrights: Taiwan Historica
Designed by: Digital Archives Project on Historical Documents from the Japanese Colonial Period and the Early Years after the Retrocession of Taiwan
 
   
  • Name: Preparation for Takeover – Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office’s Memorandum No.1 
  • Description: Letter by the Chief Executive Chen Yi to the Japanese Governor-General Ando, stating the six terms regarding the Administrative Executive Office’s takeover of Taiwan, which Japanese Governor-General’s Office in Taiwan should comply with.
  • Project: Digital Archives Project on Historical Documents from the Japanese Colonial Period and the Early Years after the Retrocession of Taiwan

 

  • Name: Preparation for Takeover –Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office’s Memorandum No.2
  • Description: Letter by the Chief Executive Chen Yi to the Japanese Governor-General Ando, stating the six terms  regarding the Administrative Executive Office’s takeover of Taiwan, which Japanese Governor-General’s Office in Taiwan should comply with
  • Project: Digital Archives Project on Historical Documents from the Japanese Colonial Period and the Early Years after the Retrocession of Taiwan

 

  • Name: Preparation for Takeover –Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office’s Memorandum No.3
  • Description: Letter by the Chief Executive Chen Yi to the Japanese Governor-General Ando, stating the six terms regarding the Administrative Executive Office’s takeover of Taiwan, which Japanese Governor-General’s Office in Taiwan should comply with.
  • Project: Digital Archives Project on Historical Documents from the Japanese Colonial Period and the Early Years after the Retrocession of Taiwan