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Taiwan Experimental Forest at Liugui: Colonial Legacy and Indigenous Relations

Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule from 1895 to 1945 following the Treaty of Shimonoseki. During this period, the Japanese government implemented extensive forestry management programs throughout Taiwan, including systematic surveying, classification, and exploitation of forest resources. Liugui (六龜) is a rural district in Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan. In 1909 the Taiwan Governor-General, the Japanese colonial administration, demarcated what would later become the Liugui (also spelled Liouguei) Experimental Forest in the southern Takao Province (now Kaohsiung). The purpose was to develop suitable species and plantation models for the Japanese colonial enterprise, and included additional experimental forests in Korea, Sakhalin, and elsewhere. In 1924, the Liugui Experimental Forest was granted to the newly established Faculty of Agriculture at the Kyoto Imperial University (now Kyoto University). It was meant to provide a research and training ground for students and researchers, while also supporting colonial settlement in Taiwan. For the University, the Taiwan Experimental Forest joined a portfolio of such sites, including the Ashiu Forest Research Station and Wakayama Forest Research Station in Japan. During the early decades of the Liugui Experimental Forest, Japanese authorities and later research administration incrementally began annexing territory. Although they gained a toehold in the western part of the demarcated territory, due to the political, social, and logistical challenges, but most prominently the at-times violent relations with indigenous people, the process took various stages.

Colonial Tensions with Indigenous Communities

The establishment and expansion of the Liugui Experimental Forest exemplified the complex and often contentious relationship between colonial forestry management and indigenous communities. Indigenous peoples had long utilized these forests according to traditional practices, viewing them as integral to their cultural identity and subsistence. The Japanese colonial administration, however, approached these same lands through the lens of scientific forestry and economic exploitation, classifying them as "underutilized" resources that should be brought under state control.

The colonial administration's efforts to assert control over Liugui's forests led to the construction of the Liugui Security Fence, a physical boundary intended to separate indigenous territories from areas designated for Japanese research and exploitation. This fence represented not merely a geographical division but symbolized the colonial power's attempt to restrict indigenous movement and access to ancestral lands. Indigenous resistance to these encroachments manifested in various forms, from direct confrontations to what scholars describe as "everyday forms of resistance," including unauthorized forest use, timber harvesting, and agricultural activities within designated experimental areas.

Colonial forestry officials gradually recognized that complete exclusion of indigenous communities was neither practical nor conducive to effective forest management. The forestry department at Liugui was compelled to develop accommodations, allowing certain indigenous communities limited access to specific forest areas for subsistence activities, while attempting to regulate and monitor these practices. These compromises, while falling short of recognizing indigenous sovereignty, reflected the practical limitations of colonial control and the persistent agency of indigenous communities in defending their relationships with forest landscapes.

Labor Relations and Knowledge Exchange

As the experimental forest operations expanded, a complex labor hierarchy emerged that reflected colonial power structures while also creating opportunities for knowledge exchange. Japanese forestry experts and university researchers occupied the highest positions of authority, directing research agendas and management decisions. However, the practical implementation of forestry operations required significant local labor, creating a workforce that included both Taiwanese Han workers and indigenous community members.

Indigenous laborers, in particular, brought invaluable practical knowledge of local forest ecosystems. Their familiarity with diverse tree species, understanding of seasonal patterns, and expertise in navigating challenging terrain made them essential to the success of forestry operations. Japanese administrators often relied on indigenous guides when venturing into unfamiliar forest regions, even as they maintained strict hierarchical distinctions between "scientific knowledge" and what they termed "folk wisdom."

The workforce structure at Liugui created inadvertent spaces for knowledge transfer. Japanese forestry experts, trained in European scientific forestry traditions, encountered practices and perspectives that challenged their assumptions about "proper" forest management. Meanwhile, local workers gained exposure to new techniques and technologies, selectively adapting and incorporating elements that enhanced their own practices. This mutual learning process, though asymmetrical in power relations, contributed to the development of forestry approaches better suited to Taiwan's specific ecological conditions.

Japanese guide’s memorial and poetry about forest exploration, indigenous dance, and feminine beauty, written in Japanese. Unknown date (pre-1945). (Liugui local’s scrapbook and photo album in Taiwan. Photo by Kuang-Chi Hung.)

Image of workers in the “Volunteer Corps”, led by staff of Kyoto Imperial University in Liugui Experimental Forest in colonial Taiwan. Unknown date (pre-1945). (Liugui local’s scrapbook and photo album in Taiwan. Photo by Kuang-Chi Hung.)

Recognition of Local Forest Knowledge

By the 1930s, a significant shift occurred in how colonial forestry officials regarded indigenous knowledge. As noted in the research by Hung Kuan-chi, colonial forestry literature began acknowledging what they termed the "local color" (local characteristics) of Taiwan's forestry practices, particularly regarding the utilization of broadleaf forests. Officials noted that the Taiwanese were exceptionally skilled in utilizing broadleaf tree species, possessing knowledge and techniques that Japanese foresters could learn from.

This recognition was not merely academic but had practical implications. The colonial forestry department discovered that meeting military timber demands, especially during the wartime period, required cooperation with local operators who possessed specialized knowledge of broadleaf species. The dramatic increase in timber production during the late 1930s—transforming forestry from what was once derided as "Taiwan's shame" to "the most rapidly developing industry"—owed much to this integration of local knowledge with colonial forestry systems.

At Liugui, researchers began documenting indigenous classifications of forest species and their various uses, incorporating this information into experimental designs. This valorization of local knowledge, while still occurring within a colonial framework, represented a departure from earlier dismissive attitudes. The experimental forest gradually became a site where multiple forms of forestry knowledge coexisted and influenced one another, producing approaches that neither Japanese nor indigenous practitioners would have developed in isolation.

Post-Colonial Transition and Contested Legacy

The end of Japanese colonial rule in 1945 brought significant changes to the Liugui Experimental Forest. The Chinese Nationalist government (Kuomintang) that assumed control of Taiwan maintained the experimental forest but reframed its purpose within new national development goals. Rather than serving Japanese imperial interests, the forest was positioned as contributing to Taiwan's economic reconstruction and scientific advancement.

Despite this shift in rhetoric, many colonial-era forestry practices and categories persisted. The boundaries established during Japanese occupation largely remained intact, continuing to exclude or restrict indigenous access to ancestral territories. While some accommodations improved under the new administration, the fundamental structure of state control over forest resources remained unchallenged.

Indigenous communities continued to assert their connections to these lands, though now doing so within the context of evolving Taiwanese politics and identity. The experimental forest thus remained a contested space, embodying both scientific aspirations and the ongoing legacy of colonial displacement. The tension between recognizing the forest's research value while acknowledging its problematic origins characterized much of its post-war development.

The history of Liugui Experimental Forest reveals how colonial scientific enterprises, despite their claims to objective knowledge and efficient management, were deeply embedded in political relationships and cultural assumptions. The forest's development cannot be understood simply as the implementation of scientific forestry, but must be seen as a negotiated process shaped by indigenous resistance, knowledge exchange, and the practical limits of colonial authority. This complex legacy continues to influence contemporary approaches to forest management and indigenous rights in Taiwan.

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