Memorials on Fujian and Taiwan is an important collection of historical documents from the Qing dynasty, written by the late Qing statesman Shen Baozhen. It gathers a series of memorials and official communications he submitted to the imperial court while serving in Fujian and Taiwan, making it a firsthand source for studying late Qing social governance in Taiwan, frontier policy, and coastal defense strategy. The main text contains fifty-nine memorials that Shen submitted during his tenure in Taiwan, with other Taiwan-related memorials included as appendices. At approximately 93 pages, it covers politics, the military, the economy, migration, Indigenous affairs, and other topics, offering a complex picture of Taiwan’s internal administration and external affairs in the 1870s and 1880s.
Shen Baozhen (1820–1879), whose courtesy names were Hanyu and Youdan, was from Houguan, Fujian. An important figure in the Self-Strengthening Movement during the Tongzhi Restoration, he held such key posts as minister in charge of the Fujian Shipyard, imperial commissioner for Taiwan’s coastal defense, and governor-general of Liangjiang. He had a far-reaching impact on Taiwan’s defense and modernization. While in Taiwan, he proposed relocating the Fujian governor to the island to strengthen its administration and pursued policies including opening routes through the mountains and pacifying Indigenous communities in both the north and south. He also promoted mining, infrastructure construction, and cultural development.
Memorials on Fujian and Taiwan records not only Shen Baozhen’s specific strategies and actions in governing Taiwan, but also offers an authentic account of how the Qing court handled local affairs through its memorial system. It is an important source for historians studying late Qing local politics in Taiwan, ethnic relations, and interactions between the central and local governments. These memorials reveal the policy priorities and social changes of an era, making the collection indispensable to understanding late Qing frontier governance and the history of Taiwan’s development.
