A Barbarian’s House by the River Tamsui: One House and the History of its Many Occupants

Abstract

The story of ‘the barbarian’s house’ is important for the documentation of local social history from the final years of Qing rule over Taiwan. By analyzing the house’s occupants, this paper provides a platform from which to make sense of the interconnected histories of people and the landscape in which they lived. This overlooked aspect of Taiwan history offers a framework for micro-historical analysis that not only covers a broad thematic element of historical studies, but also uses a global approach to the understanding of regional history.