ORGANIZATION OF NEIGHBOURS IN TAIWAN1
BUREAU OF INFORMATION, GOVERNMENT-GENERAL OF TAIWAN
WITH regard to the organization of the neighbourly life of the people as an important wartime measure for strengthening the home front, a full account was given in a previous issue of this publication.2 What was covered in that article, however, was confined to that phase of the people's life in Japan proper; no mention was made of similar efforts rendered in overseas territories. What is presented here is a brief account of the organization of neighbours among the Taiwanese, known as Ho-kō (Pao-Chia), an old Taiwanese system which was adopted by the Japanese authorities first as an auxiliary agency to the police and later as a communal institution making no small contribution to the cultural and industrial life of the island as well.
History of the System
This system of the Taiwanese neighbourly organization may be traced back to an early Chinese institution of Pi-Lu which existed in the Chou Dynasty (1121-249 B.C.) of that country. Pi is a group of five families and one Lu comprises five Pi while four Lu form one Tsu, five Tsu one Tang and five Tang one Chou. These units were governed respectively by chiefs called Pi-chang, Lu-shu, Tsu-shih, Tang-cheng and Chou-chang. These chiefs kept themselves in close contact with one another in administering to the needs of people and in preserving peace within their respective jurisdictions. Surviving through the rise and fall of dynasties, such as Chin, Han, Wei, Ch'in, the Southern and the Northern, the system was replaced by that of Pao-Chia during the Sui (589-618 A.D.) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties. According to the Pao-Chia system, ten families form one Pai, ten Pai one Chia and ten Chia one Pao. They were headed respectively by persons known as Pai-chang, Chia-chang and Pao-cheng, who took charge of police affairs, tax-collection and census registration.
The primary function of the Pao-Chia system was to preserve local peace, for which minute regulations were laid down to be
strictly observed, while people entering or leaving the areas under the system were closely watched in order to forestall crimes. Members of the Pao-Chia groups were held mutually responsible for conduct, good or bad. Whenever a crime is committed, collective punishment was meted out, thus ensuring peace and order through communal responsibility.
In Taiwan, during the years following the rebellion of Chu-Ikuei in 1720 (the 60th year of Kang-hsi of the Ching Dynasty), remnants of the rebels disturbed peace and order throughout the island. Thereupon, Lan Ting-yuan, a local governor, recommended to the Government the Pao-Chia system as the most effective means of pacification. The recommendation was accepted and the system was applied for the first time in 1734 in Taiwan, with no appreciable results, however.
It was 150 years after that the island was ceded to Japan by China. Prior to the Japanese occupation, the island had been suffering from continuous disturbances. From time to time, natives were in revolt, authorities powerless and degenerate, and robbery and banditry were an order of the day. Lawlessness was so marked that the Manchu Government admitted Taiwan to be "an outlying region beyond the reach of civilizing influences of the Government."
When the island became Japanese territory, the Government-General of Taiwan made exhaustive investigations into the conditions of the preceding administrations and also into the customs and institutions of the natives, and discovered that the proper way to secure local well-being was to adopt the Pao-Chia system. Later an attempt was made to eliminate the existing defects and develop the essential points of the system, with the result that an Ordinance pertaining to the Ho-Kō system was promulgated in August, 1898.
Functions of the System
The most urgent need for the island following its cession to Japan was the assurance of peace and order. It was this requirement that led to the adoption of the Pao-Chia system, which was thereafter called Ho-Kō. Accordingly the original function of the system must necessarily be to ensure peace and security, for which no other system was more fitted. Since the primary purpose in setting up this system has been to secure peace and order, it is essentially an auxiliary agency to the police, cooperating closely with the police force in combating crimes, in preventing infectious diseases and in helping the people in natural calamities.
When, however, peace and order was restored and the cultural level of the people was raised, its function of merely assisting the police was found to be insufficient. Consequently various duties in assisting local administrative affairs have been entrusted to the officers of this communal institution. Under the current emergency it was due to the activities of the Ho-Kō groups that the island was able to contribute toward the war funds some 70,000,000 yen and that a considerable quantity of rice was transported to Japan proper in 1939 when she suffered from an unbalanced supply and demand of this staple foodstuff, though Taiwan itself was then in a similar situation.
Organization of Ho-Kō
Ho-Kō, being the smallest organizational unit of the Taiwanese people, is open only to the natives; Japanese from Japan proper and foreigners are not eligible to the membership. The system, as it is reorganized today, differs slightly in organization from that of its predecessor in that ten families make up one Kō and ten Kō one Ho. As in the old system, however, Ho is headed by Hosei and Kō by Kōcho. As a rule, Ho-Kō groups covering the jurisdiction of an ordinary police sub-station, constitute a standard unit for their federation.
Heads of these neighbourly groups are elected by the heads of houses who are the members of the groups. Their qualifications are: good social standing, more than 20 years in age; free from criminal record; and heads of houses presiding within the area covered by the Ho-Kō concerned. Persons thus elected will be duly installed upon approval by the competent authorities.
Each of Ho and Kō is to organize within its group a youth corps for warding off bandits and for protecting the members in natural calamities. The youth corps is an organization calculated to assist in the execution of police affairs under the direction of police officers. It has a semblance of a fire brigade and a young men's association combined, as existing in Japan proper. It is composed of men physically strong, morally irreproachable, residing within the area covered by the Ho-Kō concerned, ranging in age from 17 to 40. The director and vice-director will be elected from among the members, subject to the approval of the competent authorities, which may be obtained through the intermediary of the Ho-Kō. Although each of Ho anb [sic] Kō may have this corps, as mentioned above, the present practice is to establish it in each Ho-Kō federation, while each youth corps federation will be
attached to a police sub-station. The total membership of the youth corps at present is 40,000, the bulk of whom are 20 years of age.
Since the youth corps is an organization ready to act in emergencies, its members must undergo strict training and discipline; and in any emergency, they are expected to serve bravely, even at the risk of life if necessary, under the guidance of police officials.
Thus, it will be seen that the Ho-Kō groups are bodies solidly organized on the legal basis, having as their members the native Taiwanese. Be it noted, in this connection, that out of the total population of 6,000,000, the Taiwanese who are of Fukien and Canton extraction, number 5,500,000. These neighbourly groups are the institutions of the people, embracing the entire island. Their success can be accounted for by the fact that they are strongly unified organizations comprising the whole of the native population and that their activities are carried out under stern police discipline. These communal institutions in Taiwan on December 31, 1939, included 5,756 Ho and 55,289 Kō.
Ho-Kō in Operation
1. Pao-Chia Conference: The Ho-Kō conference is the only deliberative organ, dealing with the most important matters regarding the organization, which if decided, will be binding not only on the groups themselves but also on their members. Decisions of the conference have far-reaching consequences; any ill-considered decision will have subversive influence on the organization, retarding normal progress otherwise possible in the localities concerned. Hence, police officers in charge must be present at the conference and give their proper guidance.
The conference is designed not only to discuss affairs pertaining to the groups and make known to the members all laws, ordinances and Government orders, but also to receive solicitations and appeals from them. Indeed, it is a machinery whereby the will and ideas of those who govern may be made known to those who are governed for the guidance of the latter; and the will and ideas of those who are governed will be communicated to those who govern. Thus, the outstanding feature of Ho-Kō lies in functioning as intermediaries between the local administrative agencies and the people living within the areas concerned.
2. Duties of the Head of House: Inhabitants within the Ho-Kō are in duty bound to preserve peace and order within the communities to which they belong. In particular, the head of a family is called
upon to guide the members of his house not to commit any misdeeds conducive to the embarassment of the entire community. Besides, he is required to furnish information regarding criminals, suspicious characters or persons suspected of infectious diseases; to give notice concerning changes in census registration, or people in transit or in sojourn; and also to collect fines and expenses for Ho-Kō.
Functions of Chiefs of Ho and Kō
These officers being respectively the executive heads of Ho and Kō, they will be held responsible for the success or failure of the groups.
Functions of the Chief of Ho include: (1) superintendence over the chiefs of Kō; (2) guidance of the inhabitants; (3) efforts in aid of police officers in searching or arresting. (4) punishment of any person guilty of breaches of the covenant of Ho-Kō; (5) awarding of prizes or giving aid in conformity with the provisions of the covenant; (6) collection of fines; (7) handling of various expenses and tax matters; (8) submission of reports to the police officer with respect to matters to be reported from the inhabitants affecting census registration; (9) report to a police officer concerning criminals, suspicious characters or persons suspected of infectious diseases.
Among the functions of the chief of Kō are: in addition to the functions mentioned above in (3), (8), and (9), as of the chiefs of Ho, the chief of Kō is required to assist the former in the performance of his official duties; to conduct the investigation of census registration within the Kō area and supervision of persons arriving and leaving the same area; and to safeguard inhabitants therein.
Awarding of Prizes and Administering of Relief: Prizes of value not exceeding 100 yen will be given on the approval thereof by the Ho-Kō conference to any inhabitant of Ho or member of the youth corps who has rendered meritorious sevice [sic] in safeguarding human life or property, arrested a felon, or become aware of and immediately reported a case prejudicial to public safty [sic], thereby causing it to be nipped in the bud; and to the chief of Ho or of Kō or a member of the youth corps, who is upright in his conduct, has faithfully performed his duties, winning an honour to be looked upon by others as their paragon.
Relief may also be accorded, on approval by the Ho-Kō conference, to any of the said persons or an inhabitant of Ho-Kō, who meets death or suffers illness or wounds in the performance of his duties,
such aid being granted in the form of religious service expenses, relief fund or medical expenses.
Supervision over Ho-Kō: There are two kinds of supervision over Ho-Kō organizations. The primary supervision is conducted by the chief of the county office, superintendent of police, and the prefectural branch office, under whose direction local police officers are to exercise their control and guidance of the institution. The secondary supervision is performed by the local governor, who will take charge of such matters as the organization of the Ho-Kō system, the sanction of the covenants of Ho-Kō, and the official reprimanding of the officers of Ho-Kō or the approval of the election of the chiefs of the groups.
1 Formosa.
2 See an article entitled "Community and District Councils" in the January, 1941, issue of Tokyo Gazette.