Arnold, Julean H. Education in Formosa. Bulletin, No. 5. Whole Number 388, United States Bureau of
Education, Department of the Interior, 1908.
Came across this document while spelunking through the web for sources
about Candidius, the seventeenth-century Dutch missionary to Formosa. (I
did find some good sources on him, by the way.) Anyway, this relatively
short bulletin (about 70 pp.) was written by Arnold, the American consul
at Tamsui (淡水) at the time,* and was of interest to the US government,
according to the letter of transmittal, because
educational campaign of the Japanese Government in Formosa, which he
describes with careful attention to essential details, offers a significant
parallel to the educational campaign which our Government is conducting, at
no great distance from Formosa and under somewhat similar conditions,
in the Philippine Islands.
The text is a bit hard to read--it's not a great copy, but a transcription
of the preface might give some idea of the tone of the document:
With Japan and America entering the ranks of the colonizing powers, the
question of colonial education becomes particularly important, especially so
in view of the fact that education in both Japan and America occupies a
commanding position. It is rather significant that the two great Pacific
powers should have become colonizing nations within three years of each
other.
It is the purpose of this monograph to set forth the results of Japan's
efforts to establish an educational system in Formosa, her first colonial
possession. In order that we may fully understand the nature of the problem
with which she has to contend, I have attempted to describe somewhat fully
the work of her predecessors in the island, the Dutch and the
Chinese. Thus the monograph has naturally resolved itself into a
history of education in Formosa. While I have touched upon the subject of
education in both China and Japan, I have made no effort to describe
conditions as they obtain in those countries. For such a description, the
reader is referred to Mr. Robert E. Lewis's admirable book, The Educational
Conquest of the Far East.
For much of my material I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Rev.
William Campbell's work, entitled "Formosa Under the Dutch," and to the
official publications of the Formosan government. I am especially indebted
to Mr. Mochiji, director of education in Formosa, and to Mr. Ogawa, his very
able assistant, for their extreme kindness in affording me every possible
opportunity to study conditions at first hand.
JULEAN H. ARNOLD.
AMERICAN CONSULATE.
Tamsui (Daitotei), Formosa
I'd also note that this book is cited in E. Patricia Tsurumi's Japanese Colonial Education in Taiwan, 1895–1945.
*The author also produced a booklet entitled The Peoples Of Formosa, which was published in1909 by the Smithsonian. A footnote on the first
page of the booklet describes it as part of a report originally sent by
Arnold to teh State Department, translating a report to the Japanese
government by "Mr. Oshima, Superintendent of Police of the Japanese
Government of Formosa ... on the management of savage affairs during the
fiscal year 1907." Arnold's papers are available at the Hoover Institution Archives.
