Mudan incident

Shipwreck On November 30, 1871, four Ryukyuan tributary ships left the capital of Shuri, on Okinawa island, homebound for Miyako Island and the Yaeyama islands (both in the southern part of the Ryukyu Kingdom). However, before reaching home the four ships were blown off course and hit by a typhoon on December 12, 1871. Of the two ships bound for Yaeyama, one was lost and the other landed on Taiwan's west coast and made it back home with the help of Qing officials. They found shelter in the home of a 73 year old Hakka trading-post serviceman, Deng Tianbao. The Paiwanese men found the Ryukyuans and dragged them out, slaughtering them, while others died in a fight or were caught trying to escape. Fifty-four were killed in the massacre while three tried to escape but were captured. Nine Ryukyuans hid in Deng's home. They moved to another Hakka settlement called Poliac () where they found refuge with Deng's son-in-law, Yang Youwang. Yang arranged for the ransom of three men and sheltered the survivors for 40 days before sending them to Taiwan Prefecture (modern Tainan). The Ryukyuans were later taken to Fuzhou and then headed home for Naha in July 1872. Causes It is uncertain what caused the Paiwanese to murder the Ryukyuans. Some say the Ryukyuans did not understand Paiwanese guest etiquette, they ate and ran, or that their captors could not find ransom and therefore killed them. According to Lianes Punanang, a Mudan local, 66 men who could not understand the local languages entered Kuskus and began taking food and drink, which was a local symbol of protection and friendship, disregarding village boundaries. "In Paiwan tribal tradition, drinking water offered by a stranger means agreeing to peaceful engagement between equals. But the abrupt disappearance breached that agreement, turning guests into enemies." Efforts to aid the strangers with food and drink strained Kuskus resources. They were finally killed for their misdeeds. The shipwreck and murder of the sailors came to be known as the Mudan incident, although this remains a misnomer since the massacre did not take place in Mudan (known as Sinvaudjan by the local Paiwan people), but at Kuskus. ==Aftermath==

The Mudan incident did not immediately cause any concern in Japan. A few officials knew of it by mid-1872 but it was not until April 1874 that it became an international concern. The repatriation procedure in 1872 was by the books and had been a regular affair for several centuries. From the 17th to 19th centuries, the Qing had settled 401 Ryukyuan shipwreck incidents both on the coast of mainland China and Taiwan. Shipwrecks during this time period were common. Between 1701 and 1876, 278 Ryukyuan ships shipwrecked along China's coast, more than Ryukyuan shipwrecks along Taiwan's coast. The Ryukyu Kingdom did not ask Japanese officials for help regarding the shipwreck. Instead its king, Shō Tai, sent a reward to Chinese officials in Fuzhou for the return of the 12 survivors. In September 1872, Japan dethroned the king of Ryukyu. Despite the Ryukyu Kingdom having been an independent state at the time of the incident, the Japanese government eventually demanded that the Qing government be held responsible for the actions of the Paiwanese, which the Qing government dismissed, on the grounds that "civilization had not been extended to the region". In 1874, Japanese officials launched an invasion of southern Taiwan in the name of avenging the deaths of the 54 Ryukyuans. ==Legacy==

Japan According to Professor Matayoshi Seikiyo, the Mudan incident was historically important for two reasons: it resulted in the "verdict that the Ryukyu islands belonged to Japan," and it "served as a stepping stone for the later occupation and colonization of Taiwan by Japan." According to Lianes Punanang: "On the whole, both my people and our Miyako counterparts were victims, but the sad thing is that their descendants have had to wait for 140 years to be able to talk about what reportedly happened." Reconciliation visits between descendants of the Miyako/ Ryukyuan sailors and Paiwan descendants have been taking place since 2004. == See also ==